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{{title dab away}}
{{real world}}
{{real world}}
{{TitleNovel}}
{{Infobox Story SMW
{{Infobox Other Novels|
|image          = <gallery>
name= The Mary-Sue Extrusion |
The Mary-Sue Extrusion.jpg|1999
image= The_Mary-Sue_Extrusion.jpg |
The Mary-Sue Extrusion PD.jpg|2007
series= [[Virgin Bernice Summerfield New Adventures|Virgin <br /> Bernice Summerfield New Adventures]] |
</gallery>
number= 18 |
|series         = [[Virgin New Adventures]]
main character= 'The [[Stratum Seven Agent]]'|
|range          = Virgin New Adventures
featuring= [[Jason Kane]] <br /> [[Emile Mars-Smith]]<br />[[Bernice Summerfield]]|
|number in range = 79
enemy= [[All-High Gods]]|
|number         = 79
year= {{bp|[[Earth Station Prime]] (The Luna Port), [[2595]]|[[Proxima IV]], Proximian Terminal, [[2595]]|''[[Star of Afrique]]'' (enroute  away from [[Proxima IV]])|[[Thanaxos]], Spaceport Landing Field & the off-worlder detention facility, off the coast of Thanaxos's major landmass, [[2595]] (for a month or so)|[[Dellah]], ruins of [[St. Oscar's University]], [[2595]]|[[Proximan Chain]], [[2595]]|[[Beta Caprisis]], [[2595]]|[[Thanaxos]], [[Thanaxon House Royal]], Lawns and House, [[2595]]}} |
|main character = [[Stratum Seven agent]]
writer= [[Dave Stone]]|
|featuring       = Jason Kane
publisher= [[Virgin Books]] |
|featuring2      = Emile Mars-Smith
release date= February, [[1999]] |
|featuring3      = Mira (Ship of Fools)
format= Paperback Book, 243 Pages |
|featuring4      = Bernice Summerfield
isbn= ISBN 0-426-20531-6 |
|enemy           = [[All-High God]]s
previous story= Where Angels Fear (novel) |
|setting        = [[Thanaxos]], [[Dellah]] and the [[Proximan Chain]], [[2595]]  
next story= Dead Romance (novel)}}
|writer          = Dave Stone
'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' is the eighteenth [[Virgin Bernice Summerfield New Adventures]] novel. It is the first novel since ''[[Deadfall]]'' to be almost entirely told from a point of view other than Bernice Summerfield's. The story is primarily told from the point of view of the (unnamed) [[Strantum Seven Agent]]. He does however encounter several of Bernice's friends and associates throughout the novel.
|cover          = [[Fred Gambino]]
|publisher       = Virgin Books
|release date   = 1 February 1999
|format         = Paperback Book, 243 Pages
|isbn           = ISBN 0-426-20531-6
|prev            = Where Angels Fear (novel)
|next           = Dead Romance (novel)
|release date2=9 October 2015 (ebook)|release date3=|reprint=March 2007}}
'''''The Mary-Sue Extrusion''''' was the seventy-ninth [[Virgin New Adventures]] novel. It was the first novel since ''[[Deadfall (novel)|Deadfall]]'' to be almost entirely told from the point of view of somebody other than [[Bernice Summerfield]], being told from the point of view of the [[Stratum Seven agent]]. He did, however, encounter several of Benny's friends and associates throughout the novel.


== Publisher's summary ==
== Publisher's summary ==
''''Bernice Summerfield seemed to hold the key. She was in it up to her neck, and she was the one person left who could tell me what I needed to know. I rather hoped it wouldn't be necessary to snap said neck and kill her.''''
=== Virgin ===
"[[Bernice Summerfield]] seemed to hold the key. She was in it up to her neck, and she was the one person left who could tell me what I needed to know. I rather hoped it wouldn't be necessary to snap said neck and kill her."


The planet [[Dellah]] was once one of the cultural centres of the [[galaxy]]. Now, it lies in ruins and things walk through the barren landscape, twisting the unfortunates who remain there to their unholy will.
The planet [[Dellah]] was once one of the cultural centres of the [[galaxy]]. Now, it lies in ruins and things walk through the barren landscape, twisting the unfortunates who remain there to their unholy will.


