I have read a number of boots by Charles Sheffield, and I
enjoyed every one. One reviewer summed up his work as taking classics and rewriting them in a
science fiction setting. That reviewer referred to Godspeed in particular,
which the reviewer compared to Treasure Island. I don't remember much of
Treasure Island, but I enjoyed reading Godspeed. Of all the
Sheffield books I have read, I enjoyed the second and third in the
Proteus series the most. I have not read the first, since it is no
longer in print, but I will be trying to find it through amazon.com and possibly
the library and other used book stores.
Books I've Read by Charles Sheffield
Aftermath In 2026, the Earth faces an unexpected disaster. A
supernova in the nearby Alpha Centauri system has apparently wiped out nearly
every electronic component on the planet, leaving human civilization paralyzed.
Phones don't work, transportation grinds to a halt, and essential services such
as medical care are thrown back into the Stone Age. As the world tries to cope
with this technological cut-off, a man dying of cancer begins a journey to save
his life and that of his fellow patients, a master criminal escapes a sentence
of "judiciary sleep," a returning Mars expedition faces what looks like certain
death, and U.S. president Saul Steinmetz strives to keep his country from
falling apart. (from an Amazon.com review) Brother to Dragons Born to a crack cocaine-addicted mother who abandoned
him, Job Napoleon Salk would live to survive the horrors of a corruptly-run
orphanage, life on the streets--even first love. But could he survive the
dreaded TANDI, the toxic, nuclear disposal unit for all of America's "unwanted?"
(from an Amazon.com review) Cold As Ice Toward the end of the 21st century, after a space war
has devastated Earth, Mars, and the inhabited asteroid belt, development centers
on the Galilean satellites of Jupiter. Keen to develop the ice-moon Europa is
Cyrus Mobarak, genius inventor of portable fusion power units; opposing him is
the reclusive brilliant researcher Hilda Brandt. And caught up in their almost
imperceptible power struggle are fusion scientist Camille Hamilton, undersea
researcher Jon Perry, and brilliant composer Wilsa Sheer -- all three of whom
have extraordinarily augmented abilities. After an accident on the surface of
Europa, Camille apparently freezes to death, only to revive without ill effects;
Jon and Wilsa, trapped in a submersible in the deep water beneath Europa's icy
surface, run out of air, but they revive too. Turns out that all three are
survivors of wartime biological experiments aimed at creating super-talented
humans--experiments directed by Hilda Brandt. (from an Amazon.com review) The Ganymede Club In the years following the Great War and the death of
half the human race, Lola Belman, a therapist on Ganymede, meets a patient whose
past is a mystery, and a dangerous group will stop at nothing to keep Lola from
exploring the past and discovering their existence. (from an Amazon.com review) Godspeed One of the legends of the planet Erin tells of the
long-lost Godspeed Drive, which made interstellar travel possible before the
Isolation came, nearly wrecking civilization on Erin. Teenager Jay Hara is, by a
set of very curious chances indeed, drawn into a space voyage in search of
Godspeed that leads not only to it but to much else neither Jay nor any of his
comrades expects. (from an Amazon.com review)
Chan Dalton
Mind Pool In the 23rd century, out of all the races of the galaxy,
only humanity has discovered the secret of travel between the stars. When a
threat to all life arises from non-living cyborgs, suddenly the peculiar human
virtues of valor and stubbornness make the despised Earthlings the saviors of
all. (from an Amazon.com review)
The Spheres of Heaven (hard cover) LOSE THE STARS-OR LOSE EVERYTHING! Spacer Chan Dalton is torn between two masters. The
pacifist aliens who hold Earth under Quarantine want him to find out why their starships have been disappearing in
the Geyser Swirl, the Bermuda Triangle of the galaxy. Earth's military, which has secretly discovered a way to break
the quarantine, assumes that someone out there is making ships vanish, including Earth's, and wants Dalton to find
the culprits and hopefully stop them -- with extreme prejudice, if necessary. The trouble is, the aliens hold the
taking of intelligent life, even in selfdefense, to be the greatest of sins. It was Earth's violent ways (in defense
of the damned pacifist aliens!) that led to the quarantine in the first place -- and if Dalton is forced to fight, it
will unveil, and so destroy, Earth's final chance to reach for the stars again. So when Dalton does indeed discover
the hostile invaders responsible for the lost starships, he is faced with an impossible decision: Fight and lose
access to space forever; or allow a rapacious enemy to run riot over all that he holds dear... (from an Amazon.com
review)
The Jupiter Novels
Higher Education(with Jerry Pournelle)
Rick Luban's perilous journey to manhood begins after he is expelled from school
for a malicious practical joke and given a rare, redeeming opportunity to train
for a job with an asteroid mining company. Facing stiff competition from other
young scofflaws aboard an orbiting training center, Rick endures disorienting
weightlessness, a disciplinarian chief instructor, grueling study, and a
bullying fellow student before qualifying for the mining team. His biggest test,
however, comes when the team's asteroid-bound space cruiser is called upon to rescue the
survivors of a devastating mining accident. (from an Amazon.com review)
The Billion Dollar Boy One of the richest young men of twenty-second-century
Earth, Shelby Crawford Jerome Prescott Cheever V finds himself stranded on a
mining ship twenty-seven light years from Earth, where he must learn to survive
without all his vast wealth. (from an Amazon.com review)
The Cyborg from Earth Heir to a powerful military dynasty, Jeff Kopal has
never lived up to his family's expectations. When he blows his naval entrance
exams, he assumes his future is over. But if he's such a screwup, why is he
being sent by the navy into deep space to deal with rebellious cyborgs?
Something isn't right, and Jeff must figure out the real reasons behind the mission--or
risk becoming a pawn in someone else's deadly game. (from an Amazon.com review)
Proteus Combined Through 22nd-century technology, man has the ability not
only to heal himself, but to alter his shape at will. Behrooz Wolf invented the
process of Form Change--now he would have to tame its darker aspects. (from an
Amazon.com review)
Proteus in the Underworld In the 22nd century biofeedback techniques have enabled
humans the ultimate expression--the ability to transform the body into any
viable form. What began as an innocent technique to reduce anxiety without drugs
has raised fundamental questions about what it is to be human. Enter the Humanity
Test. (from an Amazon.com review)
