The Icarus Hunt Author:Timothy Zahn 9 cassettes (unabridged) - 12 hours - From the Hugo Award-winning and New York Times best-selling author of the Star Wars Thrawn saga comes a sprawling science fiction epic, an original masterpiece of imagination, adventure, and intrigue...When renegade space pilot Jordan McKell and his unusual alien partner, Ixil, are hired by a mysterious gent... more »leman to fly a ship and its special cargo to Earth, they have no idea of the obstacles that lie ahead. The ship, Icarus, is an ancient freighter with no updated technology, the cargo is so secret that it's sealed in a special container that takes up most of the ship, and there's an unknown saboteur aboard. It's not long before McKell discovers he's in the middle of a gigantic conspiracy that could change the course of galactic history. Soon McKell and Ixil become fugitives in a race against the authorities, their enemies and time. Their only chance is to stay one step ahead of their pursuers as they try to make it home.« less
This is probably one of Timothy Zahn's best books, outside of the Star Wars books that he has written in the past, for the EU. Amazing stuff. Keeps you guessing until the end. He puts his own twist on the typical Space Mystery. Very well thought out, and brilliantly written! I give it a 9.5/10. Definitely a keeper to be read over, multiple times, in the future!
Excellent Zahn book. Good balanced Sci Fi story incorporating interesting characters, humor, murder mystery and advanced technology. Overall a typical Zahn story.
If The Icarus Hunt had not been a sci-fi book I would have sworn that I was reading an Alistair MacLean novel. MacLean novels are always suspenseful and keep you turning the pages long after your normal bed time. It is no wonder why so many were made into movies.
As such, I really enjoyed The Icarus Hunt. In this book, as in the MacLean novels, you really are kept in the dark as to who and what the characters really are. I'll have to check out some of the other Timothy Zahn novels.
If you like the Star Wars novels you will like this book. It has the (slightly tarnished) good guys including an alien side kick trying to carry out the mission they agreed to do. The bad guys are trying to stop the good guys and continue their evil ways of corruption and illegal profit. A good read in the space opera style.
It's a SciFi, murder mystery, whodunit, political thriller. With lots of characters who make for an entertaining read. Our erstwhile heroes are some rather clumsy smugglers, who stumble into a trading mission that upsets the balance of economic and geographic powers that be.
Toss in some truly bad baddies, and some very twisted plot lines, and scratch you head trying to figure it all out. Oh, and an ending that was unexpected and very satisfying. Pick this one up and enjoy the trip! Looking to read more from this author.
This book is an excellent piece of science fiction. The characters are well developed, but the plot takes unexpected twists all the way to a surprise ending. The description of the technology has just enough details to make you feel like you know the technology without having to go into particular depth about it.
