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A review by hoppy500
Superluminal by Vonda N. McIntyre
4.0
Superluminal by Vonda N. McIntyre
"She gave up her heart quite willingly" is the arresting first line of Superluminal.
Figuratively? Literally? Or both?
This novel has three protagonists who seem equally important to the story. Laenea Trevelyan has submitted to physical alterations in order to pilot starships at superluminal speeds safely. Ordinary crew members must remain in a drug-induced sleep during transit in order to survive, and waking up prematurely means certain death. Laenea is anxious to embark on her first training flight so that she can experience for herself what no pilot has ever been able or willing to explain to any outsiders.
Radu Dracul is a crew member who accidentally regains consciousness during faster-than-light travel, but who suffers no ill effects. He eventually discovers he can even perceive dimensions which are closed to most pilots, and this deepens his special relationship with Laenea.
Another crew member, Orca, is a "diver", a genetically modified human who is most at home in the ocean with her killer-whale "cousins".
As the plot unfolds, the adventures of these well-drawn characters take them to the end of the universe and among the wise denizens of the oceans, and they begin to discern that these seemingly largely dissimilar realms may in fact be closely connected with each other.
The story is not as tightly plotted as McIntyre's The Exile Waiting, which packed a huge amount of detail into just over two hundred pages. Superluminal moves at a relatively slow place in parts, but this may be in keeping with the more transcendent subject matter.
An overall theme would seem to be the limitations of language to express the unique experiences of individuals, although by the end of the book at least partial solutions to this difficulty are entering within the range of possibility.
The narrative ends quite abruptly, and the fact that many of the fascinating ideas introduced are never fully explored may disappoint some readers. The author could certainly have extended this novel or written a sequel, but she did not do so. In some ways, it might be more poignant to leave to our imaginations the eventual fates of the characters.
"She gave up her heart quite willingly" is the arresting first line of Superluminal.
Figuratively? Literally? Or both?
This novel has three protagonists who seem equally important to the story. Laenea Trevelyan has submitted to physical alterations in order to pilot starships at superluminal speeds safely. Ordinary crew members must remain in a drug-induced sleep during transit in order to survive, and waking up prematurely means certain death. Laenea is anxious to embark on her first training flight so that she can experience for herself what no pilot has ever been able or willing to explain to any outsiders.
Radu Dracul is a crew member who accidentally regains consciousness during faster-than-light travel, but who suffers no ill effects. He eventually discovers he can even perceive dimensions which are closed to most pilots, and this deepens his special relationship with Laenea.
Another crew member, Orca, is a "diver", a genetically modified human who is most at home in the ocean with her killer-whale "cousins".
As the plot unfolds, the adventures of these well-drawn characters take them to the end of the universe and among the wise denizens of the oceans, and they begin to discern that these seemingly largely dissimilar realms may in fact be closely connected with each other.
The story is not as tightly plotted as McIntyre's The Exile Waiting, which packed a huge amount of detail into just over two hundred pages. Superluminal moves at a relatively slow place in parts, but this may be in keeping with the more transcendent subject matter.
An overall theme would seem to be the limitations of language to express the unique experiences of individuals, although by the end of the book at least partial solutions to this difficulty are entering within the range of possibility.
The narrative ends quite abruptly, and the fact that many of the fascinating ideas introduced are never fully explored may disappoint some readers. The author could certainly have extended this novel or written a sequel, but she did not do so. In some ways, it might be more poignant to leave to our imaginations the eventual fates of the characters.