Lightspeed Drama

By Jacob O.

Stephen Baxter is the decorated author of Manifold: Space, the second book in the Manifold trilogy. Don't worry; the trilogy can be read in any order because it's set in a multiverse. Space is one of many novels that seeks to answer the famous Fermi Paradox: "Where are all the aliens? They should be here by now."

When a race of mysterious, silent extraterrestrials sets up shop in Sol's asteroid belt, the washed-up astronaut Reid Malenfant and his varied colleagues seek to discover who they are, what they want, and what their arrival means for humanity and the galaxy. In search of these answers, they travel to distant stars, observe countless worlds, and--when necessary--meddle, in a story that spans millennia and the entire Milky Way.

Manifold: Space unfolds on a massive stage. The plot affects worlds and creatures across the galaxy, and lightspeed travel means that even a single character can watch thousands of years pass in their lifetime. Themes of cultural evolution and of belonging pop up when Baxter explores the human implications of relativistic travel, and they are handled realistically and complexly.

The science in Space was clearly carefully researched. Astronomical phenomena such as gamma ray bursters, black holes, and neutron stars are accurate to the current scientific understandings of them. The lightspeed travel system uses quantum mechanics that can easily confuse a reader, but they at least seem to be accurate. What sets Manifold: Space apart from much other hard sci-fi, though, is that it's actually fun to read. The science is spelled out when it needs to be, but the book isn't treated like a textbook. The real meat of the story is the emotions, decisions, and relationships of the primarily human characters.

If you want a quick jaunt through a universe where FTL travel is possible and commonplace, to meet a few wacky aliens, then wrap it up with a happy ending, this is not the book for you. If you want to settle in for a long ride through a galaxy full of desperate, hopeful people doing whatever they can to survive with what they can find left behind in a universe that has destroyed all their predecessors, you should pick up this book right now. Or try one of the other two: Manifold: Time and Manifold: Origin. It's up to you how you explore Baxter's Manifold universe, but you should definitely get started.

Manifold: Space, by Stephen Baxter, Ballantine Books, 2001, 496 pages