Reed, Robert - Beyond the Veil of Stars

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by Robert Reed

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Reed's latest is a fascinating pairing of two science-fiction scenarios. The first focuses on the

inexplicable "Change," that moment when the sky suddenly inverted itself, casting back a

mirrorlike image of the other side of the planet. During the day, the sky now looks as it always has,

but at night no stars appear, just a clear bright view of Earth's day-side. Cornell Novak has spent his

childhood roaming with his father and his father's buddy Pete on their amateur investigations of

UFOs. Though at first the Change, by vindicating the elder Novak's odd ideas, seems to bring

father and son closer, it eventually pushes them apart, and Cornell leaves home in anger. At this

point, where another writer might focus on worldwide reactions to the Change, Reed takes a more

intriguing tack, moving on to a second scenario in which, years later, Cornell joins a government

project studying the Change. The sky-shift, it seems, revealed strange space-time warps through

which humans can be sent to other worlds, though they are reconfigured in the process, taking the

form of a creature indigenous to the new planet. Traveling to the world called "High Desert," where

humans emerge as rodent-like beasts composed of several telepathically linked bodies and one

central "mind," Cornell takes part in efforts to contact a powerful alien consciousness. Reed ( Black

Milk ; The Remarkables ) goes on to add yet another dimension to this tale of first contact,

paralleling it with the story of Cornell's reconciliation with his past and his father. With a

delightfully strange backdrop and so moving a human drama at its heart, this may be one of the best

science-fiction novels of the year.

From Library Journal

The abrupt transformation of Earth's sky into a mirrorlike surface signals the beginning of an age of

uncertainty for humanity. Drawn into secret government experiments involving dimensional portals

between worlds, Cornell Novak-the son of an inveterate UFO researcher-discovers the unexpected

reality behind his father's misguided dreams and confronts the specters of his own distorted

memories. The author of Black Milk (LJ 3/15/89) and Down the Bright Way (Bantam, 1991) has

constructed an eerie... read more

Customer Reviews

Avg. Customer Review:

Posing as SF, January 9, 2002

Reviewer

This novel did not work for me. The plot was built around a silly premise, and several idiotic

notions. Cornell, as a character, seemed like a two-dimensional cardboard cut-out, and gave me

absolutely no sense of feeling for him. At the end, I felt like I had been stuffed full of too much

Sweet 'n' Low - the book had a few good ideas and themes stuffed in behind the rest, but not nearly

enough to constitute anything of any real worth. However, out of everything bad I've said about the

book, it earns an extra star because of the author's writing style. While I didn't enjoy the book, I did

like the style of writing the author used to elaborate on those ideas. Unfortunately, this is one of

Reed's better novels. Which isn't saying much. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Great characters no surprises, July 7, 1999

Reviewer

Good writing and characterization but not much on plot and definitely no action. Don't be fooled

by the interesting looking cover. The surprises didn't surprise. It's like a 1st contact story that

condenses the contact to 10 pages after 300 pages of setup and then ends abruptly with nothing

happening in between.

makes the reader think about his real purpose in reality, February 17, 1998

Reviewer:

"beyond the veil of star" a book solely for those who haven't forgotten what dreaming was all

about. The world of dreams has no defined landscape exept the mind which is limitless, robert reed

takes me back to a childlike state in the nostalgia of this book. --This text refers to the Paperback

edition.

I loved it!, November 11, 1997

Reviewer

I read it quite a while ago, but I remember that I loved it. It wasn't "ordinary" science-fiction,

and it had a weird sense of 'notstalgy'. I love it! --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

A Tor Book

Published by Tom Doherty Associates, Inc.

175 Fifth Avenue

New York, N.Y. 10010

Tor ® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, Inc. Design by Lynn Newmark

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Reed, Robert.

Beyond the veil of stars / Robert Reed.

p. cm.

“A Tom Doherty Associates Book.” ISBN 0-312-85730-6 I. Title.