The tragic effects of this cataclysm have been felt throughout local space, from cruel and draconian [[Thanaxos]] to the multiplexal chaos of the Proximan Chain Rafts. All know the ultimate result: a war is coming - is inevitable - and is set to blow the fragile stability of the galactic sector apart.
The tragic effects of this cataclysm have been felt throughout local space, from cruel and draconian [[Thanaxos]] to the multiplexal chaos of the [[Proximan Chain Rafts]]. All know the ultimate result: a war is coming - is inevitable - and is set to blow the fragile stability of the galactic sector apart.


Only one person has the pieces of the puzzle that might prevent the coming collapse - Bernice Summerfield. The problem is, she's missing, and what's more she's not feeling precisely herself. And if Benny doesn't find out exactly who she is, and how she can fit into her newly shattered world, there isn't going to be a world for her to come back to at all.  
Only one person has the pieces of the puzzle that might prevent the coming collapse - Bernice Summerfield. The problem is, she's missing, and what's more she's not feeling precisely herself. And if Benny doesn't find out exactly who she is, and how she can fit into her newly shattered world, there isn't going to be a world for her to come back to at all.
 
=== Reprint ===
'[[Delbane]] was the one who could tell me what I needed to know. She was in it up to her neck. I rather hoped I wouldn't have to snap it.'
 
The planet [[Samara]]h, once the home of the über-rich, now lies in ruins. And things stalk through them, twisting the survivors to their unholy will.The effects are being felt from the [[Thanaxos Hegemony]] to the heart of the [[Proximan Chain]]. There's a war coming, and it's coming soon, and nobody will be crawling from the wreckage.
 
Only [[Pandora Delbane|Pandora]] has the pieces to the puzzle that, if solved, might prevent the impending collapse. Only problem is she's missing. And she's not entirely herself. Oh, all right; two problems.
 
Yet another tale revivified by the author to suit these modern times, and all the cool hep-cats with their pompadours and electric banjos. Give me beer vouchers. Give them to me now.
 
== Chapter titles ==
* Prologue
* Chapter 1
* Attachment (Supplementary)
* Chapter 2
* Chapter 3
* Supplementary Insert
* Chapter 4
* Supplementary Insert
* Chapter 5
* Background Insert (Personal File)
* Chapter 6
* Background Insert (Personal File)
* Chapter 7
* Attachment (Supplementary)
* Chapter 8
* Supplementary Insert
* Chapter 9
* Chapter 10
* Supplementary Insert
* Chapter 11
* Supplementary Insert
* Chapter 12
* Background Insert (Personal File)
* Chapter 13
* Attachment (Supplementary)
* Chapter 14
* Chapter 15
* Chapter 16
* Supplementary Insert
* Chapter 17 (Endgame)
* Attachment (Tentative Conclusions)


== Plot ==
== Plot ==
''to be added''
Needing a job, [[Stratum Seven agent|an agent]] of [[Stratum Seven]] clearance travels to [[the Moon|Luna]] and has [[Box (The Mary-Sue Extrusion)|Box]] crack into the comms system. He accepts a job from [[Volan (The Mary-Sue Extrusion)|Volan]] of [[Pseudopod Enterprises SA]] and, after surviving an attempt on his life, heads to the [[Dellah]]an sector and reads about [[Bernice Summerfield]], identifying her as a fellow [[time travel]]ler and potential asset. On the ''[[Star of Afrique]]'', the captain and crew turn against him and he kills them before taking the ship and flying to [[Thanaxos]] to find Benny.
 
The agent gets himself arrested by the [[Thanaxon]]s and taken to the off-worlder [[detention camp]] where, after three weeks, he finds [[Sabron Jones|Professor Sabron Jones]] and is told that Benny flew to [[Heaven (afterlife)|heaven]] in the arms of [[Clarence|an angel]]. Jones dies in an escape attempt, putting the agent into a state of [[depression]] until he is reunited with [[Sela Dane]], a [[journalist]] whom he once saved from [[White Fire]] [[terrorism|terrorists]] and who convinces the Thanaxons that he is undercover. They fly to [[Rakath]] and the agent is tasked by another version of Volan with acting as [[bodyguard]] to [[G'jimo|Prince G'jimo]] during his visit to meet the [[Sultan of the Tashwari]] on Dellah.
 
