Grand Central Arena - by Ryk E Spoor & Ryk Spoor (Paperback)

About the Book

It was supposed to be a simple test flight.

Pilot Ariane Austin was only a last-minute backup on humanity's first faster-than-light voyage--automation was meant to handle everything. But when the Sandrisson Drive activated, disaster struck. Every automated system failed. The reactor shut down. And a massive, impossible wall appeared before them. Only Ariane's skill as a racing pilot saved the Holy Grail from destruction.

Trapped within a colossal structure spanning 20,000 kilometers, Ariane and her crew soon realize they are not alone. This is The Arena--a place where alien civilizations compete for survival, power, and dominance. The only way out? Join a faction... or carve a new one from scratch.

But The Arena plays by its own rules. One mistake could mean annihilation--not just for the crew, but for all of humanity. With strategist Marc C. DuQuesne, scientist Dr. Simon Sandrisson, and an unyielding determination, Ariane must outthink, outfight, and outmaneuver powerful alien factions--some wielding forces so advanced they seem like magic.

Ariane is bringing the Holy Grail home--no matter the cost.

Book Synopsis

It was supposed to be a simple test flight, one that pilot Ariane Austin was on only as a last-ditch backup; intelligent, superhumanly fast automation would handle the test activation and flight of humanity's first faster-than-light vessel. But when the Sandrisson Drive activated, every automated system crashed, the nuclear reactor itself shut down, and only the reflexes and training of a racing pilot saved the test vessel Holy Grail from crashing into the impossible wall that had appeared before them, a wall which is just part of a monstrous enclosure surrounding a space 20,000 kilometers across. With all artificial intelligences inert and their reactor dead, they had to find some other source of power to reactivate the Sandrisson Drive and - hopefully - take them home. And that was only the beginning. As Ariane, Dr. Simon Sandrisson, darkly enigmatic power engineer Marc C. DuQuesne, and the rest of the Holy Grail's crew explore the immense artifact, they discover that they are not alone; they have entered a place the alien inhabitants call "The Arena", and there is no way out without joining one of the alien factions...or winning recognition as a faction in their own right, playing by the Arena's rules - and by the Arena's rules, one failed challenge could mean death or worse - perhaps for the entire human race. Surrounded by alien factions, each with its own secret plans and motivations, some wielding powers so strange as to be magical, Ariane sets out to beat the Arena at its own game. With DuQuesne's strategies, Sandrisson's genius, and her own unyielding determination, she's going to bring the Holy Grail home - even if she has to beat every faction in the Arena to do it!

About the Author

Ryk E. Spoor was born in Omaha, Nebraska, and has lived in South Dakota, Georgia, New York, and Pennsylvania. Severe asthma forced him to spend most of his childhood reading and, by the time he was six, writing. While he began reading fantasy such as Oz and science fiction starting with Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, it was his 5th grade teacher that sent him on the course that would make him a science-fiction author, by lending Ryk a battered copy of E.E. "Doc" Smith's Second-Stage Lensmen; this sent him on a reading spree that devoured every science-fiction book he encountered for the next ten years, and instilled in him the conviction that being a science-fiction author was the greatest possible profession anyone could aspire to.At the turn of the 21st century, Ryk succeeded in achieving this ambition by first launching a clever plan to be published through the diabolical strategem of insulting Eric Flint in public. (Note that neither Eric nor Ryk recommend anyone else attempt his strategy.) Subsequently, Eric brought Ryk's work to the attention of Baen Books, culminating in the publication of Digital Knight, and subsequently two stories with Eric Flint ("Diamonds Are Forever" and Boundary). His next solo novel Grand Central Arena was released in April 2010, followed in June by the sequel to Boundary, titled Threshold. More recently he has completed release on the Balanced Sword trilogy (Phoenix Rising, Phoenix in Shadow, and Phoenix Ascendant) and released his first self-published novel, Polychrome. His most recent works as of 2018 are the magical girl-based novel Princess Holy Aura, the first volume in a space opera trilogy Demons of the Past, titled Revelation, and the first novel in the Fall of Veils series, titled French Roast Apocalypse.Ryk Spoor is also Research and Development Coordinator for International Electronic Machines (IEM), where he has obtained funding for and directed/assisted in research into wireless MEMS sensor systems, power harvesting, smart video security systems, and other related fields; he holds several patents in these areas. He lives in Troy, New York, with his wife Kathleen and their four children Christopher, Gabriel, Victoria, and Domenica.