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Stephen Coonts has steadily made a name for himself as a go-to guy for fans of military thrillers. His novel, SAUCER, from two years ago raised a few eyebrows with its obvious science fiction leanings but was given a popular welcome by fans of that genre who were not necessarily familiar with Coonts's military works. SAUCER: THE CONQUEST is an immensely readable and most welcome sequel to SAUCER, as well as an indication that Coonts has no intention of limiting his immense talent to one genre.
All of the protagonists who made SAUCER such an accessible work are back. The focus is on test pilot Charley Pine, but pilot Rip Cantrell and his quietly brilliant Uncle "Egg" Cantrell play important secondary roles. While the relationship between Pine and Rip that began in SAUCER isn't on the rocks, it has become somewhat bumpy. Cantrell is content to rest on the laurels and wealth he acquired during the events in SAUCER. Pine, however, is interested in new challenges. When a wealthy Frenchman named Pierre Artois offers her the opportunity to fly an experimental space plane to the Moon as a co-pilot, Pine jumps at the chance. The enforced absence grates upon Pine and, more heavily so, upon Rip.
Pine has other things on her mind when she discovers that the plane's cargo includes a nuclear catalyst for a weapon designed to hold all of earth hostage to the whim of Artois. Artois believes that a world government --- with himself, of course, at its head --- will solve all the earth's problems, and he's not going to give anyone a say in the matter. Pine manages to escape from the Moon just as Artois makes his first demand of earth's governments to disband. France's government predictably accedes almost immediately. The United States and Britain, on the other hand, don't act along these lines. Rip and Pine, meanwhile, reunite with the idea of stopping Artois, saving the earth, and incidentally rescuing Uncle Egg, who has been kidnapped to the moon by a half-mad scientist who is in league with Artois and has a saucer of his own. Pine and Rip "liberate" the saucer that they discovered in the first book and the festivities begin.
While the success of their mission is rarely in doubt, SAUCER: THE CONQUEST remains a wild ride. Coonts's science fiction work is reminiscent of the work of Robert Heinlein, who was often described as "The Dean of Space Age Fiction." The majority of Heinlein's work --- those books that preceded STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND and its successors --- dealt with the "can do!" attitude of humanity, with no task being insurmountable. Coonts's protagonists are infused with this attitude as well, a quality that, along with a wild chase through the skies (not the streets) of Manhattan, makes SAUCER: THE CONQUEST a wild and entertaining read.
Coonts leaves enough unresolved issues --- as well as a startling discovery --- at the end of SAUCER: THE CONQUEST to hint at the possibility of at least one more novel in the series. While these books may not be of interest to all readers of Coonts's military works, they should certainly appeal to fans of old-school science fiction who fondly recall the genre before it was hijacked by wookies. Recommended.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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