In 2061 the most advanced nations on Earth send an expedition to Halley’s Comet. As they recover from decades of ecological damage they hope to mine it for millions of tons of rich chemicals. When they arrive initially things go very well despite a few accidental deaths. But when machinery begins to fail, clogged with an unknown fungus, it seems that their problems are just beginning. When the expedition members themselves start falling ill they realise just what they are up against. The organic compounds deep in the ice are in fact hibernating alien life forms that react to the heat, light and oxygen the people from Earth need to survive. So the fight is on, between strange alien life and the technical know-how of humanity. But when things get really tough the scientists and engineers begin to split into factions each with its own political and ecological agenda. The question on everyone’s mind is: Can humanity be united enough to take control of the comet or will internal divisions finally kill them all?
Despite being slightly too long – by a hundred pages or so – this was a very interesting and enjoyable hard SF novel. Not only were the details of ‘catching’ and burrowing into the comet explored but the authors allowed the protagonists to discuss Artificial Intelligence, uploading of consciousness, tele-operation, the ethics of genetic engineering, the biology and evolution of exotic life forms, the origin of life on Earth, symbiotic relationships and other stiff I can’t remember. There were even detailed diagrams! Something you don’t often see in novels outside the SF genre. If this wasn’t enough, the authors had created a number of very interesting (and three dimensional) characters with believable motivations and deep back stories. The political side of things was also handled really well. Shaped by the Hell Years of ecological disasters we were allowed to see brief glimpses of the national, international, and religious ramifications of a world and a humanity in deep trouble. The only down side to the whole novel is the authors inability to end it cleanly – or at least at the appropriate moment. I can only guess that they got carried away with having so many good ideas that they didn’t want to let any of them go – no matter how little they contributed to the overall story arch. But that’s a pretty minor quibble really when taking into account just how good this book was. Certainly recommended for any hard SF fan.
3 comments:
Interesting: so this comet that whizzes by the Earth every few decades is packing slumbering creatures? Did the book explore how they came to be inside the comet?
Also, from your vantage point (being a regular reader of hard SF), are futuristic stories about Earth's history more dominated more by pessimistic scenarios these days? Asimov is the only 'straight' SF reader I've read (excluding Trek and Star Wars authors), and he's always optimistic....which is understandable given the optimism people had about science and technology making society better back in the 1950s.(Judging by vintage SF stories I've read and those "Life in the Future" videos I see on Youtube making predictions about the world of 2000 and so on...)
Cool. I have books by both of these authors that I haven't read yet. This book sounds like it is right up my alley.
sc said: so this comet that whizzes by the Earth every few decades is packing slumbering creatures?
Yes, who 'wake up' to live and breed everytime the comet approaches the inner Solar system and warms up.....
sc said: Did the book explore how they came to be inside the comet?
Yes, but I didn't want to give too much away as it's an interesting side story.....
sc said: are futuristic stories about Earth's history dominated more by pessimistic scenarios these days?
More realistic I think these days. HotC was written in 1986 so was still fairly optimistic but recognised that there are many problems to be faced most of which are of our own making. Many of the characters - on the science side - had an optimistic view of what science could do tinged with the knowledge of how things had sometimes gone baddly in the past. The genetic engineering sub-plot makes this very explicit.
These days the future is seen somewhat less optimistically in SF I think. There are lots of world disaster books where humanity falls apart in the face of great challenges - often caused by us either accidentally or deliberately. SF in particular and our culture in general seems to have lost faith in our future and our powers to shape it positively.
I'm planning on reading 10 books in the upcoming months based on Future Earth. I'll see if I can mix the 'good' and the 'bad', though it might be biased as I little time for Utopia. It'll be interesting to see if our 'future' gets worse as the books get more up to date.... [muses]
dbackdad said: This book sounds like it is right up my alley.
Definitely from what I know of your interests.
Post a Comment