3.5
Lockstep
ByPublisher Description
Centuries of sleep bring a young space voyager into a strange future where he must confront his own tyrannical brother in this epic space opera.
When seventeen-year-old Toby McGonigal finds himself lost in space, his next drift into cold sleep to be his last. After all, the planet he’s orbiting is frozen and sunless, and dotted with dead cities. But when Toby wakes again, he’s surprised to discover a thriving planet, a strange and prosperous galaxy—and that he’s been asleep for 14,000 years.
Welcome to the Lockstep Empire, where civilization is kept alive by careful hibernation. Here cold sleeps can last decades and waking moments mere weeks. Its citizens survive for millennia, traveling asleep on long voyages between worlds. Not only is Lockstep the new center of the galaxy, but Toby is shocked to learn that the Empire is still ruled by its founding family: his own.
Toby’s brother Peter has become a tyrant. Suspicious of the return of his long-lost brother, whose rightful inheritance also controls the lockstep hibernation cycles, Peter sees Toby as a threat to his regime. Now, with the help of a lockstep girl named Corva, Toby must survive the forces of this new Empire, outwit his siblings, and save human civilization.
When seventeen-year-old Toby McGonigal finds himself lost in space, his next drift into cold sleep to be his last. After all, the planet he’s orbiting is frozen and sunless, and dotted with dead cities. But when Toby wakes again, he’s surprised to discover a thriving planet, a strange and prosperous galaxy—and that he’s been asleep for 14,000 years.
Welcome to the Lockstep Empire, where civilization is kept alive by careful hibernation. Here cold sleeps can last decades and waking moments mere weeks. Its citizens survive for millennia, traveling asleep on long voyages between worlds. Not only is Lockstep the new center of the galaxy, but Toby is shocked to learn that the Empire is still ruled by its founding family: his own.
Toby’s brother Peter has become a tyrant. Suspicious of the return of his long-lost brother, whose rightful inheritance also controls the lockstep hibernation cycles, Peter sees Toby as a threat to his regime. Now, with the help of a lockstep girl named Corva, Toby must survive the forces of this new Empire, outwit his siblings, and save human civilization.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities33 Reviews
3.5

Phillip Jones
Created over 2 years agoShare
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“Very good hard sci-fi book. The world building was excellent, especially the FTL solution. There were a couple of clunky moments, but I'd put this on par with Card and Weir, as far as plausibility and my enjoyment are concerned.”

Lynn
Created over 3 years agoShare
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Stephanie K
Created about 4 years agoShare
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Sleepy Croyd
Created over 4 years agoShare
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“I was optimistic about this book when I started. It introduced a big SciFi idea and proceeded to explore it well. The titular idea may have originated elsewhere, but this is my first exposure to it. Terrific!
The middle third of the book dragged. Toby was pulled this way and that, sometimes making impulsive decisions for no logical reason. The story seemed both frenetic and directionless. I came close to dropping it.
I never truly grasped why a government-mandated schedule was so critical to the whole thing. We're told that the wake-cycle defines a political group of planets and is also mandated within that group. The explanation of why that is necessary, for the empire to survive, is weak.
The final 20% made up for a multitude of sins. Sure, the sappy resolution relied on the bad guys being reluctant to go "full evil." But that's a bet that family members would likely make with each other. In this case, it worked out.”

Nikilolo2000
Created about 5 years agoShare
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