Humanity has largely recovered
from this disaster, but supernovas throw out more than radiation. As the
new book opens, a high-energy particle storm is racing toward the
solar system at a respectable fraction of the speed of light, due to strike
Earth in about six months.
This time, humanity's a little
better prepared, building a gigantic space shield to deflect the particles,
but there are complications. A serial killer is stalking the space station
where the shield is being built, and new data suggests that the storm is
stronger and traveling faster than the previous models predicted.
Several survivors of Aftermath
return for the sequel, but the passage of time has changed their lives
significantly -- for instance, Mars astronaut Celine Tanaka is now President
of the United States. The changes let familiar characters take on new roles,
but it also means Sheffield has to spend a lot of time bringing us up to
date.
Slow going
Unfortunately, the current
story isn't worth the effort, and the slow start carries through to the
end without great improvement. Most of the scenes consist of characters
analyzing data or planning their next move, and there's very little action.
Moreover, the book is a
hodgepodge of plot threads, many unrelated. The serial killer thread in
particular would have been more interesting as a separate novella, but
really has no clear thematic connection with anything else in the book.
Despite these entanglements,
the basic plot is also painfully straightforward. There are very few twists
or surprises, mostly involving the oncoming particle storm. Every few chapters,
the characters learn something new about the storm and modify their plans
for dealing with it, but otherwise, everything they do works just the way
they expect it to.
This narrative approach can
work out in itself, but it nearly ruins the serial killer subplot. Using
a technique that was already irritating in the days of Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle, Sheffield allows the detectives to figure out who the killer is
in a moment of inspiration halfway through the book, but fails to provide
adequate clues to let the reader follow along.
Worse, clues in the second
half of the book make the killer's identity obvious. Since the detective
figured it out chapters ago (using databases that aren't available to the
reader) this obvious information simply deflates the "climactic" unmasking
scene, which proceeds exactly as the heroes planned.
It's lousy mystery plotting,
which is too bad, because the diary entries that make up the bulk of this
subplot are the most entertainingly written sections of the book.
Science, character fail
to thrill
There isn't much else to
be excited about. The only character that changes or grows is Maddy Wheatstone,
a corporate manager who rediscovers her idealism in her admiration of super-engineer
John Hyslop.
Even the particle storm fails
to generate much suspense, conveniently concentrating its wrath on the
Southern Hemisphere, home to only one character. This is the first disaster
novel I've seen where most of the characters aren't wiped out by the disaster.
Most of this would be forgivable
given sufficiently interesting science, the great saving grace of the hard
SF subgenre, but that's not the case here.
Sheffield's discussions of
particle physics and space engineering are fun to read, but the secrets
of Alpha Centauri's explosion are so contrived that it's impossible to
make any connection to them. The author tries hard to create a sense of
wonder, but he doesn't quite keep his scientific feet on the ground while
he reaches for the stars. His explanations don't feel plausible enough
for hard SF, rendering the ending anticlimactic.
Starfire isn't
a terrible book. If you can get past the slow beginning it's even moderately
entertaining. I just wish it had been half as long and twice as interesting.
Chris Aylott is co-owner
of the Space-Crime Continuum, a science fiction and mystery bookstore
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