"Excellent outer space thriller"
In the year 2027, oil resources are nearly depleted and
the Digboi oil field which borders the Himalayas is
claimed by India but the Chinese want it for their people.
It starts off as a conventional, localized war but China
uses a high atmosphere nuclear device before sending in
troop. India retaliates using its nuclear arsenal and the
United States is on a war alert ready to help India. The America Reliance space station carrying five
astronauts is getting ready to launch a satellite that
will deploy solar reflectors to use as a cheap energy
source. They are witnesses to the nuclear war that broke
out between India and China and are desperate to find a
way to get home. The Chinese space station whose commander
isy Zhang is willing to help them in return for a ride
home but people in both stations fear that war on earth
will influence discussions in space. END IN FIRE is a story about the courage of two crews in
Chinese and American space stations trying to overcome the
distrust that led to war back home. In both crews, there
are hostiles unwillingly to trust or work together and it
is only through the leadership of Claire Logan that the
remaining men and women have a chance of surviving. The
premise for the war on Earth is plausible and all the more
frightening because oil reserves are depleting now and it
is conceivable that nations will go to war sometime in the
future to gain control of the oil fields. Syne Mitchell is
a fantastic storyteller who uses hard science that can be
found in a Ben Bova novel and places it in an outer space
thriller. Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted July 24, 2005
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted January 25, 2007
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