Stars: 4 out of 5
This was a rather unique premise for a story. At least, I haven’t encountered this kind of story before. I have read plenty of books about real AI and sentient starships, but not one where the digitalized consciousness of a real person is put into a starship.
The world in which this story takes place is a rather bleak one, and I would really hope that humanity can do better. Though, judging by everything happening around the world right now, I might be giving our race too much credit. I think humanity has an infinite potential for self-destruction. Unfortunately, I can very well see humanity going into an all-out nuclear war just to prevent a nation from sending out a probe ahead of others. It’s not science fiction anymore, it’s a fact of life.
Fortunately, Bob is a very endearing character who brings much-needed levity to what otherwise would be a very depressing book. His positive outlook and curiosity are what made this book fun. All the problems he encounters don’t discourage him at all. He approaches them as challenges to overcome. In that sense, this book reminded me of The Martian and Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. The protagonist has the same vibe – ready to McGiver his way out of any situation.
Granted, it feels like some of the problems Bob faces are non-problems at all, because he overcomes them so easily. I understand that this is a world 100 years into the future, but some of the technological advances seem implausible with the state of science and technology we are at now. Unless there are some significant breakthroughs in the next 100 years, and a lot more money is invested into research. It’s even less plausible in a country that reverted to fundamentalist Christianity like FAITH.
But the story is engaging enough that I was willing to overlook the parts that stretched my disbelief a little too much. I was invested in the exploration of every star system the new Bobs go into. Heck, I was on the edge of my seat during the first contact story and the migration Bot initiated with the Deltans.
My only issue, and the reason this book didn’t get 5 stars, is that it ends on a cliffhanger. None of the story arcs were brought to a satisfying conclusion, but just left in media res, to be picked up in the next book.
PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.