Previous: The Castaways of Tanagar

Next: The Gates of Eden

General consensus was that Mike Rousseau, an archeological scavenger might be the only man capable of reaching the center and unraveling the mystery of Asgard. Rousseau didn't quite agree, but unfortunately, the choice was not his...

Cover art by Ken W. Kelly.

Published in 1982 by DAW.
ISBN:0-87997-756-6

Dedicated to Rev Lionel Fanthorpe, a kindred spirit.

Mike Rousseau is a loner, a scavenger who spends his life going on independent forays into the labyrinth of levels that honeycomb the planet Asgard. There, in the cold that approaches Absolute Zero as one goes deeper, Rousseau and scavengers like him hunt for artifacts of the race that once lived there but now seems to have disappeared.

Except for occasional run-ins with the official relic collection agency - the Co-Ordinated Research Establishment, which frowns on Rousseau's independence - Rousseau has led a relatively untroubled existence.... Until he receives an early-morning call from the Tetrax, Asgard's ruling authorities. In accordance with local laws, they want him to take responsibility for a fellow human immigrant named Myrlin until he can get on his own feet. Since the last thing Rousseau wants is to be stuck with some freeloader, he hands Myrlin over to his old friend, Saul Lyndrach. When Rousseau discovers that this "fellow human" was over seven feet tall, and that Saul, along with Myrlin, has disappeared, he begins to wonder if Myrlin is really just another human visiting Asgard.

For the meantime, however, Rousseau finds himself occupied with more immediate problems. Two Spirellans, members of a race that puts much credit in "doing someone else down," as Rousseau notes, have appeared at his door with an offer they suggest he not refuse: to join them as guide on a deep- level expedition. The leader of the Asgardian underground Amara Guur, has apparently set his heart on receiving Mike's help - voluntary or not. When Mike refuses, he discovers just how far Guur is willing to go. According to Tetrax law, a convicted criminal must pay off his debt to society by being sold as a slave. Before he knows it, Rousseau finds himself framed for murder - and Guur intends to buy him.

Just as he is about to sign the contract binding him to Guur, a voice rings out, "Don't sign that!" A human starforce captain, the beautiful Susarma Lear, offers a rival bid, and Rousseau, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, agrees to become her property. Susarma is just back from the long and victorious war between humankind and their enemy, the Salamandra, and now wants a guide to the lower levels of Asgard. She, Mike discovers, is hot on the trail of that Mysterious Myrlin, but refuses to say why.

With the blonde, assured Susarma, Rousseau starts off on a dangerous journey to the center of the planet. Pursued by the sinister Guur and his henchmen, braving the fearsome cold of the unknown world of the deep levels, Mike finds himself heading towards a deadly confrontation at the heart of the planet.

Nelson Doubleday Book Book Club Edition.

Cover Art by Jim Yost

At some time in the remote past Asgard had suffered a terrible catastrophe. Now its outer layers were cold, its builders presumed dead. Explorers and exploiters from a hundred different worlds were scavenging among the ruins. But deep below there might still be light, and life, and perils unknown.

When the race to the lower levels began, Mike Rousseau was right up with the leaders. He wasn't alone, but the friends he had were the kind that would normally make you prefer your enemies - except that his enemies were the worst a man could possibly have... and they were right behind him... and closing in...

He might be the man to solve the biggest puzzle in the galaxy - if he could only stay alive...

Cover art by Danny Flynn

Published in 1989 by New English Library.
ISBN:0-450-50612-6

NOTE: This version of the novel has been adapted so that it forms the first book in the Asgard trilogy. It is exactly like the DAW and Nelson Doubleday editions, except that chapters 18 to 22 and 29 to 33 have been extensively revised.

Asgard is a planet-sized artefact presently orbiting a star on the edge of the galaxy, although its ultimate origins remain stubbornly mysterious. It seems to consist of a series of concentric spheres, each of which was once host to several complex civilizations, but the outer layers are now deserted and sealed off; those immediately beneath the surface are extremely cold.

Since its discovery by the Tetrax - the most accomplished spacefaring species in the galactic arm - scavengers from dozens of other species have accumulated in a hastily-improvised city, busily scouring the outer layers for artefacts that might offer clues to the advanced technologies involved in the construction of Asgard. There is also fervent competition to find a way down into the lower levels, where treasures of even greater value might be lurking.

One of the few humans involved in this hectic search is Mike Rousseau; as the story begins he has all-but-exhausted his capital and is trying to obtain financial support for another far-ranging foray into the cold levels. When a fellow human named Myrlin arrives on Asgard, requiring a sponsor to offer him temporary accommodation, Mike passes him on to a friend whose financial situation is somewhat less parlous, Saul Lyndrach. All three of them are, however, swiftly caught up in a. violent conflict; Lyndrach has found a way down into the lower levels and the competition to possess the secret has turned nasty.

