Noumenon is the
first novel from established short-story writer Marina Lostetter. It takes as
its starting point some well-worn SF themes: the invention of a method of
avoiding the lightspeed limitation, making starships practical (the
subdimensional or SD drive); and since the journey to other stars would still
take several generations (ship time – many centuries on Earth), the
construction of massive starships with populations of thousands, with the
generations being reproduced by cloning to retain specialised skills.
The story begins with the discovery of an anomaly, an
unusual and possibly alien feature around a distant star, at a time when
humanity had developed the ability to build huge starships. Of the several Planetary
United Missions (PUMs - exploration fleets) sent out to different destinations,
one – Noumenon – is Convoy 7; the
mission to the anomaly.
Because of the timespan of centuries, the book has an
episodic nature, each chapter jumping ahead by (on average) dozens of years;
which must have made the transition to novel-writing easier for the author, as
the book is essentially a linked series of short stories. This structure does
have the disadvantage that even though genetically the same individuals may be
turning up in one episode after another, they are not the same people, so the
development of a relationship between the reader and the principal characters
is almost missing: almost, because the Artificial Intelligence which runs the
mission forms a constant element.
Noumenon makes a
slow start and I wasn't too impressed at first. There is something of a
credibility issue concerning the starships; they are enormous, and nine of them
are sent together in the fleet, carrying a total of around 100,000 people. Why
such a huge number of people and ships is needed for a scientific exploration
is never convincingly justified – the argument that this size of community is
necessary to maintain social stability over the generations is questionable
(and anyway, stability is not
maintained). Also, making each ship specialise in one activity – e.g. just one
produces all the food – leaves the fleet very vulnerable if any ship is lost.
This creates something of a credibility problem at the start.
The writing style can be a bit breathless, as when one of
the characters on the fleet exchanges messages with Earth and faces up to the
reality of a left-behind friend ageing much faster due to time dilation: "I couldn't believe it. Seventy. So much of
his life, gone. He'd been my constant these past few years, my Earthly
touchstone, and now it was over. Over too soon." There is also some
heavy moralising in places, such as when a small boy is being corrected over
his sexist reaction towards a new baby sister. However, as the fleet aproaches
the anomaly the tension increases steadily – the arrival, the first climax of
the story, is less than halfway through the book.
As they return to Earth, the crew faces other problems and
there are major cultural shifts among the population. All of this is leading up
to the second climax – what they discover when they arrive "home"
after several centuries. I do not wish to post any spoilers, so I will just say
that this is not the end of Noumenon's
story.
Despite the familiary of the basic plot elements, the author
does well to weave them into a story which is original enough, and sufficiently
dramatic, to hold this reader's attention. There is a sequel, Noumenon Infinity, reviewed below.
*************************************
Noumenon Infinity
is the sequel to Noumenon. It takes
an unusual form, in that it returns to the start of the original novel, with
the Planetary United Missions (PUMs) being sent out to explore the galaxy; only
this time, the story begins by focusing on Convoy 12 rather than Convoy 7. This was originally due to be sent to a
system which appeared promising as a home for life, but its mission was changed
to one of testing new discoveries in subdimensional space travel, with the
prospect of much reduced journey times.
This work was undertaken not far from Earth, close enough for the crews
to be changed regularly, so the self-sufficient culture of the other convoys was not needed and only
three ships were sent out. The lead character in this mission is Vanhi Kapoor,
and readers do get a decent opportunity to get to know her and her immediate
colleagues as the first chapter lasts for no less than 84 pages; once again, a rather
slow start to the story.
Chapter 2 is entirely different as the scene switches to
Convoy 7, which we last saw in Noumenon,
heading outwards from Earth for a second time and intent on completing the Web,
the huge structure almost enclosing a star, in the hope that it will supply
vast quantities of energy which could be transported to Earth in a
specially-equipped spaceship (an oddly vulnerable and impractical source for an
energy supply, I would have thought). The key individual now is Caznal, who
specialises in the history of the people now dubbed the Nataré, who had
explored the Web long before Earth and left behind an enigmatic structure, the
Nest, now aboard one of the Convoy 7 ships. A schism in the convoy occurs, with
part of the PUM being diverted to explore the Nataré sites identified on a map
they had managed to interpret, while the main body continues on its mission.
Again, this is a long chapter, enabling the characters to be well-developed.
Chapter 3 reverts to Convoy 12, which is exploring some
intriguing sub-dimensional features when an accident hurls the mission a long
way from Earth – and into the company of several alien starships. A fascinating
combination of diplomatic mission and detective mystery follows as the Convoy
members do their best to discover as much information as they can about the
decidedly uncommunicative aliens.
As the pace of the stories increases, so the chapters
gradually shorten while retaining the alternation between Convoys 7 and 12.
Various intriguing plot developments maintain the reader's interest, while
Convoy 7 at last achieve their goal (850 years after events in their previous
chapter!) and commence a mad chase across the galaxy to discover what the Web
was really made for, while Convoy 12
make a breakthrough in their relationship with the aliens.
The novel ends with a
clear set-up for Volume 3 – which I hope will appear before too long!
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