Fortress Sol, Stephen Baxter
Fortress Sol, Stephen Baxter
List: $37.99 | Sale: $26.60
Club: $18.99

Fortress Sol

Author: Stephen Baxter

Narrator: Frankie Porter

Unabridged: 13 hr 34 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Gollancz

Published: 10/17/2024


Synopsis

When Rab was a baby, his mother made a decision which would change his life. She feared he would be sent to work in the hellish mines of Mercury, to eke out his life until he was worn out, all in the name of maintaning the defense of the Solar Sytem. But when her desperate attempt to flee with her 2 year old failed, she took a desperate step to save him. She cut off his hand.

Decades later, Rab has been spared the physical hardships he can no longer endure, and is now based on the Mask, the all-encompassing structure which hides the Solar Sytem from alien eyes. And it is during his watch that a spaceship arrives, one which has travelled for a hundred years from a long-forgotten colony planet.

If they pierce the Mask, everything humanity has created will be left open to the alien threat. But this strange ship, bearing an offshoot of the species, may bring something else with them. Hope.

About Stephen Baxter

Stephen Baxter is the pre-eminent SF writer of his generation. With Terry Pratchett he has co-authored the Long Earth novels. Published around the world he has also won major awards in the UK, US, Germany, and Japan. Born in 1957 he has degrees from Cambridge and Southampton. He lives in Northumberland with his wife.Visit Stephen Baxter's website at www.stephen-baxter.com.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Justin on November 04, 2024

Great beginning but then goes off the rails. Loads of plot holes and an uninteresting reveal. Don't bother with this one.......more

Goodreads review by David on January 05, 2025

Fascinating concepts and sense of world building on the grandest of scales. Howwever, there was a distinct lack of plot and substance. The premise seemed rushed and emerged out of nowhere. This book has a lot of potential and deeper meaning, but unfortunately this one was not for me.......more

Goodreads review by Zack on November 01, 2024

DNF. Disappointed to say I bought this straight away on the strength of Baxter's past writing but this did not ride to that same level of quality. Quite a few times there were so many typos and nearly verbatim repeated passages that it feels more like a first draft.......more

Goodreads review by Ken on December 19, 2024

3.5 Stars This really is a book of 2 halves. I was very frustrated at the beginning, and wondered whether I should continue. But persistence did reward me in a small way. The characterization was wooden, simplified and without nuance. It is only in the second half of the novel, as the half-formed cha......more

Goodreads review by David on November 29, 2024

An interesting take on system-wide political structures, but not Baxter’s best I’ve been an avid fan of Stephen Baxter’s “hard science” novels since the original Manifold trilogy. The character development and world building is lackluster. The descriptions of the Wrap, Frame and Mask are not with the......more