Slipping away from the Sultan's palace, the agent goes to the ruins of [[St Oscar's University]] and finds [[Bernice Summerfield's diaries|Benny's diary]] in which she writes about her companion, Rebecca, and about how she took a [[Mary-Sue]]. The agent fails to notice G'jimo acting strangely and, hurt, does not question Sela when she breaks off their [[sex]]ual relationship because of it being immoral.
 
The agent travels to the [[Proximan Chain]] where his search for Benny brings him to the attention of [[Jason Kane]], whose quasi-[[telepathy|telepathic]] friend, [[Mira (Ship of Fools)|Mira]], uses her power to assess that the agent is not a threat. The three of them go to [[Beta Caprisis]] after Jason recognises the name "Rebecca" as belonging to Benny's [[doll]] and they find her, with [[Wolsey]], calling herself "Rebecca" and her doll "Benny". Stranding the people who tried to kill the agent on Luna, Benny tells the group that she returned to Dellah to save Wolsey and that the Mary-Sue was to protect her from being influenced by the gods.
 
G'jimo has returned to Thanaxos as a [[prophet]]. On the way there, Benny requests that they land on an unnamed planet to pick up [[Emile Mars-Smith]], who has [[exile]]d himself to starve the god in his mind, in the hopes that the god within him and the one now on Thanaxos will cancel each other out. However, the god within Emile began taking on the other's power until the agent punches Emile in the face and knocks him out. The agent then confronts the Thanaxon Volan about sending the [[assassin]]s after him to keep him from exposing his embezzlement of Pseudopod [[money]], leading Volan to throw a [[stupid bomb]] and run.
 
The stupid bomb kills G'jimo and, the agent believes, the god dies with him. The agent realises that the Volan on Luna had sent him to uncover the other Volan's [[crime]]s rather than to help Dellah. In his report, he changes his personality and history to keep his identity secret.


== Characters ==
== Characters ==
* [[Strantum Seven Agent]]
* [[Stratum Seven agent]]
* [[Box (The Mary-Sue Extrusion)|Box]]
* [[Mara Lutace Grabor]]
* [[Simonon Leviticus Sleed]]
* [[Volan (Luna)|Volan]]
* [[Liau Mei Chung]]
* [[Joey (The Mary-Sue Extrusion)|Joey]]
* [[Annie (The Mary-Sue Extrusion)|Annie]]
* [[Mico]]
* [[Megan (The Mary-Sue Extrusion)|Megan]]
* [[Sabron Jones]]
* [[Sela Dane]]
* [[Sela Dane]]
* Prince [[G'jimbo]]
* [[G'ran]]
* [[Emile Mars-Smith]]
* [[Gnatbeadle]]
* [[D'nar]]
* [[G'jimo]]
* [[Volan (Thanaxos)|Volan]]
* [[Kimo Ani]]
* [[Jason Kane]]
* [[Jason Kane]]
* [[Mira (female)|Mira]]
* [[Mira (Ship of Fools)|Mira]]
* Professor [[Sabron Jones]]
* [[Bernice Summerfield]]
* [[Bernice Summerfield]]
* [[Wolsey]]
* [[Emile Mars-Smith]]


== References ==
=== Original to reprint ===
* [[Pandora Delbane]]


=== [[:Category:Businesses|Businesses]] ===
== Worldbuilding ==
* [[Pseudopod Enterprises SA]] are a 'holding corporation' (ie a front), for other less savoury companies, they employ the Agent to investigate the situation on [[Dellah]].
=== Businesses ===
* [[Pseudopod Enterprises SA]] are a "holding corporation" (ie a front) for other, less savoury companies.


