Ark (original 2009; edition 2009)

Brilliant hard Sci Fi sequel to the equally brilliant Flood. Stephen Baxter gets better with each book of his I read. ( )

Brilliant hard Sci Fi sequel to the equally brilliant Flood. Stephen Baxter gets better with each book of his I read. ( )

The sequel to "Flood" substantially covers many of the same years, but following a different project and different set of characters. The description of the earth being overwhelmed by flooding, and how people and societies respond is carried over from the first book and is the most striking aspect of the book. The fate of 80 humans in a small interstellar ship, the hope for the future of humanity, plods along. But that reflects, I suppose, the feeling that they would have had, spending decades in a confined space with no one else to interact with. This is a large book, and slow moving, but raises interesting questions about human nature, the nature of society, and the process of making incredibly difficult choices. ( )

This is the sequel/companion book to Baxter's Flood. In the first we learn about the rising waters engulfing the world; in this one we follow as some people attempt to create an Ark - an escape for a few people from the flood. There are a few characters that appear in both books but on the whole this focuses on a different set of characters - the young people who are trained to crew the Ark. To begin with I found some of the technical details of the construction of the Ark a bit hard but as the story continues I got drawn into the characters fates.

I must admit that I preferred Flood slightly more but this is still an interesting read. The stresses on society as the water level grows; the fate of the young people who may be the last hope of the survival of the human race and the conflict of being in a small space for an extended period of time as they seek a new home are all worth reading. Like Flood this novel covers a long period of time but, somehow, it isn't quite as cohesive. Still good and I will read more Baxter and hope that he revisits some of the characters and their continuing stories in the future. ( )

In Stephen Baxter's "Arc", the earth is drowning in the middle of the 21st century in a gigantic flood from subterranean chambers suddenly opened up (I found it an interesting twist not to use human-made climate change as catalyst). As nations and organized civil life break down and humanity turns into a great mass of refugees from the expanding oceans, three Arc projects are launched for the survival of humankind.

Arc I is a starship designed to bring a select crew of colonists to another habitable planet - Earth II - and the novel focusses on the selection process of the crew in the first half and the space travel in the second half.

This is a far cry from early "new frontier" space colonization operas like the early Robert Heinlein's, but also from other science fiction basically assuming than mankind will settle on other planets in greater numbers and with comparable ease.

Firstly, space travel in this future is literally the last option to save mankind from drowning. Building the ship and training the crew, however, uses up precious resources that are increasingly contested. It's an increasingly savage fight to keep these resources, and those in charge must make unpalatable ethical decisions.

So, the first star ship doesn't rise from an ideal human society, so it's not a surprise it doesn't consist only of idealists, either. One of the protagonist tells the others that they take their humanity with them to the stars. That means a far wider behaviour and character selection than science fiction authors normally allow for.

Baxter projects realistically how a small group (around 80) behaves that has to live together for several years in a very confined space - actually, it's likened to a prison more than once by the crew - while also tackling issues of societybuilding and procreation rules. The last is no easy issue since the need for genetic diversity to secure the survival of mankind collides with human desires to build partnerships and families. Let me tell you, the decions made are sometimes grizzly, and sometimes downright desasterous.

This was a gripping read for most of the time (the last third was a bit monotonous despite the mass of action going on), and definitely provided me with much food for thought but it wasn't exactly a joyride. I admit the last third of the book really depressed me but that's partly due to the fact that the total and irreversible loss of earth for everyone due to the flood was hard to bear. In the end, I think it's an outstanding book but I still prefer to read books slightly less grim. (Note: it doesn't help my mood that it's been raining incessantly for days :-)) ( )