Coyote Universe, book 1, flashes back to the Ranch (i.e., Earth) under its very modestly successful socialist rulers, with whom Steele only very modestly sympathizes. The manned expedition Galileo is sent to study an apparent UFO named pindrift, which turns out to be an alien probe, which in turn brings the alileo crew back with the secret of faster-than-light drive--and knowledge of Earth's prospective involvement in the insterstellar war of Coyote Trilogy ( Coyote, 2002; Coyote Rising, 2004; Coyote Frontier, 2005). Steele's still working at high-performance levels in space-advocacy, alien-contact, and human-evolution fiction. --Roland Green Copyright 2007 Booklist

In 2288, the European starship EASS Galileo sets out on a mission to explore a recently discovered, unidentified--and possibly alien--object known only by the name Spindrift. The Galileo disappears with no explanation. More than 50 years later, the starship's shuttle, the Maria Celeste, returns to Earth with a new stardrive. Its crew consists of the three Galileo survivors, who come bearing a tale that Earth needs to hear but that may never be told. The author of the Coyote Trilogy (Coyote, Coyote Rising, Coyote Frontier) continues his saga of far-future space colonization with an sf adventure set in the same universe and featuring a cast of richly developed characters. A strong addition to most sf collections. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Set in the same universe as Hugo-winner Steele's popular trilogy that began with Coyote (2002), this fascinating supplement concentrates on events that happen offstage after Coyote Rising (2004). When Earth detected a large alien artifact drifting past a distant star, a hastily organized and fractious expedition was sent to investigate. Communication failed just after the Earth crew arrived on the scene and began exploring, so everyone was presumed lost-until decades later, when three survivors and an alien envoy turned up at the end of Coyote Frontier (2005). This latest installment describes what the ill-fated expedition discovers, what goes wrong and how a few people save themselves by recognizing their ignorance and isolation, then resolving to work past those limitations. Though readers of the trilogy already know the basic story-and the novel's opening also gives away most of the outcome-Steele delivers a gripping saga of humanity on the verge of exploring the larger universe. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved