The Outback Stars: Sandra McDonald

"Beached, her last ship destroyed by a political faction that shouldn't have had the ability to pull it off. Back into space, no matter the assignment; beached officers decline in the outback..."

I was tempted to dismiss this first novel as "Aussies to the Stars" and just wait for the author to crank out another in the series. Thing is, about two thirds of the way though, her protagonist, Lt. Jodenny Scott, stopped sounding like a cloned graduate of the David Drake Academy of Starship Command (not to be confused with Saganami) and more like someone with a little more going on.

No I'm not talking about the relationship developing with the "Sergeant with a history"; I'm talking about branching out from just the basics about how the Australian Space Navy nailed down the first practical run out to the other planets and into a bit of the metaphysics of the Australian outback and how it may tie in to the practical aspects of shooting between the stars.

...and what about the possibility her ship wasn't blow to pieces around her by sabotage (the time and place she developed her rep for operating under pressure), but rather was in in the wrong place at the wrong time in terms of the 'rules' for the starcrossing system that they still don't understand completely.

Oh, and while we're at it, who the heck is after them and what for? ...and exactly what is it they've discovered about the legacy 'art' left behind on the interconnected worlds? ...and why can they use it? Did the shaman do something to them?

Yeah, I'm just going to have to sit down and chill a big can of Fosters and wait for the next one of these to come my way. Four stars and a heads up!

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Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Tor Books (April 17, 2007)
ISBN-10: 0765316439
ISBN-13: 978-0765316431
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