Wasteland of Flint FROM OUR EDITORS
The Barnes & Noble Review
Thomas Harlan's Wasteland of Flint is best described as a mystery set in a hard science fiction/alternate history universe. In a future where the Empire of M�xica (descendants of the Aztecs) has conquered Earth and extended its reach to the stars, xeno-archaeologist Gretchen Andersson is chosen to head a team to rescue a scientific expedition stranded on a desolate planet named Ephesus III.
Also on the team are Green Hummingbird, an old, seemingly omniscient Imperial judge, and Mitsuharu Hadeishi, the commanding officer of the Imperial M�xica Navy light cruiser Cornuelle. Once the surviving members of the expedition are rescued, Green Hummingbird orders everyone off the planet and confiscates all the strange alien artifacts. When the Imperial judge goes planetside alone on a secret mission, Gretchen follows him to see what he's up to. What she learns will put not only her life in jeopardy but all of humankind as well�
It's evident from the beginning of the novel that Harlan is a veteran game designer. The story line reads like a great role-playing game -- a handful of well-developed characters, breakneck pacing, surprises around every turn, and interesting, unique landscapes that serve as brilliant backdrops to all the action. Paul Goat Allen
FROM THE PUBLISHER
"Led by the ambitions of the powerful, world-girdling Empire of the Mexica, the human race has spread out among the stars, only to discover a perilous universe once ruled by vast interstellar civilizations that suddenly vanished, leaving behind their mysterious artifacts." "Dr. Gretchen Anderssen, a xenoarchaeologist and second-class citizen of the empire, has made a career of searching for those first Sun artifacts. She has suddenly been recalled by her employer and sent to discover the fate of a missing survey team. To her consternation, she discovers that her team is to travel on an imperial warship, under a Japanese commander, instead of using a company vessel. Worse, an Aztec aristocrat, Green Hummingbird - an imperial judge who is also a brujo, or sorcerer - is in command of the rescue mission. Clearly, there is more to this assignment than rescuing a team of company scientists from a dead world. In the company of Green Hummingbird, Gretchen will discover that there is far more to Ephesus III than meets the eye." For the vast, rocky wasteland of the seemingly dead planet hides a secret life and may hold treasures far too deadly for the empire to ever allow her to discover.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Deftly weaving alternate history with traditional space-opera elements (the plucky civilian archeologist, the band of loyal mercenaries, the unorthodox yet honor-bound naval captain), Harlan (The Dark Lord) presents an SF "puzzle" novel highly sensitive to character and culture. Employees of the Company and the star sailors of the Fleet explore Ephesus III, a mystery planet left half-rebuilt. While the Company serves as a standard-issue corporate backdrop, the unusual Fleet represents the military arm of a dual Aztec-Japanese empire, Imperial Mexica. Swedish-Russian Gretchen Anderssen, an exile from the last nation to resist the Imperial Mexica conquests, leads the Company team. To discover the secrets of Ephesus III, she must work with Green Hummingbird, who's an Imperial judge and nauallis (shaman). Mitsuhara Hadeishi, a Fleet Chu-sa (commander), lends support as he struggles to keep his ideals, despite his lack of opportunity in a class-ridden Imperial military. In a plot that draws heavily on Aztec and Japanese traditions, Gretchen and Hummingbird clash over their alternate ways of seeing (scientific and mystic), but learn to synthesize their expertise. While the book shows some military hardware in action, Harlan puts far greater emphasis on the workings of minds, whether human or alien. (Apr. 25) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
First of a projected series, from the author of the fantasy Oath of Empire series (The Storm of Heaven, 2001, etc.). In Harlan's hypercomplicated far future-we seem to be in an alternate universe where the Mexica, assisted by Nisei Japanese, became dominant on Anahuac (Earth) and eventually established a galactic empire-it is the time of the Sixth Sun, 4-Flint. Impoverished Company archaeologist Gretchen Anderssen is ordered by the Imperial Navy to planet Ephesus III, a lifeless desert with an unbreathably thin atmosphere; a Company ship has fallen mysteriously silent and its scientific team is cut off on the planet's surface. Explorer Russovsky, it emerges, discovered an artifact and sent it up to the ship. A careless investigator breached the object, releasing an agent that consumed all organic material aboard the ship-crew and all. Gretchen soon finds another of the enormously valuable objects: they're a million years old and derive from the First Sun people. Also aboard the Navy ship, however, is an imperial judge, Green Hummingbird. He fears the First Sun people and their technology and refuses to let Gretchen keep the artifact. The science team is evacuated to the ship, but Russovsky turns out to be no longer human: she's a mineral copy. Hummingbird descends to the planet himself, intent on removing all human traces. Gretchen, vastly curious and determined not to let Hummingbird steal her artifact, follows him down to the surface. An eerie, utterly compelling puzzler, replete with fascinating ideas and absorbing characters.
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