The Icarus Needle by Timothy Zahn is book 5 of the Icarus Saga. The Icarus Saga revolves around an interstellar quest by Gregory Roarke and Selene for control of an ancient technology left behind by a vanished civilization known as the Icari.
Ten thousand years ago, a mysterious people known as the Icari vanished from the Spiral, leaving behind a network of portals that can instantaneously transport passengers hundreds or thousands of light-years across the stars.
Gregory Roarke and his Kadolian partner Selene have been tasked with seeking out these alien artifacts and bringing them under the control of the Icarus Group. But the Group’s leadership has changed, and Roarke soon finds himself at serious odds with the new director’s plans.
The result: a counter-plan that lands Roarke and Selene on a distant world with a broken city, a dozen portals, and a group of aliens called the Ammei who dream of using the portals to bring back their own glory days.
But their ambitions will be costly, and not just for themselves. Roarke and Selene must put together the scattered clues and solve the riddle of the Ammei and their plans, while at the same time fending off the Patth and their bid to claim the city and portals for themselves.
Because the Icari are gone . . . aren’t they?
Timothy Zahn’s The Icarus Needle is another entry into The Icarus Saga. the series continues to deliver a complex weave of secrets, hidden agendas and history in this mystery space opera. This fifth installment once again finds former bounty hunter Gregory Roarke and his Kadolian partner Selene thrust into a difficult position after falling out with the Icarus Group’s new leadership, forcing them onto a distant alien world. They discover mysterious city filled with Icari portals and a new alien species, the Ammei. The Ammei desires clash dangerously with the goals of the human Commonwealth and the Patth.
The intricate plotting and political maneuvering keep you wondering about what is next for Roarke and Selene. They are now on the run and this newly found city has given them a new puzzle. What are the motives of the Ammei? What is their link to the portals? The novel is definitely a spy novel set in space, full of espionage and negotiations as the pair try to negotiate a path between the races.
The book pacing keeps you on edge as it alternates between high-action sequences and lengthy, tension-filled dialogue. The result is a highly intellectual brand of sci-fi where it’s not always the biggest guns that win the fight, sometimes it’s the brain. The book successfully resolves the immediate threats of this planet while leaving the larger mystery of the Icari and the fate of heroes in the air. this leaves a perfect set up for the next entry in the saga. Fans of Zahn’s consistent quality and tightly plotted, character-driven adventure will not be disappointed.
How we rate our Books
1 = We finished the book with effort
2 = Readable, but more fluff than substance
3 = Good
4 = Pretty Good and worth passing on to your friends
5 = We couldn’t put the book down
About Baen Books:
Founded by Jim Baen, Baen Books has been bringing readers pulse-pounding, thought-provoking adventures straight from the heart of science fiction and fantasy for decades. We publish books in hardcover, paperback, and electronic form, and are one of the few traditional publishers that maintains its own ebooks webstore (with at least four new titles added every month). We are also perhaps the only book publisher to make our electronic advanced readers copies (eARCs) available for sale to devoted fans before a book’s official release date. In addition, we also sell ebooks from other publishers. We sell more than 2000 books from over 500 authors published by 24 different companies. Good reading to all!
