Customer Reviews

Gaea: Beyond the Son

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When the Gaea-02 returns from her first mission in deep space, the crew discovers that the volatile situation on earth has escalated. Earth's factions are at war, leaving the Gaea-02 no option but to head for the planet that Earth plans to colonize. But one crew member has left a son back on Earth. And Doyle won't give up until he finds a way back home.

Gaea: Beyond the Son is an exciting tale of heart-pounding action and suspense, and read like a gripping, scifi film. But the characterization doesn't suffer for it. Short backstories for several of the crew members, give insight and depth to the characters, and help to engage the reader. Even the antagonists were multi-dimensional.

This novel was impossible to put down. With the feel of military scifi and the heart of a space opera, this debut novel has made the list of my favorites for the year. This was more than an impressive launch release for a brand-new small press. Helios has set a high standard with a fantastic story and beautiful cover art.

Arguably, one of the best SF stories about people, under the pressures of the Gaea mission, not being able to return to Earth because of world-wide civil conflict, and the normal emotional baggage each crew member brings.
The interplay among the crew members is superb, as is the realisation of alien (yet strangely familiar) landscapes, and it keeps the pages turning !
A space adventure, with modern and future concerns for humanity at core, par excellence !

It is a desperate time in Earth's future. Global warming is taking its toll. The polar ice caps are melting, raising sea levels and contaminating fresh water supplies. Man has two choices. Rely on D-salt, itself a much sought after commodity, to remove impurities from tainted water, or look to the heavens for a new home.
Doyle Gage is the poster boy for the promised Gaea future. A long serving United Earth Coalition (UEC) soldier, Doyle has been hand picked to be commander of the Gaea-02 spaceship. Its mission, to forge a new colony on a distant planet called M38 But Doyle unexpectedly finds himself alone to raise his young son and resigns his post, electing only to accompany the ship on its six month, slingshot test flight as a civilian consultant.
On returning to Earth, the crew of Gaea-02 are horrified to discover that the Asian Pacific Alliance (APA) has started all out war with the UEC. It soon becomes clear, the APA are after one thing, the Gaea ship and all its technology, so they can mount their own bid for M38.
Stranded in space, and considered fugitive by the APA, the crew of the Gaea-02 will be forced to make difficult decisions and Doyle must decide if he should return to Earth and learn the fate of his son or head for the stars and fulfill the Gaea dream.

Gaea: Beyond the Son, is the brilliant first offering from P.D. Gilson. Crammed full of action and with a plot played out by believable, likeable characters, it's hard to put this book down.
If you're looking for hard, techhy sci-fi, then this isn't for you. But if you like your SF a little on the pulpy/adventure side with a splash of military thrown in for good measure, I heartily recommend it.
The initial premise is good, the future world Gilson writes about not too much of a leap of faith given current warnings about global warming and climate change. The characters are engaging and their individual stories are slowly revealed to the reader through a series of flashbacks and hibernation dreams. Yes, it's been done before but it's executed well, bringing to the surface conflicts and motivations that draw you into the story as the book progresses.
The crew of the Gaea-02 get thrown from one situation to the next, and the action scenes are exciting and written well, yet none of the obstacles or hardships encountered seemed contrived to pad the story out, they just added to the snowballing pace of the plot.
If I had one minor criticism of Gaea: Beyond the Son, it would be the use of unexplained acronyms. Lovers of SF will have no problem, with a little bit of thought, figuring out what they all stand for, but readers new to the genre might not be familiar with them all. It's a minor issue.
Completing the package is the gorgeous cover art of Tomas Kuklik. A beautiful collage of scenes from the book, you'll find yourself constantly flipping back to view it and pictorially relive the scene you just read. They say never to judge a book by its cover but I'm afraid to say I did - and I wasn't disappointed in the least.

P.D. Gilson's Gaea: Beyond the Son takes place in a not-too-distant future, after we've run dangerously short of potable water on Earth. There's a technology called D-salt that can make large amounts of wastewater completely drinkable, but the catch-22 is that it takes vast amounts of clean water to make D-salt in the first place. That's where the distant planet comes in--the idea is to set up D-salt production facilities there, and ship the D-salt back home. Unfortunately for Doyle, the shakedown and test flight of the Gaea technology ends up becoming a flight to that distant planet when war intervenes, forcing the crew to rely on prototype technologies for their safety.

Of course, even though they sleep through the decades of their long flight, the war hasn't magically ended by the time they get to their destination. They're the enemy now, on an alien world where simple survival would be difficult enough. And Doyle's determined that one way or another, his flight won't end until he's reunited with his son.

The setup provides us with a great science-based adventure novel crossed with a war novel. The main characters are largely scientists, each with their own areas of specialty, allowing for some fascinating uses of technology in the desperate battles that ensue. The two sides in the war are given enough due that they aren't reduced to stereotype. The characters have their quirks, flaws, and so on, largely giving them appropriate depth.

Unfortunately, despite that depth, I could never shake the feeling that the characters were held at arm's length. I could watch and even sympathize with the tragedies that shook them, but I couldn't feel the heart-wrenching of empathy that I feel when I'm really pulled into a character's suffering or joy. Gaea definitely succeeded in the realm of page-turning action-adventure--I constantly wanted to know what happened next--but the character emotions were somehow distant. Because many events are triggered by characters reacting from emotion, this sometimes gave events a slightly `off' feeling. I'm not entirely sure what it was about the writing that created that distance, but I can't help thinking that while this was definitely a good and enjoyable story, if it had had that additional empathy, it would have been positively stunning.

While the book does involve topics such as global warming and water shortage as a previous reviewer says, it focuses far more on the stories and struggles of the main characters. I found the characters to be well developed and the pace of the story kept me interested through the last page. Quite a debut for the author. I look forward to reading more of his work and further books in this universe.

I am not usually into Science Fiction, but after reading 'Gaea: Beyond the Son' I think I might be converted. It's set in the relatively near future, and it addresses topical issues such as global warming and water shortages. This makes the book less fantastical and adds an almost believable and cautionary element to the story. The characters are diverse, well-developed and interesting, as are the relationships between them. It is impossible not to immerse yourself in their world, as they become embroiled in the fight to save themselves and the future of the human race. Absolutely loved it.

This is one of those books that once you pick up you cannot bring yourself to put down. It grabs your imagination and transports you seamlessly into the near future. With a strong storyline, the action flows beautifully, never becoming predictable and always keeping you in suspense. Thoroughly enjoyed it. A definite 5 stars- can't wait for the sequel!!!

Cover caught my eye, story was just as nice, cant wait for a sequel, well done