For Love and Glory

Hugo and Nebula award winner Anderson (Mother of Kings) incorporates two stories he wrote for the Asimov's Universe series into this absorbing posthumous novel, a fast-paced space opera that never lets the reader forget that aliens are alien. At a time when nearly immortal humans have colonized the galaxy, various space-faring species commingle freely and the residents of Earth have become as alien to other humans as true ETs, an astronomical event that may affect all existence is about to take place. Unfortunately, only one set of aliens knows what that event is and their ruling dictatorship is hell-bent on keeping it that way. Lissa Windholm, an Earth woman with a spirit of adventure men find attractive, is determined to uncover the mystery and share the knowledge with everyone. Lissa and her partner Karl, a tyrannosaurus-like scientist, make some startling archeological discoveries on the planet Jonna about beings known as the Forerunners, but a psychologically scarred starship captain and an impressively ancient and profit-minded human rogue have other plans for the relics. Moving from one key sequence to another, Anderson omits much of the buildup and back story customary for such epic-scale SF, yet his protagonists and the worlds they explore always feel rich and real. FYI: Anderson died in 2001.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Based in part on short stories set in "Isaac's Universe" (the Isaac in question would be Asimov), For Love and Glory is about exploration and the discovery of relics of an ancient spacefaring race. On the planet Jonna, human Lissa Windholm and her Gargautuan partner Karl find evidence of the Forerunners, who predate any other life in the universe, and whose previously discovered relics have revolutionized entire fields of science. Enter fortune hunters Torsten Hebo and Dzesi, who want to claim the new find. The stakes mount higher when Orichalc, a member of an unpopular minority among the Susaians, defects with information about another discovery, which the Susaians are trying to keep to themselves, that he will trade for a colony for his people. Orichalc's bargaining chip may change the face of civilization, for it will allow assembling the Forerunners' relics into functioning technology. The sense of wonder key to good sf, some fascinating interspecies dynamics, and the potent element of human curiosity about the unknown distinguish Anderson's posthumous novel. Regina Schroeder
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