=== [[:Category:Individuals|Individuals]] ===
=== Individuals ===
* The [[Strantum Seven Agent]] has [[Stratum Seven]] clearance, which recognises certain skills and standing, there's no such thing as levels one through to six clearance. He a brain print originating from the late late [[21st century]].
* The [[Stratum Seven Agent]] has [[Stratum Seven]] clearance.
* [[Roz Forrester]] and [[Chris Cwej]] make quick appearances (in description, but not name) and the Agent has met them before. <ref>''The Mary-Sue Extrusion'', page 129</ref>
* Prince [[G'jimo]], is a quite stupid individual. He gets possessed by an [[All-High God]] (the Dellahan gods).
* Prince [[G'jimbo]], is a quite stupid individual, he gets possessed by a [[All-High God]] (the Dellahan gods).
* [[Mira (Ship of Fools)|Mira]] isn't a [[telepath]].
* [[Emile Mars-Smith]] is hiding out on an unnamed planed meditating to keep control of the [[god]] in his head.
* Professor Sabron Jones used to be a [[chemist]] at [[St Oscar's University]], but is now held at detention facility, tortured by the inmates. He saw Benny being saved by [[Clarence]].
* [[Jason Kane]] has been working with Mira, he's described as
* [[Bernice Summerfield]] has a "[[Mary-Sue]]" performed. Following the Mary Sue she calls herself Rebecca. Her return to Dellah to pick up [[Wolsey]] was the incident that activated the Mary Sue.
:''"Mid-thirties, with the lean masculinity that comes from putting muscles to their daily use, brown-skinned with distinctive skin tone that spoke of expensively micro-customised [[gene-modification]] so that the skin could withstand high-UV and high-radiation suns. ...a vest that showed the traces of primitive childhood gang [[tattoo]]s on his shoulders and arms."'' <ref>''The Mary-Sue Extrusion'', page 189</ref>
* [[Mira (female)|Mira]] isn't a [[telepath]], but has augmented her body and brain so much, and jacked to such a high level that she might as well be a one.
* [[Sabron Jones|Professor Sabron Jones]] used to be a [[chemist]] at St. Oscars University, but is now held at detention facility, tortured some what by the inmates. He saw Benny being saved by [[Clarence]].
* [[Bernice Summerfield]] has a '[[Mary-Sue]]' performed, following the Mary Sue she calls herself Rebecca. When she returned to Dellah to pick up [[Wolsey]] it was that incident activated the Mary Sue.


=== [[:Category:Literature|Literature]] ===
=== Literature ===
* ''[[A True Adventure of the New Frontier]]'' is the name of the books written (by various authors) about Benny's adventures.
* ''[[A True Adventure of the New Frontier]]'' is the name of the books written (by various authors) about Benny's adventures.
* The Stratum Seven Agent reads a '''A True Adventure of the New Frontier''' called ''Ship of Death'' which (badly) details the events on the ''[[Titanian Queen]]'').
* The Stratum Seven Agent reads ''[[A True Adventure of the New Frontier]]'' called ''[[Ship of Death]]'' which (badly) details the events on the ''[[Titanian Queen]]''.


=== [[:Category:Locations|Locations]] ===
=== Locations ===
* [[Earth Station Prime]] is also known as: Ptolemaeus Staging Port, Puerto Luminae, Heng O's Refuge, Lunaville, Colony One and The Luna Port.  
* [[Earth Station Prime]] is also known as Ptolemaeus Staging Port, Puerto Luminae, Heng O's Refuge, Lunaville, Colony One and the Luna Port.
* [[Beta Caprisis]] is a waste land resulted from some high yield detonations that decimated the colony, what was once grass is now like molten glass smeared over the land, there are still moderate levels of radiation.
* [[Aeon Flux]] is a [[capital city]] on [[Mars]].
* [[Dellah]] is turning back to dust as the sky pylon is gone, so no more rain.
* [[Beta Caprisis]] is a wasteland caused by high yield detonations that decimated the colony. What was once grass is now like molten glass smeared over the land. There are still moderate levels of radiation.


=== [[:Category:Newsreaders|Newsreaders]] ===
=== Newsreaders ===
* [[Sela Dane]] is a [[DataDay]] newscaster.
* [[Sela Dane]] is a [[DataDay]] newscaster.


