Outernet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Outernet is a humorous series of children's science fiction books written by Steve Barlow and Steve Skidmore.
The term "outernet" was also used to describe anything especially "old media" that were not "on the Internet" such as books, magazines, newspapers, radio, TV etc. In other words, the Outernet is a play of the Internet similar to copyright vs copyleft.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
[edit] Book Two: Control
With his personal agenda foremost, Loaf cons Jack into giving him The Server in an attempt to make money, which requires him to take out a loan from aliens. His greed causes the seemingly impregnable Chain protecting Earth from the FOEs to be broken, so the Tyrant sends another of the Bugs to get The Server back. As a result, Jack and his friends are stranded on Deadrock, a dangerous planet, crawling with FOEs, and Loaf runs into several representatives of the nastiest loan sharks in the Galaxy. Loaf owes them money and they'd like a word with him. Back on Earth, the Bug poses as an agent of the U.S. government and gains control of Merle's father, Colonel Stone, commander of a USAF base in England. Jack and Merle find allies- but the Deadrock Freedom Fighters face terrible odds, and all they have on their side are primitive weapons and the cranky Help application. Oh, and Loaf - but he may have been reformatted when captured by The Tyrant. As revolution rages on Deadrock, Jack and his Friends return to Earth in an attempt to rescue Colonel Stone and keep The Server from the FOEs. They eventually destroy the Deadrock Server, which FOEs had set up to monitor all information passed through it electronically (speech was forbidden) and reintroduce the residents to talking. At the end, Janus contacts them from N-space and directs them to the planet Helios to meet Tiresias, the "sightless one who sees all things" (a reference to the Greek Tiresias.
[edit] Book Three: Odyssey
Following Janus's instructions, Jack, Merle, Loaf, Bitz, and Googie attempt to teleport to Helios. However, they are intercepted and detained on a planet populated by spiders. Each time they attempt to leave, they are returned to their original location and time, with no memory of their original arrival. Eventually the Help program is able to break the vicious circle. This leads them to Googie's home planet, Kippo VI. She is arrested as a traitor, but the humans find themselves able to shapeshift due to parasitic natives of the planet that endow all residents or visitors with the ability. They fight off FOE attacks, helped by Loaf, who is being controlled by a chip that Tracer implanted in him. (This causes him to always assume the form of a pig.)
Unable to teleport to Helios, they look for affordable spaceship transportation and find it in the form of hippie Zodiac Hobo and his anonymous ship, which complains about its status as such until Merle names it Trigger. They arrive safely and are accosted by the Collectors of Helios, a parody of Earth monks. They are led to the Sightless One, who promises to input the Weaver's coordinates if he is given the Server. He is revealed as Tracer, however. It's not long before the Friends find the true Tiresias, a monstrous life-form bound to a computer that collects knowledge but can do nothing with it. After meeting Janus in N-space (he removes Loaf from Tracer's control), they serve as eyes for Tiresias, letting him see the universe before dying in peace.
[edit] Book Four: Time Out
Jack, Merle, Loaf and their companions Googie and Bitz travel back in time to Vered II, homeworld of tree-dwelling computer genius Selenity Dreeb, a member of a group of computer fanatics called the Weavers. Merle attempts to return to her own time, but winds up in an alternate universe in which the Outernet was never created: Tracer is invading Earth, and she is a rebel on the opposite side of the war from Jack. Lothar, Loaf's alternative self, tells her that the alternate version of her was killed but that they had had a relationship. She brings him back with her to Selenity's time, where Jack gives Selenity the information needed to start the Outernet. A jealous Loaf leaves the alternate Lothar behind when they try and return to Earth, but in that timeline Janus and Sirius/Bitz were captured by FOEs on Vered. They go to a recent version of Vered and wind up having to create three copies of themselves to allow Janus and Sirius to escape. It is revealed that Help was previously helpful, but months of being carried across the countryside by Bitz corrupted his memory. When they return to Earth, the time-traveling capability is disabled.
[edit] Book Five: The Hunt
The Tyrant has retired the Bugs for their repeated failures and recruited Bounty Hunters, the ruthless, self-serving scum of the universe. Their task is to hunt down The Server along with Jack and his Friends. Mad Moxie, the Thing With No Name and Tingkat Bumbag (the most feared Hunter in the Galaxy) are bad enough, but when The Tyrant's renegade ex-Communications Chief and Zodiac Hobo, space adventurer extraordinaire (not forgetting Zodiac's ship Trigger) lend a hand (or in Tracer's case, six hands), things get seriously out of hand. What follows is a roller-coaster ride around the Earth as Jack and his companions try to stay one step ahead of the Bounty Hunters and activate the planet's ancient defences against alien invasion. They use a low-tech form of teleportation, traveling to Stonehenge (where Janus and Sirius originally landed), the Great Pyramid of Giza, Machu Picchu, Uluru, and Shangri-La to complete a chain that will defend Earth. The Tyrant, however, takes advantage of their absence to capture Jack's parents.
[edit] Book Six: Weaver
Jack and his companions have foiled The Tyrant, leader of the FOEs and Most Evil Being in the Galaxy, time after time. But this time, it's different. This time, it's personal. Because this time, The Tyrant has kidnapped Jack's parents! And now Merle, Loaf, Googie and Bitz have to help Jack take the fight to the Dread Lord himself, to the depths of the Dark Pyramid. The final struggle to save The Server, and with it the Outernet, the Pan-Galactic Web itself, is about to begin.
Janus gives Help access to a startling secret: the Bugs, believed to be genetically engineered, were in fact a thriving species before The Tyrant annihilated all but one and cloned it. With this knowledge, the Bugs willingly come to Jack's side for the showdown. The Tyrant is revealed to be Lothar, who grew bitter on Vered. The Weaver turns out to be Tracer, who has contained Selenity's consciousness as well through a mind-meld. The Tyrant disappears into N-Space, and Tracer/Selenity/Weaver is physically killed but able to survive consciously through the Outernet. Jack takes on the title of Weaver and moves to the U. S., promising to keep in touch with Merle.
