Zhlindu

By Lee Willard

This is the axle on which both The Second Expedition and the whole Gordon’s Lamp series turn. Alan makes it to Zhlindu and in a few short local years, thinks he is in the 'and they lived happily ever after' part of his adventure. Desa buys the yandrille she came to the city for and wonders if her band mates will finally lure her away from Alan.

But while Alan and Desa have gone on with their lives and nearly forgotten the expedition of Gordon's Lamp, different groups on the expedition have been taking actions that will force them to think about Alan's origin once again. Ava finds the native data system harder to crack than she thought, until she finally gets some help from an ancient wizard that she suspects is a virus in her own logic.

Then a detective appears at Desa's door, telling her that they are being hunted by strange beings. Ava finds she must deal with her clone sister or face the gravest penalty of all, and the most extremist bishop calls for the planet's destruction. It is only after they are captured that Desa learns the full extent of the additional responsibility she has taken on by teaching Alan about the world, and the full price her heart will have to pay. The chase takes them across the city, across the planet and into the nature of reality itself.

It is the struggle of the Ava's to cover up their crime that really determines the fate of Alan, Desa and maybe billions more of the mortal humans on the planet below. The conscious entity that may be hiding in the circuitry of their simulated universes might be the being that holds the key that can unravel all that is unexplained about the study planet.

Until now there are several separate stories open in The Second Expedition. All the parts that seem to be unrelated come together in this volume. If you have read any later novels in the Gordon’s Lamp series you may be partially prepared for the shock of this ending. Even so, when it ends, you may not be totally sure what just happened.

Note:- It IS possible to read this story without the other two of the trilogy. The later stories of the Gordon's Lamp expedition (Love in Exile, The Tdeshi Quest, The Aluminum Quest, Tangle in the Dark and Vermin Rising) will make more sense after reading this.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lee Willard
• Release date: May 31, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005970642

Lee Willard

I am a retired embedded systems engineer and sci-fi hobbyist from Hartford. Most of my stories concern Kassidor, 'The planet the hippies came from' which I have used to examine subjects like: What would it take to make the hippy lifestyle real? How would extended lifespans affect society? What could happen if we outlive our memories? How can murder be committed when violence is impossible?I have recently discovered that someone new to science fiction should start their exploration of Kassidor with the Second Expedition trilogy. To the mainstream fiction reader the alien names of people, places and things can be confusing. This series has a little more explanation of the differences between Kassidor and Earth. In all of the Kassidor stories you will notice the people do not act like ordinary humans but like flower children from the 60's. It is not until Zhlindu that the actual modifications made to human nature to make them act that way are spelled out. To aide that understanding I've made The Second Expedition free.I am not a fan of violence and dystopia. I believe that sci-fi does not just predict the future, but helps create the future because we sci-fi writers show our readers what the future will be and the readers go out and create it. I believe that the current fad of constant dystopia and mega-violence in sci-fi today is helping to create that world, and I mention that often in reviews and comments on the books I read. I also believe that the characters in those stories who are completely free of any affection are at least as unnatural as the modified humans of Kassidor.In my reviews, * = couldn't finish it. ** = Don't bother with it. *** = good story worth reading. **** = great and memorable story. ***** = Worth a Hugo.

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