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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780312864675
ISBN number: 0312864671
Label: Tor Books
Manufacturer: Tor Books
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 352
Printing Date: February 15, 1998
Publishing house: Tor Books
Sale Popularity Level: 2842026
Studio: Tor Books
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Scott Mackay is a comparative newcomer, but Outpost shows he is their [Sawyer, Gotlieb, etc.] peer. ~ The Globe and Mail
Amazon.com Review:
Felicitas is a 17-year-old girl trapped in an automated prison on a remote planet with two suns and no name. The prison was created by aliens called 'uominilupi', although no one has seen an 'uomolupo' for years, except in dreams caused by the implants that are supposed to keep the prisoners passive. But the implants are breaking down--along with the rest of the prison--and as the inmates slowly recover from their artificially induced stupor, they realize they must escape before the food runs out. Those prisoners who can't shake the grip of their implants remain alien slaves, zombie-like automatons forced to try to stop their fellow humans from escaping. Eventually it falls to Felicitas not only to break out of the prison but also to uncover a plot that stretches through time and space all the way back to 15th century Italy. This is Scott Mackay's very first SF novel and, while it's not without its flaws, it's certainly an intriguing and ambitious tale well worth reading. -- Craig Engler
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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This is a pretty good read. It's probably easiest to describe this as a science fiction prison escape story, but that doesn't quite do it justice.
The main plot revolves around seventeen year old Felicitas as she slowly becomes consciously aware of her situation- trapped in a prison, kept captive by inscrutable alien robot guards and strange machines. The setting is pretty interesting, and it takes a while to really figure out what the heck is going on.
The characters in this book are not very deep, including the protagonist. This may be because of their circumstances, but many of the secondary characters seem sort of bland.
The main plot is very strange and somewhat convoluted, and I don't want to spoil it by giving away to much, but aliens and time travel are involved.
Still, I liked this book. It sort of reminded me of the TV show Lost in some ways. It's not the greatest thing I've ever read, but it was enjoyable enough that I stayed up late to finish it.
Rated by buyers 
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Initial premise sounded good: humans trapped inside of a high-tech alien prison, who are at war with other aliens. The secret to victory lays in the Italian Renaissance.
Strange... I had to read it. First off, the prison isn't as 'high-tech' as described on the dustcover- the security consists of chain-driven robots. As hokey as it sounds, the very first quarter of the book is actually really interesting as the prison's defenses degrade to the point where the humans can plan an escape. They create factions, design blueprints and the plot thickens. If more of the story took place in the prison, it would have been much more interesting. It had lots of potential. Then they escaped, as expected and some of the story goes downhill. And I must say that I hate telepathy unbacked by any science in sci-fi. With a tool like telepathy, anything is possible without any backing... it's a weak inclusion to any book without a science backbone. But really, it was an enjoyable book to follow the characters (good and bad) to the end and to see what the Italian Renaissance had to do with anything!
Rated by buyers -
Where to begin (and keep this review concise)?
I just read this book again, for the second time, after several years of its sitting on the shelf. From the other reviews you can get a good idea of the plot.
Frankly it is a fun book to read. There is good character development; you identify with the protagonist and care about what happens to her. I also stayed curious throughout the book about the various storyline fragments. The author tosses them out in seemingly disparate ways. You anticipate that eventually the pieces will come together and you will make sense of it all, which indeed happens by the end of the book.
This is SF-Lite. Easy summer reading or airport escapism. It's your typical time-travelesque (altered timeline) story, temporal paradoxes and all. Humans are on the verge of extinction because of the evil doings of other beings that can travel through time and change our history. It gives the term "Machiavellian" a whole new twist.
Things get tied-up just a little too conveniently at the very end, though. Felicitas, our heroine, rights the wrongs by traveling to the past herself and fixing things.
The Italians get to rout the French (with Felicitas's surreptitious help) in the 15th & 16th centuries. Time paradoxes and other loose ends magically take care of themselves (HAH!). All is done with the hope that humanity will breath a collective sigh of relief when the future properly reknits. Does it? You'll have to read the book.
Despite this shallowness, it has its clever moments and is a pleasant and entertaining investment of one's time. Buy the paperback.
Rated by buyers -
One thing in favor of this book is it was different than most other books I've read. While I was reading it, the writing was compelling enough that I was interested & didn't want to quit reading. But when I wasn't reading, it wasn't a book I thought about or looked forward to reading. And I haven't given the story another thought since I finished reading it a few weeks ago. So it's not bad, enjoyable while you're reading it, but nothing lasting.
Rated by buyers 
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After reading other reviews I'm glad I never finished the book. I would have liked it even less. Contrary to what most have said here, I didn't care for the 1st 3rd of the book. While I found the premise interesting, I found the way it was handled uninteresting. I didn't believe the characters or their interactions, nor did I believe the prison.
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