Comments for Terminal Velocity

Terminal Velocity: 09/02/06

Terminal Velocity began as a short story called "Dark Icarus" published in Science Fiction Monthly. From there Shaw expanded it into a short but delightful novel of an ex-cop trying to escape his demons who manages to recover his humanity.

As the short story title implies, the Icarus myth plays a part. Affordable antigravity technology has made personal flying as popular as cell phones are today. Everyone except the infirm seems to have one. Teens take to the skies and terrorize day to day commuters, often times to deadly results. Can a father prevent his son from falling in with the wrong crowd? What price is he willing to pay?

In the longer novel, the focus is not on the father-son relationship but on their house guest, Robert Hasson. He comes to them grounded by a physical injury and some psychological scarring too. His grounding from the antigravity packs makes him an outsider in modern society. He is also a foreigner visiting Canada from Britain.

Here is my BookCrossing Review

Robert Hanson, ex cop and ex patriot finds himself in a once booming Canadian city to recover from his injuries. What he wants most is to be left alone with reruns of his favorite British comedies where he doesn't have to interact with anyone or answer any questions. Unfortunately his hosts and the other folks in town won't let him. He quickly, albeit, reluctantly finds himself a welcome member of the community. To his surprise he starts to like his adopted home. With these new-found feelings comes a sense of responsibility that ultimately forces him to become a hero again.

It's a refreshing but short read (of only 160 pages). I liked the comparisons of British, Canadian and to a lesser degree, American cultures. So often science fiction authors assume one culture for an entire planet, even if that planet is Earth. In this case, although the technologies were advanced, the countries mentioned still felt real and recognizable.

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Comments for Terminal Velocity

Terminal Velocity: 09/02/06

Here is my BookCrossing Review

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