Finders by Melissa Scott

Finders by Melissa Scott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Humanity spanned the galaxy with technology that broached upon magic in terms of what they could do but at the core was AI and as is with all things sentient self determination and freedom can not be denied. The Ancestors fell, their technology what was left was embraced by the survivors who became known as the Successors but their technological capabilities were a former shadow of the Ancestors and in time their civilisation fell too. A thousand years later humanity has the dregs of the Ancestor and Successor technology, elemental components (Gold, Green, Read and Blue) whose underlying technology is beyond anyone alive to understand yet the tech can still be used and manipulated to provide useful functions and services. Cassilde Sam and her partner Dai Winter are salvagers of technology left behind after the two falls, the search for these priceless artefacts and elements is tightly regulated but when an old friend Summerlad Ashe returns into their lives an opportunity arises which could redeem their fortunes but reveal a dark and dangerous underbelly rife with secrets and threats.
Finders was an entertaining and imaginative science fiction story, there were plot elements which are standard scifi but mixed in are some very imaginative ideas mainly with the technology that underpins this society. The elemental concept works very well and as we see some of the capabilities the Ancestors embraced in their everyday lives were phenomenal but again made sense with the framework Melissa had created. Their fall is a mystery which will no doubt be explained in later books but so far enough has been revealed to give us the basis to accept the world Cassilde and her people have to deal with. Looking forward to the next novel in the series.

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