Strata

A well-handled, inventive, gleefully madcap flat-Earth jaunt where things are never quite what they seem. Two-centuries-old Kin Arad, planet-builder from the real Earth (where Remus founded "Reme" and Europe was defeated by a Norse-American Indian coalition) is contacted by mad starship pilot Jago Jalo, who has discovered an astonishing object: a disk-shaped Earth replete with valuable artifacts of the Great Spindle Kings (a vanished alien race of superior accomplishments who, among other things, built the Earth). With alien companions Marco (a paranoid, four-armed warrior Kung), Silver (a cannibalistic Shand), and a stowaway raven who turns out to be a spy (Jalo himself soon succumbs to a heart attack), Kin travels to the disk Earth, which features a protective barrier, recycling oceans, and artificial planets describing epicycles in the sky. On arrival, their ship accidentally rams a "planet" and they crashland on the disk - just in time to save Leif Eriksson's longship, vainly searching for Vinland, from falling off the edge. And a wacky journey ensues, deftly parodying Ringworld. With everything from dragons to robots: bright, bubbly fun. (Kirkus Reviews)