Title Fallen Angels Series --- Author Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Michael Flynn Cover Art --- Publisher Baen First Printing Baen - 1991 Category Science Fiction Warnings None Main Characters Alex MacLeod, Gordon Tanner, Sherrine Hartley, Bob Needleton, Bruce, Steve, Thor, Mike Main Elements Science Fiction Website ---

Having been shot down over the North Dakota glacier, two Space Habs astronauts find themselves paralyzed by the Earth's gravity and at the center of a ruthless manhunt by the United States government.

This book was once available on the Baen Free Library. It tells the story of two members of the MIR space station that crash on Earth, which one wouldn't expect to be a big deal if they survived, but you see, Earth isn't what it used to be. Environmentalists took over and technology became a great evil. So those that still dreamed of going to stars had to either go there and stay, or go underground, holding SF conventions in secret, selling SF novels on the black market. And guess what, our planet was heading towards another ice age, the only thing holding it off was global warming, so now most of the north of the planet is covered in a giant glacier that is slowly working its way south.

So what do two astronauts do? Get rescued by a groups of SF fans of course! After which comes a race across the US for them to find enough resources to send them back into space since nowhere is safe for them on Earth.

It was actually a kind of fun read, though maybe a few too many things going on. You've got an ice age, a mildly dystopian society repressing science fiction a-la Farenheit 451. Since the POV was mainly Alex, who had spent his childhood on earth but otherwise lived most of his life in zero gravity, it was interesting to see his thoughts on body shapes of the people on Earth, the different lifestyles, the limited resource of being completely isolated from Earth, and even what it would take to regain the muscle needed to function on Earth (neither he nor Gordon could even sit up when the first landed).

So while I'd never have bought this book, it was a pleasure to read for free during my commute to work. The characters were pleasant, the evasion of the authorities suspensful enough, and enough science to make you think "what if..."