=== [[:Category:Planets|Planets]] ===
=== Planets ===
* Professor Sabron Jones grew [[begonia]]s that Benny found on the Earth's [[The Moon|moon]].
* Professor Sabron Jones grew [[begonia]]s that Benny found on the Earth's [[The Moon|moon]].


=== [[:Category:Species|Species]] ===
=== Species ===
* There are several [[Spindleking]]s shopping in the [[Proximan Chain]].
* There are several [[Spindleking]]s shopping in the [[Proximan Chain]].
* The [[Strantum Seven Agent]] is a [[Synthoid]].
* The [[Stratum Seven Agent]] is a [[Synthoid (The Mary-Sue Extrusion)|Synthoid]].
* A [[Draal (species)|Draal]] refugee from Dellah is imprisoned in Thanaxos.


=== [[:Category:Technology|Technology]] ===
=== Technology ===
* The Agent mentions [[body bepple]] and [[body swap]].
* The Agent mentions [[body bepple]] and [[body swap]].
* Benny gets a [[Mary-Sue]], which is usually a complete mind wipe and rebuild process, rebuilding a completely new person, complete with memories and personality. Benny's personality was only buried underneath the new personality not erased.


=== [[:Category:Time travel|Time travel]] ===
=== Time travel ===
* [[Time travel]]lers are sometimes called persons of '''meta-temporal displacement'''.
* [[Time travel]]lers are sometimes called persons of "meta-temporal displacement".
* There is a side reference to various Doctors when discussing time travel; ''"Far too many connotations with gibbering idiots in flappy scarves, elderly gentlemen in wire-frame spectacles, stove pipe hats and so forth."'' (which would be a reference to the [[Fourth Doctor]], [[First Doctor]] and [[Second Doctor]]).
 
=== [[:Category:Weapons|Weapons]] ===
* At the final confrontation on Thanaxos with Volan he activates a [[stupid bomb]] which locks onto the stupidest person in the room which happened to be Prince [[G'jimbo]] who is killed.


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
* This is told entirely from the Stratum Seven Agent's point of view, occasionally dipping into his past and into various emails and '''A True Adventure of the New Frontier''' stories.
* This is told entirely from the Stratum Seven Agent's point of view, occasionally dipping into his past and into various emails and ''A True Adventure of the New Frontier'' stories.
* Although the term "Mary-Sue" has a different meaning in this novel, in fan fiction circles it is also a widely-used term that describes a character created by the author of a fan fiction story who not only serves as an "avatar" or "fantasy figure" representation of the author, but invariably this character "saves the day" for the established characters.
* Although the term "[[Mary-Sue]]" has a different meaning in this novel, in fan fiction circles it describes a character created by the author who not only serves as an "avatar" or "fantasy figure" representation of the author but invariably "saves the day" for the established characters.
* The title was chosen by [[Kate Orman]], but when her schedule meant she had to drop out, Dave Stone filled in by adapting material from a draft of an original novel.
* In [[March (releases)|March]] [[2007 (releases)|2007]], years after the book went out of print, Stone published a revised version of the novel with Benny Summerfield replaced by [[Pandora Delbane]]. An ebook was later released on the Amazon Kindle store on [[9 October (releases)|9 October]] [[2015 (releases)|2015]].


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
* Benny was saved and rescued from Dellah in [[BNA]]: ''[[Where Angels Fear]]''.
* Benny was saved and rescued from Dellah in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Where Angels Fear (novel)|Where Angels Fear]]''.
* There is an excerpt from 'A True Adventure of a New Frontier' called ''Ship of Death'', which features a particularly bad retelling of [[BNA]]: ''[[Ship of Fools (novel)|Ship of Fools]]''.
* There is an excerpt from ''A True Adventure of a New Frontier'' called ''Ship of Death'', which features a particularly bad retelling of [[PROSE]]: ''[[Ship of Fools (novel)|Ship of Fools]]''.


