Customer Reviews

Alpha Redemption

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Alpha Redemption is a beautiful work of art, cleverly told, portraying deep spiritual themes - a perfect storm of fiction. The daring parallel structure of Alpha is wildly successful, both in terms of mere pleasure in reading, and the manner in which it drives the story forward. It is heart-wrenching, pulling with the force of a bulldozer. From start to end, my heart leapt for Baines' main character, and, unpredictably, for his secondary character. Baines possessed the creative ability to make me feel for a computer! Move over, Hal...meet Jay. Alpha's pacing flowed superbly, striking a nice balance between philosophy, action, and the resulting character development. The story is deeply satisfying, the characters are interesting and compelling, and the reader will pull for them...and the gospel. This one's a clear winner.

When I first heard this book was about a computer finding God, I had my doubts that this could be pulled off without it being tacky and lame. Sorry, I must be honest. I questioned how God could be glorified in such a book. Well, P.A. Baines blew that notion right out of the water. The writing is crisp. The story is clean. My heart was wrenched. Not since Frank Peretti's, This Present Darkness has a book had such an effect on me.

The story takes place in a not so distant future, and scientists have built a ship called the Comet. It is capable of light speed. An on-board computer, eventually named Jay, flies the ship but they want to send a man along to record the effects of a trip to Alpha Centari. What better test subject than a man that has nothing left to live for?

Brett has lost everything. More importantly, he has lost his way. He volunteers for the trip and is picked out hundreds of other worthy applicants. He is cynical and angry. Brett has come so far in his bitterness that he no longer believes there is a God. He has no idea what God has in store for him though.

I highly recommend this book. It will no doubt have some award nominations for this year. It has slotted in at the top of my all time favorites.

Length:: 2:00 Mins

I'll admit to being a fan of stories that illustrate the danger and isolation of space exploration. I'm also fond of tales where man's creation gives him greater insight into his own Creator. In Alpha Redemption, P.A. Baines wonderfully marries my two favorite themes, in a story both fascinating and unique.

The book contains parallel stories, actually: one being the story of Brett Denton's travel aboard an experimental ship to Alpha Centauri, the other being the story of Denton's past. Both are touching and insightful. In fact, Denton's backstory--which could've been only a series of narrative-jarring flashbacks--instead feels fully woven into the tapestry of the novel. It is organic.

I also appreciated the unique effects of hibernation sleep in Denton's world. It is a touch that provides completeness at story's end.

If you like your science fiction on the introspective side, in the vein of Clarke's 2001 or Pohl's Gateway, then Alpha Redemption is a must read!

One of the coolest things about editing a small magazine like Digital Dragon is the chance to hear from small presses and to discover new and exciting talent. Such is the case with P.A. Baines and his debut novel, "Alpha Redemption" (Splashdown Books).

Told as a series of flashbacks, in reverse order, "Redemption" tells the life story of Brett Denton, an out-of-work widower and ex-pilot with a chance to rekindle his dream of spaceflight. Drifting along after the tragic deaths of his wife and sons, Brett has given up on God, on life, and on himself. On a whim, he responds to an ad for a test subject aboard an experimental starship - the first of its kind - to both explore farther than any mission before and to test the capacity of a human to withstand travel at light speed.

Denton is chosen, and as the story begins, Brett is already several months into his two-year mission. He is learning the layout of the ship and the quirks of his only companion: the ship's learning-capable AI. He also, quickly, discovers a mystery: he is getting younger. And as he passes those earlier stages of life, we learn more about Brett's story: how he came to the ship, his family tragedy, his marriage, and more. We learn why he left God, and how he was introduced to him. Both complicating and mitigating the issue, Jay, the artificial intelligence in control of the ship, begins to develop very (and often disturbingly) human qualities, and soon begins to malfunction.

As Brett, continues through the mission, aging spiritually, even as he grows younger physically, he learns the things he's forgotten (or perhaps never knew) about friendship, love, and grace.

Exploring spiritual themes in hard SF is nothing new, of course - nor, technically, are exploring the possibilities of traveling at light speed or the questions of Artificial Humanity posed by this manuscript. What does make it different is Baines' approach. We see the growing humanity in Jay through the unbelieving - and often irritated - eyes of Brett, as he himself comes to terms with his own demons. The issues aboard the ship become metaphors for those in our hero's soul. And soon Jay - who is trying to learn what it means to be human from the broken and embittered Brett - becomes a wise teacher in his own right.

Baines' speculations on space travel and spirituality both are unique and complimentary in this piece. The language of the story seems a little simplistic at times, and, particularly at the beginning, before the reader is prepared for what the author is doing, the pacing can plod along at times. However, these are small issues, and ultimately the story is both engaging and family-friendly.

