It's terrible when Science Fiction writers predict the future---and get the dates wrong! Hogan predicted the end of the Soviet Union, but he thought it would take longer to self-destruct, and he thought they would show a last gasp of innovation and initiative before they bowed out.
Good hard science, and Hogan did extensive research into NASA, high-tech surveilance, and international security and politics.
The time is around 2015 or 2020, and the Soviet leaders insist that their giant space station is simply a peaceful, agrarian community. Other sides have suspicions. The CIA co-opts a rather unwilling scientist into helping their man find tyhe ringer on the station, but events get out of hand and they are both captured.
There are plots within plots, and no one can be trusted.
From back cover: It is the largest space construction ever launched. Twelve thousand people living inside a steel hub whose diameter is over onemile. Code named 'Mermaid,' it is a Soviet city in space containing parks, schools, shops, and farms... and it will soon change the world.
Lost inside this vast craft are an American scientist and a CIA operative, captured and imprisoned in a metal-lined gulag.
Only they can discover the true intent of the greatest space station Earth has ever seen as the Sovi9et Union teeters on the edge of political collapse and a last-gasp, a final ENDGAME ENIGMA.
Good hard science, and Hogan did extensive research into NASA, high-tech surveilance, and international security and politics.
The time is around 2015 or 2020, and the Soviet leaders insist that their giant space station is simply a peaceful, agrarian community. Other sides have suspicions. The CIA co-opts a rather unwilling scientist into helping their man find tyhe ringer on the station, but events get out of hand and they are both captured.
There are plots within plots, and no one can be trusted.
From back cover: It is the largest space construction ever launched. Twelve thousand people living inside a steel hub whose diameter is over onemile. Code named 'Mermaid,' it is a Soviet city in space containing parks, schools, shops, and farms... and it will soon change the world.
Lost inside this vast craft are an American scientist and a CIA operative, captured and imprisoned in a metal-lined gulag.
Only they can discover the true intent of the greatest space station Earth has ever seen as the Sovi9et Union teeters on the edge of political collapse and a last-gasp, a final ENDGAME ENIGMA.
I doubt Mr. Hogan dreamed,in 1987, that by 2000 the Soviet Union would be gone.
So this book tells a tale of the ongoing cold war in the mid 21st century which has expanded the battleground into space. I am a science fiction fan born in the early 50's and can well remember the cold war. That actually made this book entertaining for me and brought back the concerns and fears of the mid 20th century... almost commically.
"Endgame Enigma" is a really good book. It is adventure, science fiction, politics, and suspense all rolled into one and told from the perspective of the mid 20th century time frame. For younger readers it could almost be a history text and for the older generation it is an entertaining and thought provoking read.
I was sure I had it figured out up... right up until the last 50 pages or so. The end is a real kicker which hits you out of left field and is one of the most ambitious plot twists I heve ever read.
Endgame Enigma is a really good read.
So this book tells a tale of the ongoing cold war in the mid 21st century which has expanded the battleground into space. I am a science fiction fan born in the early 50's and can well remember the cold war. That actually made this book entertaining for me and brought back the concerns and fears of the mid 20th century... almost commically.
"Endgame Enigma" is a really good book. It is adventure, science fiction, politics, and suspense all rolled into one and told from the perspective of the mid 20th century time frame. For younger readers it could almost be a history text and for the older generation it is an entertaining and thought provoking read.
I was sure I had it figured out up... right up until the last 50 pages or so. The end is a real kicker which hits you out of left field and is one of the most ambitious plot twists I heve ever read.
Endgame Enigma is a really good read.
From the back cover: It might be a step beyond star wars...and one step closer to world war III.
The launch of a Soviet space station has hidden agendas and mysteries surrounding it.
The launch of a Soviet space station has hidden agendas and mysteries surrounding it.
