Rating: 1Pages: 359
Plot synopsis
Anti-science greenies seize control of the world as a new Ice Age descends upon the globe. When science and technology are outlawed the Russian and American crews of the space station declare their independence from Earth. Back on Earth, persecuted science fiction fans form secret societies and struggle with the knowledge that they are the last hope for mankind. Then one day a space ship from the space station crashes on Earth. The crew is rescued by science fiction fans who decide to use the fullest resources of fandom to build a rocket and send the stranded astronauts back home to their space station.
Things I learned from this book
Inside jokes are fun. You can sustain an entire book on the strength of inside jokes about science fiction fandom. Throwing in sly references to famous geeks like Richard M. Stallman increases the awesomeness factor of any story.
Other neat ideas in this book: only science fiction fans have the brains and the clearheadedness to keep the world from strangling itself by following the shortsighted goals of the Environmentalist movement.
Technology can do no wrong. If it weren't for the millions of tons of air pollution generated by coal-burning power plants the Earth's clear skies would allow heat to radiate off into space, causing a new Ice Age.
There were some good parts to this book. I even understood most of the inside jokes and science fiction references. It was amusing for the first couple of chapters, but not for 359 pages. By the end of the book I hated all the characters. I prayed that their rocket ship would blow up on the launch pad and kill everyone. Alas, it was not to be. So I ripped the last page out of the book and wrote this new ending on the inside of the back cover:
The rocketship exploded and killed everyone. The science fiction fans lost and the evil Environmentalists won. Earth froze and everyone died. And the authors of the book got food poisoning and died. The End.
The full text of Fallen Angels (sans my improved ending) is online at the publisher's website: Baen Books - Fallen Angels
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