David S. Goyer is a screenwriter, film director and comic book writer. He has written several screenplays based on numerous comic book series, among them Doctor Strange, Ghost Rider, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Flash. He has written the third instalment of Christopher Nolan's Batman film series. Michael Cassutt is a television producer, screenwriter, and author. His notable TV work includes producing or writing, or both, for The Outer Limits, Eerie, Indiana, Beverly Hills, 90210, and The Twilight Zone. In addition to his work in television, Cassutt has written over thirty short stories, predominately in the genres of science fiction and fantasy.
This slick space opera trilogy starter sets up an interesting situation but never quite brings it to life. Rival expeditions from the U.S. and a Russia-India-Brazil coalition land on a planetoid and discover it's actually an ancient interstellar space ship. Astronauts moving through the ship reawaken machines that alter the environment in strange and dangerous ways and resurrect dead people the explorers loved or hated. The characters attempt to decipher the aliens' purpose while struggling to survive in increasingly hostile surroundings. Meanwhile, back on Earth, NASA administrators try to monitor the situation while fending off political meddling and miscommunications. Both authors are experienced scriptwriters who are better at inventing dramatic spectacles than finding fresh things to say about people. Since the book has already been optioned by Warner Bros., readers may want to wait for flashy CGI special effects to balance out the limp characterization. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
As an unidentified space object, named Keanu by the popular media, hurtles toward Earth on a near-miss trajectory, rival spaceships-one from the United States and one from a Russian-Indian-Brazilian alliance-race to it, each charged with a mission to explore Keanu's surface and claim it for its own interests. What the astronauts discover is that the object is not a piece of space debris but a cry for help from another civilization. Coauthors Goyer (Batman Begins screenplay) and Cassutt (Missing Man; Red Moon) bring their film and television experience to a fast-paced sf trilogy opener that features a varied cast and an intriguing plot. VERDICT A cinematic style and action-filled plot make this a good choice for readers who enjoy the multivolume space sagas of Kevin J. Anderson and David Drake. [Warner Brothers has acquired film rights to the forthcoming trilogy.-Ed.] (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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