Slanted Jack

One Jump Ahead; Mark L. Van Name (Baen Books, ISBN 978-1-4165-2085-6, June 2007. Cover art by Stephen Hickman.)

Sample chapters found here.

Oops. I did it again. Went into the local Big Box, and just like a time before, spotted a new book from Baen by an author I only knew the most vague things about. I had read one story, in the first issue of Jim Baen's Universe that was fun. Picked up the book, saw some blurbs from the usual suspects, mostly other Baen authors. Hmmmm...

So I bought it. And read it. Quickly. When is the next one coming out?

Seriously, it was a fun read. Think of The Saint, in space. Jon Moore, a character with a somewhat mysterious past and some pretty nifty powers, is hired to rescue a girl, the daughter of a corporate big wig who is involved in the bidding to open up a new planet. While preparing for the rescue, Moore hooks up with Lobo, a sentient (and, at time, annoyingly so) device that is a combination of M1A1 tank, Apache helicopter and a few other nifty vehicles, all rolled into one.

Moore is human, despite his nifty powers. And, being human, he manages to screw up. Several times. Corporations are fighting for turf, and he is a pawn that is manipulated, until he realizes what is going on and starts acting, instead of reacting.

In addition to a good action tale, Van Name also manages to weave in a lot of technology without overwhelming the reader. We have one mysterious alien artifact (the Gate system that allows for travel from one star system to another), nanotechnology, genetic enhancements, massively networked intelligent machines (and humor comes from this when Van Name explores what happens when your washing machine is able to talk...whom does it talk to and what does it talk about?) and more.

Toss in believable action (lots of firefights and the like, but nothing beyond the scale of what should be handled by the powers of the main characters), backstory that will be built upon and revealed in the next books, and some good character's (with flaws). A good read and I'm happy to say not the last to come. Van Name is working on the second (part of which apparently is the story that I read in Jim Baen's Universe last year) and has contracted for a third. I can't wait!