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==Plot summary==
==Plot summary==
Prior to delivering a cargo to the nearby planet Xathru, Jordan McKell, a smuggler for a crime lord nicknamed Brother John and his shadowy boss, Mr. Antoniewicz, is on the planet Meima with his partner, Ixil, a member of an alien species called the Kalixiri. McKell is offered a job by a man named Alexander Borodin, whom he recognizes as the famous industrialist and sometime-archaeologist Arno Cameron. Cameron wants McKell to pilot the ship ''Icarus'', which is carrying a very important cargo in its sealed storage core, to Earth.
Jordan McKell, a smuggler for a crime lord nicknamed Brother John and his shadowy boss, Mr. Antoniewicz, is offered a job by a man named Alexander Borodin, whom he recognizes as the famous industrialist Arno Cameron. Cameron wants McKell to pilot the ship ''Icarus'', which is carrying a very important cargo, to Earth. McKell accepts the job.


⚫
A series of bizarre events leads McKell to believe that they have a saboteur aboard. Convinced that the ''Icarus'' is carrying something far more important than he'd originally supposed, and that they are being hunted, he lands the ''Icarus'' under a false name. An old acquaintance tells him that there is now a reward out for knowledge of his whereabouts.
McKell accepts the job and instructs Ixil to continue on to Xathru, intending to pick him up there. He and Ixil theorize that Cameron's archaeological dig on Meima had uncovered an advanced, alien [[faster-than-light|stardrive]], which he intends to be brought to Earth by the ''Icarus''. While waiting to board the ''Icarus'', McKell becomes acquainted with the rest of the ''Icarus''' rag-tag crew, all of whom are complete strangers to him and to each other. At the last minute, they are informed that Cameron is unable to accompany them, and are forced to set out on their voyage without their employer.


McKell realizes that the ''Icarus'' is being hunted by the Patth, an alien race who have a near-monopoly on the galaxy's shipping industry. There are more sabotage incidents aboard the ship, leading McKell to believe that one of the crewers is a Patth agent. It is revealed that the ship's computer tech, Tera, is the daughter of Arno Cameron and that Cameron himself had stowed away aboard the ''Icarus''.
One of the crewers is killed in an accident a few hours later, and a series of other bizarre occurrences leads McKell to believe that they have a saboteur aboard; he begins keeping a wary eye on the crew. He stops as planned on Xathru to pick up Ixil and contact Brother John, who gives him a reluctant go-ahead to carry on with the voyage. While on Xathru, he is assaulted by a pair of strange aliens who say they want the ''Icarus''' cargo.


While exploring deep inside the ''Icarus''' interior, McKell discovers that the ''Icarus'' is an interstellar teleportation device called a stargate. Arno Cameron had not jumped ship as previously supposed, but was instead stuck at the stargate's other end.
⚫
McKell escapes and pilots the ''Icarus'' to a planet called Dorscind's World. Convinced that the ''Icarus'' is carrying something far more important than he'd originally supposed, and that they are being hunted, he lands the ''Icarus'' under a false name. He then attempts to make contact with his benefactor, "Uncle Arthur", both to inform him of his current situation and to get information from him about his crewmembers and about Cameron's activities. Before he can get a call through, he is confronted by an old acquaintance, who tells him that there is now a reward out for knowledge of his whereabouts and attempts to extort money from him in exchange for not turning him in.


⚫
On the isolated planet Beyscrim, they are confronted by Antoniewicz, and it is revealed that Antoniewicz had engineered most of the sabotage incidents, believing that McKell was no longer loyal to him. Recognizing the ''Icarus''' value, he had decided to take it for himself, and maneuvered the ''Icarus'' and its crew into coming to Beyscrim.
McKell realizes that the ''Icarus'' is being hunted by the Patth (an alien race who have a near-monopoly on the galaxy's shipping industry, due to their unique stardrives, which are several times faster than those of any other race). He becomes suspicious that the ''Icarus'' isn't ''carrying'' the recently discovered alien stardrive; instead, he thinks the ''Icarus'' itself ''is'' the alien stardrive. If this stardrive were to remain outside Patth hands, it could spell the doom of the Patth economic empire.


McKell reveals that he is not a smuggler, but instead a member of a military intelligence organization assigned to infiltrate Antoniewicz's operation. Landing the ''Icarus'' on Beyscrim had been bait to bring Antoniewicz out of his cover. The book concludes with the crew celebrating their rescue, while Cameron makes plans for smuggling the ''Icarus'' back to Earth for research.
There are more scattered sabotage incidents aboard the ship, leading McKell to believe that one of the crewers is a Patth agent. He requests background information on all of them from Uncle Arthur, which is delivered to him when the ship stops at the planet Morsh Pon. McKell and Ixil discover that the ship's computer tech, Tera, is in fact the daughter of Arno Cameron. They also discover that Cameron himself had been aboard the ship, hidden in the area between the inner and outer hulls; he had unexpectedly jumped ship, however, during one of the fuel stops.

The ''Icarus'' successfully evades an attack off the planet Utheno, and McKell decides to make a break for Earth, outrunning the Patth by using the alien stardrive. This requires dismantling a good deal of the ship; while exploring deep inside the ''Icarus''' interior, McKell discovers by accident that the ''Icarus'' is not a stardrive at all; it is actually a stargate (a hitherto-theoretical interstellar-teleportation device), and Arno Cameron, instead of jumping ship as they had supposed, had instead been temporarily stuck at the stargate's other end.

