Published by Avon, 1997, 438 pages
ISBN 0-380-78205-7
$6.99

I couldn't figure out if I was reading a sci-fi novel or a porno letter in a men's magazine. There's a spaceship, crew, expedition to a new solar system, and enough descriptions of sexual positions to be a how-to manual. It seems the two were hastily patched together--your guess is as good as mine which author is responsible for which half of this schizophrenic novel.

The exploration portion is well thought out, and the detective work trying to figure out the enigma of the previous civilization of "Frogmen" found around Alpha Centauri moves along well enough. If the prose sometimes drags through another multicolored vista, you can always skip over the details until the plot picks up again.

But don't say "up" because soon enough, another grappling enters into the story. I suppose it's natural--you've got seven heterosexual men and women, one bisexual hermaphrodite, and one conception terrorist under hypnotic hallucinations, all on one small spaceship. Yep, and when they're not pairing off with each other, they're having sexual flashbacks. Some character development.

It's a shame, for as the exploration and forensic archaeology aspects power the story, so the sexual sledgehammer batters it into oblivion. Alpha Centauri could have been a much better book than it turned out to be.