Hurricane Moon [Paperback]

Alexis Glynn Latner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 18, 2007

In the late twenty-first century, earth is wracked by political and ecological crises, and the Aeon Foundation launches a starship to find a new world and found a new civilisation, with all the advances of science and without the mistakes made on earth. Catharin Gault is the idealistic astronaut-physician in Aeon's primary crew. Along with the rest of the crew and passenger-colonists, she goes into stasis-cold suspended animation - for the long journey across the stars, their collective fate surrendered to the ship's artificial intelligence. Things go amiss even before the new world's beginning. Programmed to search for a planet with a large moon (the only way to guarantee stable seasons, tides, and an earth-like ecosystem after terraforming), the ship takes far too long, then finds a destination better than Catharin ever dared hope for: two earth-sized planets locked in orbit around each other. The one dubbed "Planet Green" has abundant plant life and a paucity of large animals. "Planet Blue" is an oceanic world covered with hurricanes. Several things about Blue baffle Aeon's planetary scientists. To everyone else, it's simply a big, blue moon. Revived from stasis more than a thousand years after the starship left earth, Catharin makes a horrible discovery. The long stasis damaged the complex organic molecules in human bodies. Unless the human genome can be repaired, there will be no future on idyllic Planet Green. Aeon has tremendous biomedical resources, but Catharin needs more. She needs a genetic miracle-worker - and she has one. She revives Joseph Devreze: a uniquely talented molecular biologist and maddeningly irresponsible genius. A crown prince of the science of his century, Devreze made a terrible mistake, followed a seductive line of research too far, and made one powerful enemy too many. In a trap of his own unwitting making, he saw only one way out: escape to the other side of the stars. Now, Catharin must rely on this untrustworthy maverick to help her save humanity on Green. Their mutual attraction ratchets up as their conflict with each other escalates. Together Catharin and Joe must decide how they can face, and embrace, a future utterly at odds with the Foundation's plans and their own expectations. And all the while the mystery of the "Hurricane Moon" looms over them.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Love flourishes amid technical puzzles and planetary mysteries in Latner's strong debut, which offers a healthy dose of the sciences—astronomy, physics, geology, biology—along with an intriguing cast of characters. After the interstellar colony ship Aeon leaves a failing Earth to build a better world, the people aboard discover that even the most thorough planning can't prepare you for everything. It's medical officer Catharin Gault's job to care for the crew, both in stasis and out, but even the best medical technology can't hold back the effects of time, especially when the Aeon's voyage ends up taking hundreds of years longer than originally envisioned. The colonists' stasis sleep has left them open to dangerous side effects on the molecular level, changes that alter their health and their ability to have children. Prickly molecular biologist Joseph Devreze, a last-minute addition to the Aeon's crew, may be able to repair the damage, but his solution could change humanity forever. Well-known for her hard SF short fiction, Latner should win new readers with this fine first novel. (July)
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Review

"Alexis Glynn Latner consistently delivers a rare and tasty blend of science, technology, and all the other aspects of humanity." -- Stanley Schmidt, Editor, Analog Science Fiction and Fact

"Latner brings a powerful new voice to SF - the perfect blend of humanity and science." -- Robert A. Metzger, author of Picoverse and CUSP

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 399 pages
• Publisher: Pyr; First Printing edition (July 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591025451
• ISBN-13: 978-1591025450
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,586,208 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Well Executed Hard Science Fiction/Romance..., July 22, 2007

By 

Anthony M. Hildebrand (Lawrence, KS USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hurricane Moon (Paperback)

It's difficult to classify Hurricane Moon - a story about the escapades of the colony ship Aeon in its epic journey in search of a habitable world, and the trials that the colonists must face once they actually reach an "ideal" planet.

The science throughout the novel is both sound and intriguing, and in many areas is the star of the novel. Parts of the book were reminiscent of Sir Arthur C. Clarke, capturing that spirit of enlightened scientific wonder.

And yet, amidst the hard science fiction in an interesting clash of genre, is a romantic plot. Also done very well through interesting characters, if it does contribute to a bit of a book identity crisis.

Indeed, the only flaws of the book are some rather two-dimensional secondary characters and a few abrupt, awkward transitions and changes in focus. That said, a very impressive debut novel for Latner - an author definitely worth watching out for in the future.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars World Colonization Science Fiction, August 15, 2007

By 

Rachel K. (Milwaukee, WI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hurricane Moon (Paperback)

The first third of this book is very good. The characters are interesting and the premise hooks you in from the beginning. The theoretical and scientific ideas are very intriguing, enough to make you stop for a few minutes and think about them. But the book takes a turn for the worse when the ship stops at the planet that it is going to colonize. All the momentum from the story is lost at this point; the characters lose something from their personalities and turn bland. Too much of the story at this point is told by worrying, nagging characters, and not enough action happens to counteract that. By the end of the book, I didn't even care if the potentially catastrophic effects of the long space-flight were solved or not.

Don't read this book if you like your space operas with a lot of action and complex plots! But if you like character introspection and interesting scientific ideas, give this book a try.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read!, July 15, 2007

By 

Kristina D. Baguley - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hurricane Moon (Paperback)

Hurricane Moon is a thinking person's sci-fi read. The characters are complex, multi-dimensional people. They make you think. Their universe is interesting and challenging.

You won't stub your mental toe on the science, either. For once, I didn't have to lock my inner engineer in the closet to enjoy a sci-fi book with well-developed characters and meaning. Ms. Latner combines real science and real people in an imaginative future adventure very, very well.

You can read and enjoy it as a space adventure novel, but it's much more than that.