⚫
A forced landing on the planet Palmary leads to McKell being captured by the Patth; he is rescued, however, by some of the crew. They decide to take temporary refuge at the isolated planet Beyscrim. There, they are confronted by Antoniewicz, and it is revealed that Antoniewicz, through the crewmember Everett, had engineered most of the sabotage incidents, believing that McKell was no longer loyal to him and intending to bring him back into line. Then, recognizing the ''Icarus''' value, he had decided to take it for himself, and maneuvered the ''Icarus'' and its crew into coming to Beyscrim.

Antoniewicz's plans are thwarted, however, with the arrival of a Kalixiri commando force that had been sent by Uncle Arthur. In the end, McKell reveals that he and Ixil are not smugglers, but instead members of a military intelligence organization who had been assigned to infiltrate Antoniewicz's operation. McKell had been on Meima under orders from Uncle Arthur, his superior, to find Cameron and help him out of whatever trouble he was in, with taking the job as the ''Icarus''' pilot a maneuver to that end; landing the ''Icarus'' on Beyscrim had merely been bait to bring Antoniewicz out of his cover.

The book concludes with the crew celebrating their rescue, while Cameron makes plans for smuggling the ''Icarus'' back to Earth for research.

A secondary plot thread (and a complication of the main plot) involves a chemical dependency (possibly related to a rare and fatal neurological disease) of one of the crewmen.


==Reception==
==Reception==

Revision as of 22:40, 15 August 2023

The Icarus Hunt
AuthorTimothy Zahn
Cover artistPaul Youll
LanguageEnglish
SeriesYes
GenreScience fiction
PublisherBantam Spectra
Publication date
August 3, 1999
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback) & Audiobook
Pages368 (Hardcover)
ISBN0-553-10702-X
OCLC40681703
813/.54 21
LC ClassPS3576.A33 I28 1999

The Icarus Hunt is a science fiction novel by American writer Timothy Zahn. It was first published in hardcover in August 1999, and was released in paperback in July 2000. It is an homage to the thriller novels of Alistair MacLean.

Plot summary

Jordan McKell, a smuggler for a crime lord nicknamed Brother John and his shadowy boss, Mr. Antoniewicz, is offered a job by a man named Alexander Borodin, whom he recognizes as the famous industrialist Arno Cameron. Cameron wants McKell to pilot the ship Icarus, which is carrying a very important cargo, to Earth. McKell accepts the job.

A series of bizarre events leads McKell to believe that they have a saboteur aboard. Convinced that the Icarus is carrying something far more important than he'd originally supposed, and that they are being hunted, he lands the Icarus under a false name. An old acquaintance tells him that there is now a reward out for knowledge of his whereabouts.

McKell realizes that the Icarus is being hunted by the Patth, an alien race who have a near-monopoly on the galaxy's shipping industry. There are more sabotage incidents aboard the ship, leading McKell to believe that one of the crewers is a Patth agent. It is revealed that the ship's computer tech, Tera, is the daughter of Arno Cameron and that Cameron himself had stowed away aboard the Icarus.

While exploring deep inside the Icarus' interior, McKell discovers that the Icarus is an interstellar teleportation device called a stargate. Arno Cameron had not jumped ship as previously supposed, but was instead stuck at the stargate's other end.

On the isolated planet Beyscrim, they are confronted by Antoniewicz, and it is revealed that Antoniewicz had engineered most of the sabotage incidents, believing that McKell was no longer loyal to him. Recognizing the Icarus' value, he had decided to take it for himself, and maneuvered the Icarus and its crew into coming to Beyscrim.

McKell reveals that he is not a smuggler, but instead a member of a military intelligence organization assigned to infiltrate Antoniewicz's operation. Landing the Icarus on Beyscrim had been bait to bring Antoniewicz out of his cover. The book concludes with the crew celebrating their rescue, while Cameron makes plans for smuggling the Icarus back to Earth for research.

Reception

Roland Green of Booklist called the book "one of the better novels in some time for readers moving from Star Wars and its clones to other sf".[1] Jackie Cassada of Library Journal called it a "good choice for most sf collections."[2] Don D'Ammassa of the Science Fiction Chronicle called it an "old fashioned space opera in the very best sense of the term".[3]

John Foyston of The Oregonian wrote that the "characters are lifelike if not fully dimensional."[4] John R. Alden of The Plain Dealer wrote that the book is "about as original as a bologna sandwich".[5] Brad Skillman of the Associated Press wrote that the book is "not very deep", contains "quite a few plot aggravations" and called the ending a "tad manipulative".[6]

References

  1. ^ Green, Roland (1 June 1999). "The Icarus Hunt". Booklist. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  2. ^ Cassada, Jackie (July 1999). "The Icarus Hunt". Library Journal. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  3. ^ D'Ammassa, Don (February 2000). "The Icarus Hunt". Science Fiction Chronicle. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  4. ^ Foyston, John (8 October 2000). "BEYOND THE 'STAR WARS' UNIVERSE". The Oregonian. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  5. ^ Alden, John (12 September 1999). "`ICARUS HUNT' MELTS INTEREST WITH PREDICTABILITY". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  6. ^ Skillman, Brad (7 November 1999). "`Sometimes speaceships seem familiar, and that's part of the fun". Wisconsin State Journal.
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