A vormyran gangster named Arnara Guur kidnaps Saul and seizes the record of his last journey-but Guur's plan goes awry because he has not reckoned on Myrlin's involvement or anticipated the necessity of obtaining Mike's co-operation in his endeavour. When Mike is framed for murder in order to force that co-operation, it appears that he will have to knuckle under to Guur, but that scheme also goes awry when a detachment of Star Force troopers arrive in hot pursuit of Myrlin - who, it seems, his not human at all but an android weapon designed by an alien species with whom humankind have recently been at war.

By the time Mike is released from jail Saul is dead and Myrlin is already on his way to the point of descent in Mike's truck. Mike and the troopers - whose relationship is by no means amicable - follow him, while Amara Guur's predatory crew follow them. The stage is thus set for an epic voyage of discovery that will take all the characters deep into the heart of Asgard - if only they can stay alive long enough to get there...

Published in 2004 by Five Star

NOTE: The text of this version of Journey to the Centre has been completely rewritten with the exception of chapters 18 to 22 and 29 to 33, which have been carried over from the New English Library edition.

They call it Asgard, the Home of the Gods. Beneath its artificial shell are at least three vast cave-systems, each one the size of an Earth-like world; and beneath those, possibly many more. No one knows how many layers there might be, and no one knows what secrets might be buried down at the "center"--if there is a center.

At some time in the distant past, Asgard had suffered a terrible catastrophe. Now its outer layers are cold, its builders presumed dead. Explorers and exploiters from a hundred different worlds and races are scavenging among the ruins--but deep down, there might still be light, warmth, life...and perils unknown.

Mike Rousseau was one of the first humans to come to Asgard, decades earlier. Now he's challenged by both friends and foes--and it's hard to tell them apart on this icebound planet. He might also be the one man who can solve the biggest puzzle in the galaxy...if only he can stay alive!

The first novel in a thrilling trilogy of science fiction adventure and discovery.

Published in 2012 by Borgo Press
ISBN: 978-1-4344-4503-2

Review by Ian Braidwood

Cast of characters:
Mike Rousseau, 74-Scarion, Alexander Sovorov, Mr Myrlin, Saul Lyndrach, Heleb, Lema, Amara Guur, Simeon Balidar, 238-Zenatta, 69-Aquila, Jacinthe Siani, Cpt Susarma Lear, Lt Crucero, Khalekhan, Serne, Vasari.

We join Mike Rousseau on Asgard and in a bit of a financial dilemma. He's not exactly broke, but a lot of his equipment needs attention, so he can't afford to go out and explore the frozen levels of Asgard. The trouble with this is Mike earns his crust by scavenging artefacts from the levels below.

Asgard itself is basically a Dyson Sphere, except that instead of building a huge shell with a radius equivalent of Earth's orbit, the Asgardians have built an Earth-sized object consisting of thousands of levels. At the start of the book, only the first couple of levels are accessible and their temperature is at nearly zero Kelvin.

Rousseau is very much a Stableford hero in that he is reluctantly manoeuvred into the adventure in very much the same way as Grainger from the Hooded Swan books. He ends up being purchased by Earth's Starforce and conscripted, so that he can guide a squad of soldiers who are hunting an android, which has fled to Asgard to hide. Mike also has his own agenda and is out to slip his masters as so as possible, thus we have the basis for a good working relationship.

One thing I'd like to point out here - and it's true of nearly everything of Brian's that I've read - is that Brian simply hasn't been bettered as far as getting his biology right. I remember reading a comment that Frank Herbert's Dune had a really well thought out ecology; but I can't see why when the central feature of that ecology is the sandworm, a preposterous behemoth that makes a whale look like a minnow.

Arrakis, if you remember, is a desert world and so is barren; so where is a young sandworm going to build up all that muscle and how is it going to push its bulk through all that compacted sand? Also, how could a sandworm's body support its own weight?

Contrast this with the wildlife found at the bottom of a shaft on Asgard: a collection of protoplasmic slimes and saprophytic moulds. The simple truth is that nature cuts its cloth to suit its purse and even when it does have the energy, any proto-sandworm will have to compete for it with a myriad other creatures, so it could never grow so monstrous.

In this respect, Brain is the ultimate science fiction author, because he uses science to predict what type of organism you would find in an environment, rather than try to use science to excuse what you want to do.

Overall, Journey to the Center is a lightweight; more Halcyon Drift than Realms of Tartarus. Fun.

The Brian Stableford Website