eBook Inherit the Stars epub

In the prologue to Inherit the Stars, two individuals (one in a red spacesuit, one in blue) are making a long journey on foot across desolate land. The one in red is exhausted. The one in blue has greater stamina; he helps the other along but finally leaves him in a cave, promising to return with help. The rest of the novel takes place fifty thousand years later. A body, clad in a red spacesuit, is found in a cave on the moon. A team of scientists is convened to investigate the body's origin (it appears to be human, with all the attributes of a life form that evolved on Earth), as well as the equipment and writings found on or alongside the body. The investigation expands as more specialists, from physicists to biologists to linguists, join the effort. Adding to the puzzle is the discovery of a spaceship buried on Ganymede twenty five million years earlier -- and a much larger body of much different physiology. Victor Hunt is brought in as a generalist to facilitate communication among the specialists and to synthesize the results. The novel follows Hunt in his quest to solve the mystery.

A common failing of "hard" science fiction is the tendency to emphasize the science while shortchanging the fiction. In other words, the writer waxes poetic about his ideas while neglecting character development, dramatic tension, and the other requirements of well-written fiction. Inherit the Stars contains a better balance of science and fiction than many hard sf novels, although the science clearly dominates the fiction. Only two characters have any personality at all: Hunt, about whom we know almost nothing meaningful until late in the novel, when we begin to learn what the man is all about; and a biologist named Danchekker, who fits the stereotype of a gruff, arrogant curmudgeon. The plot can be summarized as "scientists at work," and it's intellectually interesting but lacking in emotional resonance. Fans of action-oriented fiction probably won't find much to admire in Inherit the Stars after the prologue ends.

Inherit the Stars is nonetheless a well-written sf mystery that grabs hold of big ideas and pieces them together to solve a fascinating puzzle. It avoids another common failing of hard sf: descriptions of science that are incomprehensible to a lay reader. Hogan clearly explains the science he invokes and makes the application of the scientific process understandable. While I might have hoped for more human drama -- some acknowledgment that hundreds of people working together for years on Earth and for months on a ship traveling to Ganymede might form positive or negative relationships -- the intellectual drama in Inherit the Stars is nearly strong enough to compensate for the absence of its human counterpart. Inherit the Stars is a novel that most sf fans should enjoy.

I got the science fiction bug when I was 12 reading Heinlein, Asimov, and Piper. This is one of my absolute favorite SciFi novels in the last 58 years. It appeals to my technical bent. I was a computer consultant for 32 years. I will never give up this copy.

James P. Hogan's Inherit the Stars deserves its status as a science fiction classic. The book is set in the mid-21st century. In the first chapter, a 50,000 year-old human skeleton dressed in a spacesuit is found on the moon. The inescapable conclusion is that a technologically-advanced race of humans existed 50 millenia ago. But where did this race evolve? How did this particular human get to the moon? What happened to the rest of his kind? And why is there no archeological evidence of this civilization on earth?

As the teams of paleontologists, physicists, biologists, linguists and government officials (not to mention the media) address these questions, even more astounding archeological findings are made and more questions are raised.

This tightly-woven, compact novel is rich in analysis and deductive reasoning. The book addresses the horror, destructiveness and irrationality of war. Its themes and lessons are just as important today as in 1977 when Hogan penned this work. From hindsight, Hogan's vision of the 21st century is startlingly accurate. Among other things, he predicted the internet and the factors that brought an end to the Cold War. We haven't quite reached the age of routine space travel, but we have a couple of decades to go before we catch up to the timeframe of the novel. The work is so realistic, it is difficult to believe that it was written over 30 years ago.

Apart from Edgar Allan Poe and Umberto Eco, I'd be hard-pressed to name an author who is more adept at ratiocination than Hogan. This is a sensitive, timely and intellectually-satisfying novel. I'm looking forward to reading more of Hogan's work.