== External links ==
== External links ==
* {{dwrefguide|who_na79.htm|The Mary-Sue Extrusion}}
{{dwrefguide|who_na79.htm|The Mary-Sue Extrusion}}
* {{whoniverse|bs18.php|The Mary-Sue Extrusion}}
* {{whoniverse|na79|The Mary-Sue Extrusion}}
 
* [https://mysite.science.uottawa.ca/rsmith43/cloister/mary.htm The Cloister Library: '''The Mary-Sue Extrusion''']
== Footnotes ==
{{reflist}}
{{BNA}}
{{BNA}}
{{TitleSort}}
{{TitleSort}}


[[Category:1999 novels|Mary-Sue]]
[[Category:Bernice Summerfield sources]]
[[Category:BNA novels|Mary-Sue Extrusion]]
[[Category:1999 novels]]
[[Category:BNA novels]]
[[Category:Stories set in 2595]]
[[Category:Novels set on Dellah]]

Latest revision as of 20:09, 30 April 2024

RealWorld.png

The Mary-Sue Extrusion was the seventy-ninth Virgin New Adventures novel. It was the first novel since Deadfall to be almost entirely told from the point of view of somebody other than Bernice Summerfield, being told from the point of view of the Stratum Seven agent. He did, however, encounter several of Benny's friends and associates throughout the novel.

Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]

Virgin[[edit] | [edit source]]

"Bernice Summerfield seemed to hold the key. She was in it up to her neck, and she was the one person left who could tell me what I needed to know. I rather hoped it wouldn't be necessary to snap said neck and kill her."

The planet Dellah was once one of the cultural centres of the galaxy. Now, it lies in ruins and things walk through the barren landscape, twisting the unfortunates who remain there to their unholy will.

The tragic effects of this cataclysm have been felt throughout local space, from cruel and draconian Thanaxos to the multiplexal chaos of the Proximan Chain Rafts. All know the ultimate result: a war is coming - is inevitable - and is set to blow the fragile stability of the galactic sector apart.

Only one person has the pieces of the puzzle that might prevent the coming collapse - Bernice Summerfield. The problem is, she's missing, and what's more she's not feeling precisely herself. And if Benny doesn't find out exactly who she is, and how she can fit into her newly shattered world, there isn't going to be a world for her to come back to at all.

Reprint[[edit] | [edit source]]

'Delbane was the one who could tell me what I needed to know. She was in it up to her neck. I rather hoped I wouldn't have to snap it.'

The planet Samarah, once the home of the über-rich, now lies in ruins. And things stalk through them, twisting the survivors to their unholy will.The effects are being felt from the Thanaxos Hegemony to the heart of the Proximan Chain. There's a war coming, and it's coming soon, and nobody will be crawling from the wreckage.

Only Pandora has the pieces to the puzzle that, if solved, might prevent the impending collapse. Only problem is she's missing. And she's not entirely herself. Oh, all right; two problems.

Yet another tale revivified by the author to suit these modern times, and all the cool hep-cats with their pompadours and electric banjos. Give me beer vouchers. Give them to me now.

Chapter titles[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Prologue
  • Chapter 1
  • Attachment (Supplementary)
  • Chapter 2
  • Chapter 3
  • Supplementary Insert
  • Chapter 4
  • Supplementary Insert
  • Chapter 5
  • Background Insert (Personal File)
  • Chapter 6
  • Background Insert (Personal File)
  • Chapter 7
  • Attachment (Supplementary)
  • Chapter 8
  • Supplementary Insert
  • Chapter 9
  • Chapter 10
  • Supplementary Insert
  • Chapter 11
  • Supplementary Insert
  • Chapter 12
  • Background Insert (Personal File)
  • Chapter 13
  • Attachment (Supplementary)
  • Chapter 14
  • Chapter 15
  • Chapter 16
  • Supplementary Insert
  • Chapter 17 (Endgame)
  • Attachment (Tentative Conclusions)

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

Needing a job, an agent of Stratum Seven clearance travels to Luna and has Box crack into the comms system. He accepts a job from Volan of Pseudopod Enterprises SA and, after surviving an attempt on his life, heads to the Dellahan sector and reads about Bernice Summerfield, identifying her as a fellow time traveller and potential asset. On the Star of Afrique, the captain and crew turn against him and he kills them before taking the ship and flying to Thanaxos to find Benny.

