Stolen from Sean Eric Fagan

[james_davis_nicoll]

Guess the publisher! No googling!

Bailouts and ambitious plans for recovery have failed to rescue the United States’ crumbling economy. The president takes a desperate gamble and strikes a bargain with China to write off America’s debt. It seems a brilliant move, until the Supreme Court is destroyed by a cruise missile in a shocking attack and Manhattan is invaded. China has come to claim what’s theirs. With American captives executed daily in national broadcasts by the attackers, the government in disarray, and US military forces shattered into local militias, all seems lost. Deep in the heart of Texas the American spirit lives on. John David Drury, a young, untried, but highly qualified “four-star general” of a scrappy militia, along with Molly Spitz, a highly-ranked graduate of the Air Force Academy, prepares to lead a strike against New York City.

Comments

[mme-hardy.livejournal.com]

An excerpt is here, because I am a sharing-type person. http://www.amazon.com/Tribulations-Ken-Shufeldt/dp/product-description/0765365588/


WHEN BILLY WEST woke up, he opened his eyes to a wondrous sight: Open space filled his entire field of view, and his mind was struggling to understand where he was. As his mind cleared from the night’s sleep, he remembered they were on board their spaceship, Genesis.
Once he was fully awake, he smiled to himself as he remembered their wedding night. He turned his head to look at his new bride, Linda Lou, whose head was resting on his shoulder as she slept. As he was enjoying watching her sleep, she began to stir. She opened her beautiful dark brown eyes to an amazing sight. The walls of their room were still transparent and allowed her to see the grandeur of space.
She lifted her head off Billy’s arm.
He said, “Hi you.”
She smiled and said, “Hi yourself, husband.”
As she replayed their first night together in her mind, she felt his mind touch hers.
“I love you so much. Last night was everything I dreamed it would be,” Billy said.
“It was neat. Wasn’t it? Space is so beautiful. I thought it was awe-inspiring when we used to lie on the grass and look up at the stars, but this is amazing. Are you ready to get up and go and eat some breakfast?”

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

*That's* why the name seemed familiar. (http://james-nicoll.livejournal.com/3391206.html)

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

Mr. Shufeldt, bless his heart, can't write for crap. I have read several hundred SF books a year for the last 40 years, and in that time have only put down three books without reading them all the way through. This is number three. And I read all the Perry Rhoden books in the '70s, which for any of you old codgers who remember should establish a good baseline for bad books

[(Anonymous)]

Oh dear:

"I should have known by the names of the alien characters in the prologue (Adamartoni and Evevette)"

Wasn't that made illegal back in the 50s?

-- Paul Clarke

[asyouknow-bob.livejournal.com]

Huh. "Their spaceship " would appear to have artificial gravity.

[martin-wisse.livejournal.com]

That whole "turning his head to look at his bride who is quietly resting her head on his shoulder" thingy is worse.

[al-zorra.livejournal.com]

That's -- really horrible writing.

[mme-hardy.livejournal.com]

Indeed.

Given current social trends in the U.S.A. and Europe, just how many people save themselves for the wedding night IN SPACE?

[nathan helfinstine (from livejournal.com)]

Well, if a trustworthy genie had told me that the secret to owning a spacecraft of the sort just described was to be a virgin until marriage, I think I could have held off.

[seth ellis (from livejournal.com)]

Honestly, that wasn't the part that jumped out at me. It was this:

"It was neat."

There's a setup here for a John Updike-like disappointing marriage IN SPACE, but I bet the author doesn't take advantage of it.

Also, FWIW, when I taught college in North Carolina there were several students who got married right after school, apparently in part because they were saving themselves (a fellow teacher was close with a lot of her students, and tended to get the lowdown). I was surprised it was still happening, but there you go.