To Be Taught, If Fortunate

Starred review from June 17, 2019
With technical prowess and outstanding visceral imagery, Chambers (the Wayfarer Series) packs an immense amount of story into a novella worthy of full-length praise. Humans have begun to perfect the process of space exploration at the turn of the 22nd century with the use of somaforming, a technology allowing astronauts to survive under any conditions in the galaxy. With human fragility no longer a concern, astronaut Ariadne O’Neill and her explorer companions are sent to four distant planets. As the voyagers traverse time and change physical forms, the Earth undergoes its own transformation, and Ariadne and her colleagues are forced to confront the possibility of returning to a planet that has forgotten them. As Ariadne chronicles her missions, her stories raise questions about the ethics of research and beg the reader to empathize with being alone. Using precise language to paint awe-inspiring pictures of the unknown, Chambers offers a troubling, beckoning glimpse into the future of humankind. Agent: Seth Fishman, Gernert Company.

August 1, 2019

Ariadne O'Neill is a flight engineer aboard the spacecraft Meridian, part of the Lawki program, exploring four planets that are light years outside the sun's orbit. Using a long-period suspension system called topor, and a body-enhancing process called somaforming, the crew will be able make an 80-year journey and return to Earth while only aging a few years. As the group begins their exploration of the planets, alien life and fauna are discovered, documented, and sometimes destroyed. But as time-delayed reports come from Earth, the changes that Ari and the team can only bear witness to soon trigger psychological repercussions, leaving them to wonder if they will have a home, however changed, to go back to, and if anyone will remember them. VERDICT Grasping current and potential future trends and winding them into her accessible hard science plot, Hugo Award winner Chambers creates an energy of hope and determination with every word, bringing life to space travel and the wonders--and traumas--of Earth's possible future. [See Prepub Alert, 3/17/19.]--Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2019
In this novella set in the not-too-distant future, four astronauts look for life in a galaxy that's light-years from Earth. Through somaforming, the four can alter their own biology to fit each new world so as not to alter or interfere with the world itself--a key tenet of their voyage. Their blood can produce antifreeze, their bodies absorb radiation and convert it to nutrition, and their bones can stand up to increases in gravity. The story of their visits to four unique worlds, some filled with the wonder of alien life and others filled with the horror of it, is told by engineer Ariadne O'Neill, who wrestles with the changes to her body and to her knowledge of the universe. When she and her crewmates--Elena Queseda-Cruz, Jack Vo, and Chikondi Daka--lose contact with Earth, they must ultimately decide whether to return home to an uncertain fate or honor their mission and continue to explore new worlds, even if nobody back home is listening...or alive. Chambers (Record of a Spaceborn Few, 2018, etc.) writes with the curiosity of a scientist laced with the wonder of a child in this compelling exploration of home, family, and what makes us human in the midst of all that isn't, but could be. An extraordinary picture of humanity among the stars.

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