Fans of a more technical hard SF will no doubt be annoyed by Baines' failure to deliver technical minutiae of the ship and AI, as well as a detailed account of the mechanics of light-speed travel. On the other hand, if what you're after is simply a good science fiction story, this is certainly worth a look.

I am not a hard sci-fi fan, but I found the cover to this one intriguing. This book is one man's inner journey to find healing and salvation as he recovers from emotional loss and loss of his faith. The artificial intellegence gaining a 'life' is an interesting paradox to the storyline that takes a compelling and thought provoking twist. This book will probably break one of my top ten favorite reads for this year, possibly ever.

Alpha Redemption

What kind of a man would knowingly accept the job of traveling through space to Alpha Centauri alone? Well, perhaps not totally alone. He travels with a state of the art computer that is responsible for his welfare. Brett Denton is that kind of man.

Brett is in a dismal state of mind, regretting choices that he had made, and things he wished he had done differently. He had given up on God. When he was offered the position to explore Alpha Centauri, he took it. Jay is the computer who was to look after him, but he is more than just a computer. Jay has the capacity to modify his instructions as the story unfolds, it is apparent his abilities include spiritual understanding of God's gift of salvation.

This is a fast-paced narrative that captivated me from the beginning. The two key characters kept the story line moving as their interaction deepens and broadens. The only thing I would change would be to find a way for the conversion to Christianity scene to be handled. In my opinion, it felt like it had accidentally jumped over from a different book. The rest of the book is outstanding.

The Synopsis:

From despair he fled, through tragedy he lived on, and journeyed to innocence.

His trajectory: the stars. His companion: a computer poised at the brink of sentience.

An unlikely friendship on a prototype spaceship at lightspeed towards Alpha Centauri, and redemption.

When Brett loses everything in a tragic accident, he gladly accepts an invitation to take part in a prototype speed-of-light trip to Alpha Centauri, knowing that he may not survive. His only companion is the ship's on-board computer, Jay. At first he finds Jay an annoyance but, as time passes, the two become friends. With the voyage drawing to a close, Jay develops a sense of self-awareness and a belief in God. When it becomes clear that they cannot both survive the return trip, one of them must make the ultimate sacrifice.

My Thoughts:

Alpha Redemption is a slow book. Fortunately, in this case, that's a compliment! There's a bit of tension about two-thirds of the way through, as well as at the end, but for the most part, it's about a guy in a spaceship who hangs out, teaches the computer about emotions, and...

Ah, if I told you what else happens, that'd be a major spoiler. Can't do that, now can I? Let's just say that in the beginning of the book, we know nothing about Brett's backstory--who he is, why he's important, or why he volunteered to take such a dangerous job. But the further along the story progresses, the more backstory we get. And the way the backstory ties in with the main plot is sheer genius.

Another neat thing about Alpha Redemption is how it raises questions about life, God, and even--to me, at least--about artificial intelligence developing emotions and self-awareness (more on that in an upcoming post). It's definitely a book you want to hand to friend and family and say, "Hey, read this--I want to talk about it with someone. What do you think?"

The writing is quite good for a first-time book and the content is family-friendly, which as always, is awesome! Alpha Redemption is a definite must-read for fans of science fiction!

I recommend this book even if you're not much of a sci-fi fan. While the setting is sci-fi, the theme is life and faith and what it takes to have both of those. Brett is as down-and-out as a human being can be, completely divorced from God and heading nowhere. His travels with Jay, a computer who evolves into an almost-human, take us on a journey like no other. The book skips around a lot, going forward and backward in time. This isn't a light read, it takes some paying attention to keep up with the story, but it's worth it.

Rev. Michael Duncan, Author Starting Out: A Study Guide for New Believers

How far does a man have to travel to find God? In Alpha Redemption, P.A. Baines sends Brett Denton, along with every reader, on a fifty trillion mile round-trip journey through space and time to find out.

Most men dream of the opportunity to start over, to have the chance to undo mistakes of the past and remake choices so important in life. Regret, fear and anger all come to play on Brett's heart as he finally faces the turmoil of his past and wrestles with questions as deep as space itself.

His one companion is Jay, the computer with a heart of gold. The Scripture says, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." If this defines real friendship, then Jay is a true and loyal friend. With the curiosity of a child, coupled with wisdom born of innocence, Jay helps Brett to rediscover the value of faith and the power of real love.

In this Sci-fi adventure, Baines builds the Christian message one hyper-jump at a time.

Alpha Redemption is a captivating, page-turning story that will insist you keep going until the final word. Once you're drawn into the dual tracts of Brett's life, the story unfolds with deep emotion, laugh-out-loud humor and an occasional sense of panic as you journey with Brett into the deep reaches of space, returning back to earth with the past and present finally, ultimately reconciled.

If you enjoy Science Fiction, coupled with a strong Christian message, I can highly recommend Alpha Redemption.

Reviewed by:
Rev. Michael Duncan