Mind bending.

Fun science fiction with all kinds of dimensions. Wrapped around the mystery of Willard Ruskin and what has happened (been done?) to him. As he struggled to regain/retain his memories, the story takes you into and beyond the heart of a dying star. A very nice contrast to more conventional space opera. ( )

Willard Ruskin has survived being killed twice, nearly killing his girlfriend before he recognizes her, and having his memory seriously compromised by the nanobots warring for control of his mind.

And that's just for starters.

Ruskin is an astronomer, part of a project studying the star Betelgeuse, which is about to become a supernova. But that project, Starmuse, is a cover for the real project, Breakstar--a project with a far darker purpose. But with much of his memory missing, Ruskin doesn't know who he is, or was, working for, or who, if anyone, he can trust.

Ruskin's struggle to recover his memory and identity is well developed and nicely claustrophobic, while the external contest with his unknown enemies makes a fast-paced, exciting story.

And then there's another important character, besides Ruskin and his friends and enemies--Betelgeuse, or, as she calls herself, Bright. This is another interesting challenge of characterization, and Carver pulls it off.

Altogether, this is a fun and satisfying read, and well worth the time.

I borrowed this book from a friend. ( )

This book grabbed me at page one and never let me go. A man with a severely fragmented memory tries to discover who he is, what happened to him, and what role he plays in scientific project dealing with up-close observation of a supernova. All this is happening while he's on the run from an assassin and trying to determine which, if any, of his friends he can trust. ( )

The protagonist loses his memory at the beginning of the story and his mind becomes the battlefield to decide who will be able to colonize half of the galaxy. We discover the politics of the different factions at the same time as the protagonist, while he regains his memory. Unfortunately this is not sufficient and we are left with a barely sketched universe with several factions composed of humans and aliens. Are these factions full governments? Or are they more like political parties? The same applies to all the consciousness of stars: interesting, but not well developed.

A big plus: there is Betelgeuse going nova. ( )

As usual, a strong story from Carver but with the underlying theme - what does it mean to be human? Or, more acurately in this case, humanoid? This time the question is posed by the sentience of a star but it is unfortunately not so strongly developed. Is he holding it back for the next book? 3 April 2016 ( )