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A review by tome15
Across the Sea of Suns by Gregory Benford
5.0
Benford, Gregory. Across the Sea of Suns. 1984. Galactic Center No. 2. Aspect, 2004.
In Across the Sea of Suns, the second novel of the Gregory Benford’s Galactic Center series, we have a two-ring circus, a near-lightspeed interstellar exploration mission and an alien invasion in Earth’s oceans. The space mission provides Benford’s answer to Fermi’s paradox that the universe should be teaming with intelligent life, yet alien civilizations are hard to find. It turns out that the oldest civilizations are machines that stomp on emerging space-faring cultures as soon as they detect radio signals. Meanwhile Earth’s oceans have been seeded with genetically modified creatures designed to destroy the biome. Under pressure human governments go to war with one another. The oceanic theater gives Benford the opportunity to tell a very tense castaway survival story. This is hard science fiction that rivals the work of Arthur C. Clarke and arguably has better character development.
In Across the Sea of Suns, the second novel of the Gregory Benford’s Galactic Center series, we have a two-ring circus, a near-lightspeed interstellar exploration mission and an alien invasion in Earth’s oceans. The space mission provides Benford’s answer to Fermi’s paradox that the universe should be teaming with intelligent life, yet alien civilizations are hard to find. It turns out that the oldest civilizations are machines that stomp on emerging space-faring cultures as soon as they detect radio signals. Meanwhile Earth’s oceans have been seeded with genetically modified creatures designed to destroy the biome. Under pressure human governments go to war with one another. The oceanic theater gives Benford the opportunity to tell a very tense castaway survival story. This is hard science fiction that rivals the work of Arthur C. Clarke and arguably has better character development.