WORLD ENGINES: DESTROYER / AUTHOR: STEPHEN BAXTER / PUBLISHER: GOLLANCZ / RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 19TH
Stephen Baxter is one of modern science fiction’s masters; his expansive, imaginative hard sci-fi is only matched by his prolific output – Destroyer is his fifth book in the last three years. For this latest novel, Baxter has returned not only to some familiar themes – alternative history, intelligent design, multiple universes – but also to some characters from his past work. Reid Malenfant and Emma Stoney, who featured in the read-in-any-order Manifold trilogy, are two of the principals here, or at least versions of them are.
Malenfant is the story’s antagonist, waking up from suspended animation five-hundred years in the future after almost dying in a Space Shuttle accident. In this timeline, the Space Shuttle flew hundreds of missions, and was still active in 2019, but by the time Malenfant is unthawed, mankind has abandoned its space bound ambitions for a simpler life on an Earth ravaged by climate change. The reason Malenfant is retrieved from cold storage is a message from his wife, Emma Stoney, broadcast from Phobos, one of the moons of Mars. The catch? Emma disappeared on Phobos fifteen years before Malenfant’s accident, and it can’t possibly be her sending the message. Or can it?
This sets the scene for a dual expedition; Malenfant is a man out of time, and we discover the Earth of 2569 through his eyes, but there is also some trademark Baxter space exploration. Detailed, and always with a feeling that it is backed up by solid scientific research (the author has degrees in mathematics and engineering, and is a member of the British Interplanetary Society), Baxter’s alien worlds are authentic, with much of the heavy lifting necessary to picture yourself stepping onto unknown soil done for you by the author.
Newcomers to Baxter may take some time to become accustomed to his style; despite being written in the first person, the narrative is often very matter-of-fact, as much reportage as it is drama. Some huge things happen to the characters in Baxter’s novels, but they are almost always in service of the larger story.
Although not formally announced as such, Destroyer is very obviously the first in another of Baxter’s epic multi-book tales, and the anticipation for further volumes in this tale will be palpable amongst his fans. As for the rest of you, if you enjoy stories of ordinary (and some not-so-ordinary) men and women, on journeys to familiar (and not-so-familiar) planets, with a generous dollop of Jonbar hinges, manifolds, and ancient creators, then this is right up your 26th-century street.
