Noumenon by Marina J. Lostetter

Title: Noumenon

Author: Marina J. Lostetter

Review: I thought the premise of this book was interesting. Humans are finally ready to go into deep space, but they know that they as individuals will not live to make it there. So they send clones of the best scientists, engineers, historians, etc. Their plan is to continuously grow clones of these people throughout the years. The book is set up in sections, with each section from the point of view of a different character, or clone, usually decades or more apart. There are also a few sections from the point of view of the AI of the ship, which is probably my favorite character. The mission is to take a convy of ships to the star LQ Pyxidis and find out what is around it, blocking some of its light. It will take the convoy 200+ convoy years to get there and back, which will be 2000+ years back on Earth.

To be honest, the book had a rough start for me. I did not like the first character, Reggie, who found the star and proposed the mission. Maybe it was just me, but I found him abrasive. It didn't help that he called LQ Pyxidis or LQ Pyx, Licpix, which sounds like porn to me. I didn't like the later chapter about one of his clones either. I almost bailed on the book in that first section!

But I kept going, and the second section was better, as was the next. The AI chapters were the best, in my opinion. I'm trying to stay away from spoilers, but I will say that the result of their mission, what they found when they came back to Earth and what happened after, was unsatisfying.

I can't recommend it, and if there is a second book, I don't think I'll read it.

Comments

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