The agent gets himself arrested by the Thanaxons and taken to the off-worlder detention camp where, after three weeks, he finds Professor Sabron Jones and is told that Benny flew to heaven in the arms of an angel. Jones dies in an escape attempt, putting the agent into a state of depression until he is reunited with Sela Dane, a journalist whom he once saved from White Fire terrorists and who convinces the Thanaxons that he is undercover. They fly to Rakath and the agent is tasked by another version of Volan with acting as bodyguard to Prince G'jimo during his visit to meet the Sultan of the Tashwari on Dellah.

Slipping away from the Sultan's palace, the agent goes to the ruins of St Oscar's University and finds Benny's diary in which she writes about her companion, Rebecca, and about how she took a Mary-Sue. The agent fails to notice G'jimo acting strangely and, hurt, does not question Sela when she breaks off their sexual relationship because of it being immoral.

The agent travels to the Proximan Chain where his search for Benny brings him to the attention of Jason Kane, whose quasi-telepathic friend, Mira, uses her power to assess that the agent is not a threat. The three of them go to Beta Caprisis after Jason recognises the name "Rebecca" as belonging to Benny's doll and they find her, with Wolsey, calling herself "Rebecca" and her doll "Benny". Stranding the people who tried to kill the agent on Luna, Benny tells the group that she returned to Dellah to save Wolsey and that the Mary-Sue was to protect her from being influenced by the gods.

G'jimo has returned to Thanaxos as a prophet. On the way there, Benny requests that they land on an unnamed planet to pick up Emile Mars-Smith, who has exiled himself to starve the god in his mind, in the hopes that the god within him and the one now on Thanaxos will cancel each other out. However, the god within Emile began taking on the other's power until the agent punches Emile in the face and knocks him out. The agent then confronts the Thanaxon Volan about sending the assassins after him to keep him from exposing his embezzlement of Pseudopod money, leading Volan to throw a stupid bomb and run.

The stupid bomb kills G'jimo and, the agent believes, the god dies with him. The agent realises that the Volan on Luna had sent him to uncover the other Volan's crimes rather than to help Dellah. In his report, he changes his personality and history to keep his identity secret.

Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]

Original to reprint[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Businesses[[edit] | [edit source]]

Individuals[[edit] | [edit source]]

Literature[[edit] | [edit source]]

Locations[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Earth Station Prime is also known as Ptolemaeus Staging Port, Puerto Luminae, Heng O's Refuge, Lunaville, Colony One and the Luna Port.
  • Aeon Flux is a capital city on Mars.
  • Beta Caprisis is a wasteland caused by high yield detonations that decimated the colony. What was once grass is now like molten glass smeared over the land. There are still moderate levels of radiation.

Newsreaders[[edit] | [edit source]]

Planets[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Professor Sabron Jones grew begonias that Benny found on the Earth's moon.

Species[[edit] | [edit source]]

Technology[[edit] | [edit source]]

Time travel[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Time travellers are sometimes called persons of "meta-temporal displacement".

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • This is told entirely from the Stratum Seven Agent's point of view, occasionally dipping into his past and into various emails and A True Adventure of the New Frontier stories.
  • Although the term "Mary-Sue" has a different meaning in this novel, in fan fiction circles it describes a character created by the author who not only serves as an "avatar" or "fantasy figure" representation of the author but invariably "saves the day" for the established characters.
  • The title was chosen by Kate Orman, but when her schedule meant she had to drop out, Dave Stone filled in by adapting material from a draft of an original novel.
  • In March 2007, years after the book went out of print, Stone published a revised version of the novel with Benny Summerfield replaced by Pandora Delbane. An ebook was later released on the Amazon Kindle store on 9 October 2015.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Benny was saved and rescued from Dellah in PROSE: Where Angels Fear.
  • There is an excerpt from A True Adventure of a New Frontier called Ship of Death, which features a particularly bad retelling of PROSE: Ship of Fools.

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]