I was familiar with Modesitt's name, but couldn't offhand
recall reading any of his books. Calling up his bibliography on the web, I was
frankly staggered by his output: 73 novels to date, published between 1985 and
2015 (that's an average of one novel every five months), grouped into ten
series (both SF and fantasy) with another ten stand-alone books. Plus a lot of
short fiction. On checking my shelves I was surprised to find a couple of his
novels: Of Tangible Ghosts, and The Ghost of the Revelator, and equally
surprised to realise on reading the cover blurbs that I did not recall anything
about them.
Solar Express is
the latest to appear and is one of the stand-alone novels. The story is set in
a future in which humanity is gradually spreading through the Solar System,
having consolidated politically into a few major groups (after various
conflicts, involving nuclear weapons): Noram (Canada and the USA); the Sinese
Federation (China plus adjacent region); India; and various odds and ends like
the European Community and the African Union. Tensions between the Sinese and
Indians are rising and the threat of war increasing, with a particular focus on
the banned militarisation of space.
Into this tinderbox comes a visitor to the inner Solar
System – an object at first thought to be a comet, then a large asteroid, then
is finally realised to be an artificial construct of huge size. The story
follows two tracks; that of Dr. Alayna Wong-Grant, a post-doc astrophysicist
based at a Moon observatory who first spots the construct, and Chris Tavoian, a
Noram space pilot who is sent on a solo mission to intercept it. The two know
each other and are in frequent communication, their messages forming an
important part of the story. They keep finding relevant quotes to exchange –
here's a couple:
"Don't we all want some meaning in the universe? Meaning that
transcends mechanics?" Tavoian snorted. He doubted that the universe had
meaning. Structure, but not meaning. People had to create meaning. Whether it's
there or not. Which continued to be the problem with true believers of every
kind.
And:
The greatest of all faults in a politician, and in any leader, is the
failure to recognize that charisma has nothing to do with ability, excellence
or goodness. In fact, charisma enables far more the evils of the universe than
great and worthy accomplishments. Give me pedestrian accomplishment over
charisma any day.
The basic plot is obviously reminiscent of Arthur C.
Clarke's classic Rendezvous with Rama,
but it is handled in a very different way. Modesitt takes a lot of time in
establishing the detailed background, including Alayna's mundane
repair-and-maintenance tasks and Tavoian's repetitive duties in carrying out
his rather frustrating step-by-step reconnaissance mission. While this is going
on, they are also exchanging messages with relatives on Earth who are facing
their own difficulties. This certainly provides a strong flavour of their
different existences but there is an inevitable consequence - a leisurely
pacing with the dramatic tension ticking along very gently for much of the book.
There is little of the sense of excitement and awe that RwR generates. Nonetheless, I was never in danger of giving up on
the book – the story is too intriguing for that.
The tension does gradually begin to rise as Sinese spacecraft
arrive on the scene to begin their own research, while the enigmatic construct begins
to show unpredicted behaviour and Chris finds that his time is running out. By
this time, I was really gripped and read until the early hours to finish it.
I was increasingly impressed by this novel the more I read
of it. The comparison with RwR is
instructive as it shows the evolution of SF over the period: Solar Express has far more scientific
and technical detail; the characters are much more fully developed; the plot is
less straightforward and more sophisticated; and the book is more than twice
the length. It demands more time and concentration from the reader, as the
astrophysics gets rather dense, but is a rewarding read.
I am clearly going to have to pay more attention to Modesitt,
starting with the books I found on my shelf!