It would have been nice if, among all the detailed explanation, the author had explained why the starship has no formal command structure (no captain, no navigator, no formally titled chief engineer).Ī compelling (if depressing) argument against those who still dream of an interstellar manifest destiny.Īre we not men? We are-well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z (2006).Ī zombie apocalypse is one thing. Allowing the ship’s artificial intelligence to serve as the novel’s primary omniscient narrator gives Robinson the excuse to deliver a multitude of mini science lectures (which do border on the pedantic at times, a frequent hazard of hard SF). Again, most SF imagines we’ll be able to overcome those challenges over the centuries Robinson ( Shaman, 2013, etc.) builds a fairly convincing case that we might not and vividly describes the biological and psychological damage that long-term space travel might cause. Current scientific research, as well as prevailing social, political, and economic conditions, makes that seem less sure. Science fiction from previous decades has nearly always assumed that humanity’s spreading out among the stars was not only possible, it was probable or maybe even inevitable.

Unfortunately, it soon becomes apparent that the planets and satellites of Tau Ceti may not be suitable for colonization. The ship and the biomes within it (including the people living there) are breaking down. Nearly 200 years later, the descendants of the original crew are preparing to reach their destination-and it’s none too soon, because the detrimental aspects of living in a closed (but leaking) system without recourse to fresh chemical, biological, and material supplies have begun to multiply. In the 26th century, a ship departs our solar system, bound for the Tau Ceti system and carrying 2,000 humans who live within a series of miniecosystems.

Robinson’s latest well-researched novel exposes the fundamental flaws in one of science fiction’s most beloved tropes: the multigenerational space ark traveling at sub–light speed to colonize a planet around a distant star.

Aurora stanley robinson