It is the dawn of the 21st century, and America is in trouble. Public schools breed apathy and ignorance, and politics has become the art of the quick fix. There is one woman, though, who has both the vision and the money to leverage change. Mariesa Gorley van Huyten, heiress to one of the great American fortunes, founds an educational subsidiary called Mentor Academies and begins to subcontract public school systems in order to raise a new, less cynical generation. But her clandestine program is much larger than that: it also includes the founding of a private space program, the eventual construction of an orbital power station, and the revival of technological innovation on Earth.
Firestar is a chronicle of private enterprise and individual initiative—the story of one woman’s quest that becomes the focus for a whole new world. Mariesa’s program lets teachers strive to teach, hires astronauts who have no government space program to fly for, and provides productive outlets for the idealistic desires of the rich and powerful—at least those who remain sane enough to have such desires in the face of a crumbling America. And it just might work.
Michael Flynn lives in Easton, Pennsylvania. He is the winner of the Robert A. Heinlein Award and was a Hugo nominee for Eifelheim.
©1996 Michael Flynn (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc
"As Robert A. Heinlein did and all too few have done since, Michael Flynn writes about the near future as if he'd been there and was bringing back reports of what he'd seen. A splendid piece of work." (Harry Turtledove, New York Times best-selling author)
"Firestar is a knockout…. Blurbmeisters, comparing him to Heinlein, may be shorting his talent…. By any measure, this is the best book I've seen this year." (San Diego Union-Tribune)
"good but not great"
Good story but no real pop, excitement or action. Light on the intrigue and have on technical but it kept me hanging on till the end. I don’t know if I stayed with it because I truly enjoyed it or because I was waiting and hoping for the action to begin.
"Slow Rise"
I think I am done with Michael Flynn. Will do another by Malcolm.
Anticlimatic
Have not.
It was a slow build up book, and the future of the book is very predictable.
Went into this hoping for great Si/Fi, and it turned into a major sweeping drama. I do not mind a little drama, and self introspection, but the book was plagued by enormous amounts of heavy Drama. The intrigue was fun, and the overall concept sound, but it could have been told in a much shorter book, with a much farther in the future outcome.
I found myself growing tired of all the "twists" that were attempted. I had to put the book down and go back to it several times just to make it through, as I like to finish something once I start it.
"Incredible Epic"
Unbelievably well executed story of humanity beginning to reach for the stars.
Ned is a jock pilot who knows what is truly important.
He makes the characters come alive. I feel like I'm standing in a room with them hearing them speak.
It evokes a feeling that we as humanity can truly do anything. It also is a refreshing look on the modern education system with a true grasp of the problems my generation is creating in the modern work force.