The Fleet of Stars

Poul Anderson marks the 50th year of his science fiction writing career with the conclusion of his Harvest of Stars series (, , , ). While the writing is leisurely, the action bounces between the solar system and the stars as Anson Guthrie returns to action once again (or at least his downloaded consciousness does). It seems the artificial intelligence that half support and more than half control the Terran system are hiding something from humanity, and Guthrie is determined to find out what that is.

In the fourth installment of Anderson's "Harvest of Stars" series (e.g., Harvest the Fire, LJ 10/15/95), Anson Guthrie returns from the distant planet Amaterasu to investigate fragmented rumors about what solar lenses have found in deep space. On Earth he joins Fenn, a former Earth policeman, and his Terran girlfriend, Kinna Ronay, to learn why the cybercosm thinks it's too dangerous for humans to resume space exploration. This hard-science novel effectively explores the relationships between men and machines, cultural differences, and rebellion. Highly recommended for sf collections.
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