Penumbra Book

This is a very skilfully plotted novel about which it is best not to give too much away. Eric Brown takes a space pilot haunted by the death of his sister, a dying billionaire who may have the key to an ancient alien secret, a young Buddhist navigator, a street kid turned Calcutta homicide detective and a religiously motivated serial killer. He then adds a convoluted back history to an adventure of exploration, discovery and murder on both earth and the planet Penumbra. This is the book for readers who really don't want to know where a writer might be taking them, and the author springs at least two genuine surprises. If there is a problem it is that Penumbra is almost too ambitious, and sometimes fails to make all the details completely convincing. Eric Brown raises a lot of serious issues, from bereavement and reconciliation, to the possibilities of religious faith and the very nature of life itself. He doesn't always explore these issues as thoroughly as one might like, as the ingenious plot races ever forwards. The more meditative aspects of Penumbra bring to mind the calm of Arthur C. Clarke's work, while those who appreciate the involved mystery will find much to enjoy in Kim Stanley Robinson's Icehenge. Ultimately though, any reader's reaction to this book will depend very much on their acceptance or rejection of certain spiritual ideas, and to say any more would risk spoiling the journey of discovery that is Penumbra. --Gary S. DalkinRead More