PS3568.E3696B45 1994 813’.54-dc20

94-2352 CIP

First edition: June 1994

Printed in the United States of America

0987654321

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gold Award winner of the first Writers of the Future contest, Robert Reed is the critically

acclaimed author of five previous novels: The Remarkables, Down the Bright Way, Black Milk,

The Hormone Jungle, and TheLeeshore. Also a writer of short fiction, Reed’s “Utility Man” was a

finalist for the 1990 Hugo Award. He has been published in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction

Magazine and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. He currently resides in Lincoln,

Nebraska, where his interests include the sciences, such as ecology and biology, as well as running

and cycling.

To my brother, Charles Q.

Contents

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

CHANGE

NEW

WORLD

FIRST CONTACT

CUL-DE-SAC

CHANGE

WHAT CORNELL LOVED BEST WAS THE DRIVING, THAT SMOOTH act of motion,

with him looking out through the smudged glass as the countryside flowed around them. They

typically traveled on little highways and white graveled roads, past fields and long shelterbelts,

muddy ponds and the occasional farmstead-a slumping barn, perhaps, and shiny aluminum silos,

garages for giant tractors and someone’s house in the middle of it all. Most of the farmhouses were

modern, suburban and unimpressive; but the old ones possessed a palpable dignity, tall windows

and tall turrets, with vast porches wrapped around their waists. Dad, who believed in ghosts when it

suited him, claimed that a lot of the oldest homes were filled with spirits. People had died inside

them in olden times. Babies died at birth, and their mothers died bearing them. Machinery and

horses had mangled the grown men. Extinct illnesses wiped out entire families. Even a simple

scratched finger could become infected, killing an inch at a time. “Someday I’ll study ghosts and

their haunting,” Dad would claim. “What are they? Residual energies? Intrusions from another

dimension? Or authentic souls in their afterlife?” A pause and a little smile, then he added,

“Whatever they are, don’t they make a lovely mystery?” And Pete would say, “They’re not lovely

to me.” Pete was driving, today and always. Dad had troubles behind the wheel, too cautious and

perpetually flustered; and that’s why he sat in the front passenger seat, a map opened on his lap, his

title being Navigator. Yet he had a poor sense of direction, at best. Even simple maps seemed to

confuse him. Besides, Pete was a wonderful driver, steady and rock-calm, and he needed nobody’s

help. He could find any address in any of four or five states, never a wrong move in all these years;

and Cornell respected him almost as much as he loved his father.

“Ghosts don’t appeal to me,” Pete said, as always. A grumpy growl, a little smile of his own.

Then he added, “Not in the least little bit.”

“But what if they’re related to our work?” Dad responded. “What if they’re different

manifestations of the same grand puzzle?”

“Who cares?” Pete picked up his coffee cup and took a last cold sip, then bit the white foam,

nibbling off pieces and spitting them out again. His habit was to gnaw each cup down as far as

possible, filling it with itself, then dumping the remains into the little trash sack hung on the dash.

“If you’re planning to chase spooks,” he warned, “you’re on your own. I mean it.”

“Now, Pete.”

“I mean it.”

“Well ...”

This was an ancient conversation, much practiced and done with an emotional flatness.

Sometimes it made Cornell angry: why couldn’t they use new words, at least? Then other days it

was a comfortable collection of familiar sounds, reliable and lightly humorous. Like today, Pete

claiming, “The dead can keep their secrets, I think. I think. I think we’ll get our answers soon

enough, and why rush?”

“You’re not curious?” Dad teased.

“No, I’m not.”

“Scared then?”

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byRobertReedCopyright©1994EditorialReviewsFromPublishersWeeklyReed'slatestisafascinatingpairingoftwoscience-fictionscenarios.Thefirstfocusesontheinexplicable"Change,"thatmomentwhentheskysuddenlyinverteditself,castingbackamirrorlikeimageoftheothersideoftheplanet.Duringtheday,theskynowlooksasitalwaysh...

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