Baxter explores three possible reasons we see no signs of Others in the galaxy. The main theme of the trilogy is the Fermi Paradox. In Origin, it gets Malenfant and Nemoto to the Red Moon. In Space, it gets Madeleine Meacher to Venus. In Time, it gets Malenfant and company to 3753 Cruithne. One item common to all three books is the Big Dumb Booster (BDB), an interplanetary heavy launch system similar to the shuttle launch system but without the shuttle and with a (large) payload on the nose (centering it on the axis of thrust).īaxter describes it in fair (nearly identical) detail in all three books. It’s always very strong, but also very mixed and one-sided.Īll three books involve a circular portal ringed in blue light, but exactly what the portal does differs each time.Īnother repeating motif is that Baxter doesn’t seem happy with NASA and our approach to space flight. One clear constant, an overarching theme, is the relationship between Malenfant and Stoney.

In Origin, they’re a couple (Reid is a washed out astronaut), but spend most of the book separated. In Space, when the story starts, Emma has already died of cancer (and Reid is a former Space Shuttle pilot). In Time, Malenfant, an Elon Musk type person, has cancer (which he keeps secret from Emma), but it’s easily managed by technology. Various other characters repeat, most importantly Emma Stoney (Malenfant’s wife) and Nemoto, a Japanese woman crucial in books two and three. The three novels unfold in three separate realities, centering on three versions of the primary character Reid Malenfant. Warning: this post is longer than my usual, but it’s really two posts in one (so actually it’s slightly shorter than usual). It was only at the very end it got weird.īefore I proceed: SPOILER WARNING! I’m freely discussing all three books.

What’s funny is that, up to the last 20 pages, the book was ‘fine if you like that sort of thing’ (I just didn’t). Unfortunately the third book, Manifold: Origin, didn’t do much for me. So a definite thumbs up on book number two. The story stayed grounded and engaged me throughout, plus there were several cool science fiction ideas I’d never encountered before (which is kinda the point of reading hard SF). (A single data point doesn’t mean much.) And I did find the overall themes a little intriguing.Īs it turned out, I rather enjoyed the second one, Manifold: Space.

As I wrote, I wasn’t very whelmed, but a bad meal at a new restaurant can be a fluke - it’s only fair to give the chef at least one more chance. Recently I posted about Manifold: Time, the first book in a trilogy by Stephen Baxter, a writer new to me.

Manifold trilogy