cover image Altered Starscape: Andromedan Dark, Book 1

Altered Starscape: Andromedan Dark, Book 1

Ian Douglas. Harper Voyager, $7.99 ISBN 978-0-06-237919-1

In this staid opener of the Andromedan Dark military SF series, Douglas (the Legacy trilogy) sends Lord Commander Grayson St. Clair on an expedition to the home base of the Coadunation, a galactic organization that’s vastly more technically advanced than the United Earth Directorate. St. Clair knows his cynical attitude toward the Coadunation pits him against the Directorate and is likely to tank his career, but he never imagined that the directorate would exile him to the center of the galaxy. The expedition’s ostensible goal is to aid the Coadunation in a war against the Denial, but when their ship arrives, all hell breaks loose: the base is gone and the ship is suddenly hurtling toward a black hole. Douglas tosses out acronyms and astrophysical concepts willy-nilly, but there’s little plot, characterization is an afterthought, and the few space battles fizzle. Agent: Ethan Ellenberg, Ethan Ellenberg Agency. (Oct.)