Orbiter
Ten years after its mysterious disappearance, the space shuttleVenture returns to Earth covered in organic material, rewired withalien technology and missing all but one of its crew members. The dustin its wheel tracks indicates it has been on Mars and possibly otherplanets as well. The United States government drafts an ex-astronautbiologist, a brash young propulsion expert and a washed-outpsychiatrist to piece together what happened to the Venture. Ellis hascrafted a scientific mystery similar in structure to an issue of hisacclaimed series Planetary. However, where the protagonists of thatseries are detached observers of the fantastic, here Ellis gives eachcharacter a personal stake in the investigation. Ellis has struckgold: his old talents for mad ideas and nuanced tough talk melds witha new optimism, giving this story an emotional depth far beyond thatof typical sci-fi. Doran's art serves his story well, as she handlescataclysmic disaster scenes, detailed technical exposition and tenderhuman moments with equal deftness.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.