Universes by Stephen Baxter, part 2
Earth III
‘Ark’ ended with the bittersweet landing of the colony shuttle on Earth III. Now we get to see the world of idiots spawned by that landing. This was okay but it is disappointing to see what became of this world.
Earth I
The fate of the Ark itself and the original flooded Earth is revealed. 10,000 years after ‘Ark’, the descendants of the Ark travel to the vastly changed Earth III and Earth II. Then they travel onwards to the flooded Earth and learn what became of the humans left behind on that miserable world. This is a bleak tale. All Earth’s history, language and culture have been lost. Earth is repudiated by the colonists and the raft survivors have de-evolved into mindless sea beasts. Any aliens located in the Milky Way have long ago moved on. This is a bleak, downbeat conclusion to the ‘Flood/Ark’ dulogy.
Project Hades
A ‘Jones & Bennet’ story. In 1960, Jones and Bennet of the MOD investigate strange goings on at a military base. It seems nuclear testing has disturbed something under the Earth. This was good.
Best Lines:
“What do you know about the structure of the Earth?”
“It’s round.”
“Hmm. I suppose that’s a start.”
“Hey, what’s that red glow up ahead? Sunrise, you think?”
“I’m afraid not, Sergeant. That’s Newcastle burning.”
~
Ten by Gretchen McNeil
An updating of Agatha Christie’s ‘And Then There Were None’. Meg and her unhealthy co-dependent bipolar friend Minnie head to an island house party. The cute TJ is there and much fun is planned. Instead a storm rages and they’re cut off from the rest of the world. Then the deaths begin. This was good, not as good as ‘Cruel Summer’ but good. This is a nice Christopher Pike homage. I’ll read the author’s upcoming ‘3:59’ for sure.
Best Lines:
“That was ridiculously dramatic,”
“It sounded plausible, and not just because she’d watched too many episodes of Dexter.”
“A conspiracy in high school physics?”
“But how do we know she’s really dead?”
“Obituary. Funeral. The usual.”
“Ah, rich people.”
“She kicked at the door with her foot TV-cop-style.”
“Forget the crazy maniac trying to kill you.”