Convergent Space by John-Paul Cleary – 2011
This story is set in a distant future where space travel is
commonplace and the galaxy is heavily populated.
In a war that takes place two hundred years before the
events in Convergent Space, a catastrophe happened called The Great Wave. It was the result of an explosion so massive
that a great deal of the populated galaxy was laid waste. Former members of the Guild and others blamed
the Earth for this disaster. This
resulted in the people of the Earth becoming obsessed in proving that they were
not responsible, as a matter of fact, it had become the religion of the people
of Earth to find whatever proof there was to hopefully clear their name. The people of Earth sent out Archeosoldiers to
seek the truth; Convergent Space is the story of one such Archeosoldier named
Rone.
Rone is a female Archeosoldier who has retired from the
quest, but finds herself pressed back into service when another mortally
wounded Archeosoldier shows up on her doorstep.
Rone and her Companion, Necessity reluctantly set out to find the truth
of the circumstances surrounding The Great Wave.
Just a word here about Necessity, the Companion. According to Cleary, each human born is
paired with a sentient artificial intelligence that grows and learns with its
human counterpart. These devices are
quite amazing as they serve as a knowledge database, and sounding board. Conpanions can also regulate body functions
in humans controlling pain and emotional responses. As intelligent computers, Companions can also
pilot ships and communicate with other computers. Quite the device, wouldn’t mind having one
myself.
At any rate, during her travels, Rone meet up with Tihn
Forlihn, a member of the Phlegar race.
He also seems to be on a quest to find a purpose for his life. He finally finds his purpose as he joins Rone
in her search for the truth of The Great Wave.
Tihn is in possession of a device that holds the memories of his Phlegar
clan that date back to the time when the Great Wave took place. The device called the Wits of Forlihn,
however is damaged and cannot seem to give anyone a straight answer to any
question. It is apparently useless. So Rone and Tihn set about finding someone
that can help them repair the Wits.
Meanwhile, a very dangerous race called the Herneses is
moving through the galaxy on their self-appointed mission to purify populated
worlds and resettle entire populations on worlds that they have already
cleansed. The Hernses encounter a populated
world and remove a portion of a population from a given world and then use
their technology to cleanse the planet, destroying all remaining life. Unfortunately, they never remove the entire
population of a planet, so the cleansing also kills millioons that are left
behind. This is their mission, at least until
they encounter the home world of the Phlegar.
As far as the Herneses are concerned, the Phlegar are a scum
race and have to be eradicated from the galaxy.
They destroy the Phlegar home world, but fortunately not before the Wits
device is repaired and able to give Rone some valuable information.
Rone learns that the Herneses are headed for Renaissance
Space, a body of planets that replaced the Guild as the governing body of the
sector of the galaxy that includes Earth.
Rone tries to reason with the Herneses, but they are unwilling to listen
to reason and feel that they are in the right to do whatever they feel is
necessary to purify the galaxy. So Rone
decides that she must stop the Herneses, no matter the cost.
Rone learns that, unfortunately, the people of the Earth are
indeed responsible for the Great Wave and is in possession of the same weapon,
invented by the Phlegar, that caused it.
She uses it to eliminate the Herneses, and causes the Second Great Wave,
not only taking out the Herneses, but uncountable other worlds at the same
time. History repeats itself, as the Great
Wave was the result of someone determining that another menacing race needed to
be eliminated 200 years earlier. But
Rone knew what the result would be in using the weapon, while those who used it
before thought it would create a shield against the enemy. Now she must live with the guilt of her
decision.
All in all, this is a good story and fun to read. Cleary spins a hell of a tale that some might
say resembles a Star Trek style of yarn.
One must be patient with the author and stick with the story as the
exposition for the story is spread out over many chapters, giving just a piece
at a time, but everything comes together and makes perfect sense when it needs
to.
One complaint that other reviewers (mainly on Amazon) have
expressed is that Cleary is not precise with his use of science fact in the
story. This was not a problem for me
because the characters are so well developed, and the story flowed so well that
I had no problem suspending my disbelief.
Rone, Tihn, and Necessity, as well as others that join the quest as the
story unfolds are truly characters that I cared about and became engaged in
wanting their efforts to be successful.
Good story plus good characters equal a great story worth
reading. ‘Nuff Said.
Well, there it is…
QaplaH!
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