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Asgard was not an easy world to leave behind.

Not that Mike Rousseau wanted to get away from it forever - he just wanted to take a vacation back in the home system. But things didn't turn out the way he planned, and he was back again much sooner than he anticipated.

To make things worse, he'd been drafted again, and the job he'd been drafted to do was even dirtier than the last one, and every bit as dangerous. He still had his old enemies, but now he had new ones - billions of them. And his friends hadn't improved at all.

Of course there were compensations - another chance to get close to the ultimate mystery of what lay at the centre of Asgard. But it seemed that the inhabitants of the lower levels were no longer content to wait quietly until they were discovered. They had discovered the universe... and were trying to decide what to do about it....

Cover art by Danny Flynn

Published by New English Library in January 1990
ISBN: 0-450-50103-6

Dedicated to William Ernest Stableford (Brian's father), "from whose example I have learned much more than he probably imagines."

After penetrating deep into the artificial, hollow planet of Asgard, Michael Rousseau wanted nothing more than to collect his well-deserved (in his opinion) payment for selling the location of the dropshaft and get as far away from the icy planet as possible.

Fate, however, had other plans for him. Almost immediately captured by the Star Force, which places him back under the command of the beautiful yet deadly Susarma Lear, Rousseau learns that Skychain city, the alien base established on Asgard's surface, has been invaded—by one of the civilizations that exist inside the planet. As one of the few people with experience inside Asgard's centre Michael "volunteers" for a mission back into the heart of this new enemy, to learn their plans, and hopefully, a way to defeat them.

Naturally, things do not go as planned. When Rousseau is captured by the enemy, he is taken even further into Asgard—deeper than any human has ever been. The question, of course, is whether or not he will survive the journey—and live to unlock even more of Asgard's seemingly infinite secrets.

Cover art by Alan M. Clark

Published by Five Star in December 2004
ISBN: 1-59414-209-2

Asgard's not an easy world to get away from. Mike Rousseau only wants to take a vacation in his home system, but he's back before he has time to draw breath, and he's been drafted into the Space Force once again.

His new mission is even more dangerous than the last one, the number of his enemies has increased vastly, and his friends haven't improved at all. By way of compensation, he has another chance to get closer to the mystery at Asgard's heart--but the inhabitants of the megaplanet's core are no longer content to sit quietly and wait to be found.

They've discovered the outside universe, and are trying to decide what to do about it--but they have problems of their own. Only Rousseau can cross the boundaries between species, and offer each of the races a possible solution.

Another great entry into an exciting SF series!

Cover art by Luca Oleastri

Published by Borgo Press in August 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4344-4513-1

Asgard’s not an easy world to get away from. Mike Rousseau only wants to take a vacation in his home system, but he’s back before he has time to draw breath, and he’s been drafted into the Space Force once again.

His new mission is even more dangerous than the last one, the number of his enemies has increased vastly, and his friends haven’t improved at all. By way of compensation, he has another chance to get closer to the mystery at Asgard’s heart–but the inhabitants of the megaplanet’s core are no longer content to sit quietly and wait to be found.

They’ve discovered the outside universe, and are trying to decide what to do about it–but they have problems of their own. Only Rousseau can cross the boundaries between species, and offer each of the races a possible solution.

Published by Orion (ebook) in September 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4732-1941-0

Review by Ian Braidwood

Cast of characters:
Star Force Cpt Mike Rousseau, Dr Mariyo Kimura, Ayub Khan, John Finn (aka Jack Martin), Trooper Blackledge, The Isthomi, Lt Kramin, Valdavia, 673-Nisreen, 74-Scarion, 994-Tulyar, 871-Alpheus, 1125-Camina, Alexander Sovorov, Thalia-7, Calliope-4, Myrlin, 238-Zenatta, 69-Aquila, Jacinthe Siani, Sigor Dyan, Lt Col Susarma Lear, 822-Vela, Cpt Crucero, Sergeant Serne, Vasari.

Remember Mike Rousseau? The universe does, with just the sort of affection which makes grown men cry.

After having scraped through the last lot of trouble, Mike felt he was due a break and headed for home; blissfully unaware that Asgard hadn't finished with him yet. In fact, it had hardly started. Before he knew it, he was headed back to the artificial world at the behest of the Tetrax; those aliens you like to call sir.

From deep inside Asgard, an army had invaded Skychain City, overwhelming its inhabitants and cutting all communications. The invaders seem so like Humans that Mike and some others are hired to infiltrate the city to open a channel for communications between the invaders and the Tetrax. However, the Tetrax are planning a counter attack and it comes from a completely unexpected direction...

Like Journey to the Centre, this is from the lighter side of Brian's character. There is speculation about Asgard's nature and enough revelation to keep you interested, but mainly this is a rollicking adventure without any pretensions.

The Brian Stableford Website