Julia and Viktor are not only world famous explorers/astronauts, they are the founders of the growing Gusev Mars Outpost. As such they are a marketable commodity of the Consortium, the earth based mega-corporation that provides ongoing support and funding for the mars enterprise headed up by Chairman Axelrod. For twenty two years the ever present cameras have followed Julia and Viktor’s every move for replay to an avid earth audience and that’s just the tip of the relentless commercial marketing Axelrod and the Consortium subject the explorers to.
In the midst of the never ending rules and commercialism, Julia and Viktor along with an assortment of specialists are engaged in active scientific studies. They have discovered an unusual life form dubbed the marsmat. After years of study the marsmat remains a mystery. It occupies underground chambers throughout the planet and what one piece of the mat “learns” is immediately known by the remainder, but how? How does it communicate? What do the magnetic wave changes mean? Is it a form of communication or are they somehow connected to the incoming bow shock from the heliosphere?
As the mars explorers continue working on the puzzle of the marsmat, Axelrod’s headstrong daughter Shanna becomes captain of the Proserpina outbound on a new scientific voyage to Pluto. Both woman are biologists which only makes Shanna more determined to make as big a name for herself as Julia. Shanna does make spectacular discoveries upon what was once thought to be a dead planet but her arrogance can’t help but rub crew members the wrong way. Tensions build when Shanna learns the new ship High Flyer headed her way with fresh supplies is piloted by none other then the famous mars explorers and worse yet, they have authority over her.
The two ships begin travel beyond Pluto in an attempt to discover why the bow shock is pushing so far into the solar system. The continued inward push has the potential to dramatically change the earth’s climate making it uninhabitable so this research venture is much more then an intellectual exercise. One of the results of this research is the discovery of a totally unexpected life form. These are creatures so different as to be nearly unrecognizable. As the captains of the two ships are forced to work together not only to learn more about the bow shock but to save themselves from attacks from the aliens, Shanna becomes even more abrasive as she attempts to prove herself better then the two mars “has beens”. This attitude isn’t helped when Julia makes a leap of logic that results in yet another significant discovery that could result in an unusual collaboration between two vastly different life forms and provides insight into the marsmat. It appears the universe is indeed interconnected in ways no one could have imagined.
Prepare to be awed, this is one of the most imaginative, innovative sci/fi tales I have read lately. It presents a smooth marriage of fiction, real science and an insightful feel for the workings of human nature making for a believable story. There is the standard formula “evil developer” vs. the “scientist” theme but refreshingly enough it’s not the real crux of the tale, rather it’s another layer of realism. You may find the start a little slow but stick with it, Benford has come up with a great read based on the overdone Red Planet story line. There are enough twists and turns to keep your attention and is thought provoking enough to have you questioning what defines a living organism. Once you get a copy of this you might as well take the phone off the hook and brew up a pot of coffee ‘cause you’ll be reading it cover to cover.
"The Sunborn" will be published March 21 in both the US and UK, you can pre-order via Amazon or Amazon UK .
Further details including an excerpt from the novel in our database .
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