| Title | : | Dark Secret |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 290 |
| Publication | : | Published September 7, 2016 |
“Leave it to Edward M. Lerner to take a notion, run with it, squeeze every ramification out of it, and put it altogether in an irresistible page-turner. Dark Secret is a crackerjack novel—hard science fiction at its best.”— Robert J. Sawyer
When the experimental ship Clermont is urgently recalled from a long-range test flight, neither Dana McElwain nor Blake Westford, its captain and crew, imagines that they are about to embark on a much more urgent voyage—or that this new mission will determine the fate of the human race.
A gamma-ray burst—the deadly beam of radiation spawned seven thousand years earlier in the death throes of doomed neutron stars—is about to wipe the Solar System clean of all life. Only the Clermont’s prototype Dark Energy Drive might carry anyone, and any of humanity’s legacy, to safety before that extinction.
And then what? Where beyond the Solar System is safe? What if the price of survival is to become less … human?
“Dark Secret is a unique tale of catastrophe and survival on multiple levels, gripping and harrowing yet ultimately inspiring. Lerner shows what it might really be like to be forced from an out-of-control frying pan into a far worse fire, and how humanity might endure even if what the refugees bring with them is worse than what they find.”— Stanley Schmidt
Dark Secret Reviews
-
An old scenario that has been trending again in science fiction in recent years - humanity journeying to the stars in search of a new Eden - is given a whirl by Lerner, a frequent contributor to the classic hard SF digest Analog (where this novel was first serialized).
Lerner devises an interesting, science-based scenario to hang his story on: seven thousand years ago, two neutron stars collided and sent a gamma-ray burst our way. When Dark Secret begins, the resulting particle storm is guaranteed to wipe out all life in the solar system, and only a single, experimental craft holding a handful of survivors and some frozen embryos is capable of making it clear of the event and traveling to a system with a habitable world.
The first half of Dark Secret worked well enough for me. Despite being populated by bland stock characters with obvious cut-and-dry motives, it did what old-fashioned hard SF does best - provide a gripping narrative that balances the thrill of scientific discovery with suspenseful problem solving and obstacle tackling.
Sadly, the second half of the novel sidelines the more interesting explorations of the problems humans might face in trying to inhabit an alien world, instead pitting its heroes against its boorish villain's nefarious attempts at social engineering, and the novel is dragged down into mediocrity as a result. -
Nice take on the colonization trope, with some modern sensibilities. Had a dour tone which served to heighten the tension and give real power to the difficulty of such a venture. Recommended.
-
A mission to save humanity devolves into Brave New World. A very good hard science fiction story.
-
Engaging stroll from ELE to hope
Dark Secret achieved low Earth orbit quickly...then slowed a bit to gather threads in hand. My interest briefly waned, but returned forcefully as the characters came to grips with the challenge of rebuilding humanity in a place far removed in distance and circumstance from our origins.
I haven't read much fiction in years, but found this a pleasant return. I recommend it. I will find and read the next book in the series. -
"Dark Secret" is an enjoyable new take on an old SF trope: what if the End of the World is nigh (here in the form of a nearby Gamma-ray Burster) -- and there's only time to send out a single Ark to preserve humanity? There are some clunks at the start, but the scientific backstory is nicely done and the speculations reasonable. And it's a tall tale well told. I had a good time reading it, and if you're in the mood for an old-fashioned Hard SF adventure, I think you will too. 3.6 stars.
-
Sometimes there's a character you love to hate, and other times there's a character that you just hate because they're so evil (or at least really messed up).
The antagonist in Dark Secret is definitely the latter.
Good SF book. I'd like to know with more certainty what transpired on Earth.
And the ending? A clue for a sequel, that does not bode well for our characters!
