Brad Linaweaver's latest novel is based on the Fox TV show, Sliders, created by Tracy Torme and Robert K. Weiss. Strip away the media tie-in however, and Sliders: The Novel easily functions as a stand alone work and a superb alternate history novel. Linaweaver has wide experience with alternate history fiction; after all, his Prometheus award winning novel, Moon of Ice, is perhaps the most daring and interesting alternative history novel ever written of Nazi Germany winning the war.

Sliders: The Novel takes a different approach. It is set in our time, in a very familiar San Francisco, and while not as impeccably detailed and chilling as Moon of Ice, it remains a powerful piece of fiction.

The premise is classic sf: Quinn Mallory, a prodigy and basement scientist/college student, discovers a way to travel between alternate worlds. Preparing to slowly explore the nature of his discovery, Mallory is joined by a friend, Wade Wells, and Mallory's college professor, Maximillian Arturo. They label their method of travel “sliding,” as the gateway which Mallory opens works like a tunnel.

Upon first sight of Mallory's gadget, they leap right into the void a donut shaped silvery slideway into another day. By accident, they suck up an innocent bystander into their gateway, singer Rembrandt Brown, and begin their adventures.

It turns out they have little control over where they slide. Although it's always in San Francisco, the worlds may differ widely, or only in minor detail.

Instead of sliding back home, they find themselves in the midst of a strange world, similar yet different, where communism rules America, and a small band of freedom fighters keep liberty alive.

Linaweaver doesn't compromise his libertarian principles: Sliders: The Novel, is rife with libertarian references and ideas, from the premise of rebellion to more minor items. There are sly references to Atlas Shrugged, and a wonderful scene where Mallory's mother is reading her favorite novel, We the Living. Readers both familiar and unfamiliar with the TV show should pick up this novel. It's rare to see libertarian ideas in popular culture, and Linaweaver pulls off the adaptation with gusto and originality. Pencil this novel in as the first 1997 Prometheus Awards nominee.