BORN IN SPACE

Clift’s SF series starter tells a tale involving laboratory-born children and an ancient relic.

In the mid-21st century, billionaire Howie Rich sends two rotating space habitats into low Earth orbit: Quivira and Halona. He decides that Noel Ward, an Arizona-based professor of planetary sciences, and his teenage daughter, Teagan, are needed on Quivira. The problem is that Noel hasn’t applied to move there, so Howie sends thugs to the Wards’ house to give them a “push” to consider relocating. Once Noel and Teagan do so, a scientist encourages Teagan and other girls to donate their eggs, which are used to grow seven “experimental babies.” Elsewhere, Teagan’s older brother, Hunter, after graduating from the space academy, has a very unexciting assignment: clearing space debris. However, his gig unexpectedly leads to his discovery of a vision-inducing crystal and a mysterious ship containing two dead space travelers who appear to be aliens. Meanwhile, Teagan and scientists disagree about whether a couple of the “Magnificent Seven” children are actually her “twins.” Her determination to take them away—and be the mother she dreams of being—lands her in a secure, prisonlike facility. Noel and Teagan’s mother, Clara, a botanist overseeing a seed-bank project on the moon, put together a rescue mission. As the Wards soon learn, Teagan is a very special young woman with a startling ability. It also turns out that other beings are looking for a lost crystal stone—not unlike the one Hunter found, and which other greedy people aim to steal.

Clift’s epic tale introduces a large cast and places them in a variety of delightful subplots. For example, a Chinese general seeks revenge years after her country lost the Great Cyber War; artist Julian Trace romances Teagan when she’s on Halona; and Nevaeh, one of Teagan’s children who becomes a scientist, vows to track down her mother. So many of these characters are unpredictable; even seemingly minor players (including space pirates) have significant impacts on the main plot or follow surprising narrative paths, such as one of the Seven who becomes separated from the others. All of this fuels a story that rarely slows down and covers several decades, ultimately ushering in the 22nd century. Clift’s shrewd writing loads the book with SF tech (microbots, medibots, policebots) and engaging touches based in science fact, including humans’ reliance on artificial intelligence and the moon’s relentless, machine-jamming regolith dust. There are myriad stellar set pieces, as when Hunter tries to deflect a meteor while piloting a spaceship: “He braced himself as a giant, crunching shudder rocked the capsule….The impact was brutal, throwing the ship and crew about like rag dolls. But the Sweeper, built to take hits from space junk, withstood the battering.” Still, the human element prevails in extraordinary fashion; there’s a strong theme of family as careers separate the Wards but don’t fray their ties, and Nevaeh and Teagan remain determined to find each other. Even humanoid bots interact just like their human counterparts.

A profound and full-bodied futuristic story of love, technology, and infinite outer space.