When a young tug pilot's career is ruined by a collision in Earth orbit he has no choice but to accept a commission to fly an eccentric ship builder to planet far from the trade routes. When they discover alien ruins on the planet and the hulk of a missing generation ship they are thrown into the centre of a conspiracy that reaches back centuries. Meanwhile on earth a young Indian police officer is trying to track down a serial killer little suspecting that the killer is linked to what is happening on a planet light years away and that her own past holds the key to everything that is happening. Eric Brown has written a novel that brings together an extraordinary imagination, rare sensitivity to character and a love of Eastern philosphy. This is a key addition to the career of one of the UK's favourite SF writers.
Penumbra
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This is a very skilfully plotted novel about which it is best not to give too much away. Eric Brown takes a space pilot haunted by the death of his sister, a dying billionaire who may have the key to an ancient alien secret, a young Buddhist navigator, a street kid turned Calcutta homicide detective and a religiously motivated serial killer. He then adds a convoluted back history to an adventure of exploration, discovery and murder on both earth and the planet Penumbra.
This is the book for readers who really don't want to know where a writer might be taking them, and the author springs at least two genuine surprises. If there is a problem it is that Penumbra is almost too ambitious, and sometimes fails to make all the details completely convincing. Eric Brown raises a lot of serious issues, from bereavement and reconciliation, to the possibilities of religious faith and the very nature of life itself. He doesn't always explore these issues as thoroughly as one might like, as the ingenious plot races ever forwards.
The more meditative aspects of Penumbra bring to mind the calm of Arthur C. Clarke's work, while those who appreciate the involved mystery will find much to enjoy in Kim Stanley Robinson's Icehenge. Ultimately though, any reader's reaction to this book will depend very much on their acceptance or rejection of certain spiritual ideas, and to say any more would risk spoiling the journey of discovery that is Penumbra. --Gary S. Dalkin
From the Publisher
Read what SF's top authors have said about Eric Brown
'Eric Brown is the name to watch in SF' Peter F. Hamilton
'Eric Brown is the name to watch in SF' Peter F. Hamilton
'Eric Brown is back - and he has fire in his belly. Recommended' Stephen Baxter
'SF infused with a cosmopolitan and literary sensibility . . . accomplished and affecting' Paul J. McAuley
'Stories which are the essence of modern science fiction and yet show a passionate concern for the human predicament and human values' Bob Shaw
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Hawkstar
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I found this very disappointing. The plot is simplistic and it frequently flags up what will happen next. For a deep space SF story it could easily be reset in the 17th century aboard ships. Compared to the complexities of plot and total thoroughness of background setting of recent SF novels it palls greatly. Compare with for example - "The Hydrogen Sonata" - Iain M Banks (though any other of his novels) -- 1Q84 - Haruki Murakami (all 3) -- The Quantum Thief & The Fractal Prince (2 out of 3) - Hannu Rajeniemi. They are so much more sophisticated in their depth. I had to come back to check I had not bought a younger reader's book. Though I do enjoy Terry Pratchetts younger reader books.
I am now reading Brown's "Starship Summer" - we will see. Perhaps I should try some of his short stories.
I am now reading Brown's "Starship Summer" - we will see. Perhaps I should try some of his short stories.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By SteveBex
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
It's difficult to review fiction without giving the plot away but, suffice to say, this is an engrossing story from Eric Brown. As usual, the main characters are very well described and you feel a strong affinity with them by the end of the book. The story itself revolves around the exploration of a remote planet many light years away, although there's plenty of action back on Earth as well.
For fans of the genre, I would say the closest current author, in terms of style and subject, would be Jack McDevitt although I personally much prefer Eric Brown's novels.
The only reason I'm not giving 5 stars is because I get the feeling this author has an even better novel just around the corner!
For fans of the genre, I would say the closest current author, in terms of style and subject, would be Jack McDevitt although I personally much prefer Eric Brown's novels.
The only reason I'm not giving 5 stars is because I get the feeling this author has an even better novel just around the corner!
By John Peter O'connor
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
This story is constructed in three quite distinct but interwoven parts.
The first, which is an SF plot in the classic style, has a space ship captain pulled out of a dead end job and given a mission to pilot a ship to an uncharted part of the galaxy. His passenger is a rich eccentric with a strange reason for the journey. This then develops into an entertaining space-romp.
The second part, is a more down to earth scenario and sees a female cop on the trail of a serial killer. If the first part was classic space-romp, this is classic pulp detective stuff. However, while the first thread was an entertaining read, this section is pretty lifeless being devoid of suspense and it seems, ultimately existing more to tie off loose ends in the rest of the book than to add anything of its own.
The final part is the ending which attempts to draw everything together, answer all of the outstanding questions and provide a conclusion in about one fifth of the pages that are needed to do so. The result is that the conclusion of the book is unconvincing and unsatisfying.
Eric Brown is a master of the SF short story but the problem here is that, towards the end, he has forgotten that he is writing a novel and switched back into the wrong mode of writing.
I also got the feeling that, before writing this book, the author had just read the first part of Peter Hamiltons "Night's Dawn" trilogy and though "I could do that." This is of course reinforced by the title of the book which used a word which is a) liberally scatteed through Hamilton's monster trilogy and b) uncommon in English fiction.
With a more carefully constructed ending and a strengthened detective thread, this could have been a much better book. It is a shame that nobody in the publishing house pointed that out to the author.
I give this book three stars because, despite the flaws, it does contain some great writing.
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