Customer Reviews

Mayflies

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Gerard K. Metaclura MD, Ph.D, was a scientist. Then in one moment his life changed; the accident changed everything. Years later, Metaclura finds himself at the heart of the Mayflower, a kilometers long spaceship, speeding its way to the star Canopus, on board: 25,000 colonists eager to leave the troubles of Earth far behind. Because of the accident, Metaclura's body could not be saved, but his brain is now tied into the Mayflower's computer system, Gerard K. Metaclura is now the living computer tasked with the job of getting the colonists to their new home amongst the stars. But in the first few months of what was supposed to be a fifteen-year journey something goes wrong, the ramscoop, designed to supply the Mayflower's fusion engines with the fuel needed to get the ship up to a significant fraction of the speed of light, stops functioning, and a trip that was supposed to take a decade and a half ship-time now will not end for nearly a thousand years.

Mayflies is told mostly from the point of view of the living computer Metaclura. Generations go by as Metaclura manipulates and cajoles the mere humans -- Mayflies -- of the ship to work together to ensure the safety of everyone aboard. The main flaw with this tale is that, because this story is told over nearly a thousand years, the reader never really gets attached to any particular human character. And as for Metaclura, while his deliberations with respect to who and what he is and how he interacts with the Mayflies is interesting, there is an aloof quality to Metaclura, he never really attaches himself to any particular person, and as the story progresses, instead reflects on how he is different than anything that has come before...this, unfortunately, stifles his character somewhat.

Where this story really shines is as a sort of intellectual exercise. What happens when 25,000 people and their progeny live their life in such an enclosed environment as the Mayflower? How does one generation affect the next and how might this be different from the process we have come to know on Earth? How far might humanity sink? What will it take us to rise again? And then to have the living computer Metaclura overseeing it all; how much can one entity (even one as nearly omniscient as Metaclura) affect the course of the humans on this journey? When is interference a bad thing and when is it a good thing? If the author makes one thing abundantly clear early on it is that Metaclura no longer really sees himself as a human interacting with other humans, but more of an omnipresent father figure, guiding his children to a point, but also realizing that such guidance can, eventually, be more a hindrance to their development than aide.

Mayflies is not a shoot 'em up high adventure story. Rather it is a story that gets you thinking about societies and cultures and what is behind the paths they travel. Mayflies is definitely recommended for those interested in these kinds of stories.