THE FOSSIL

In the blastoff of a new SF series, a manned Mars mission meets disaster after astronauts retrieve an incredible relic.

By 2040, Earth has been partially healed of its environmental devastation thanks to the inventions of South African tycoon Luther Karlhammer, whose foundation made the first manned Mars mission possible. The space shot highlighted a sharp division between people who want to explore space and those more concerned with Earth; the latter include the militant-terrorist Sons of Terra. The Mars mission aborts and returns to Earth, crashing into the ocean and leaving one amnesiac survivor, Filio Amorosa. There was an organic relic called “The Object” onboard, found on the red planet, which went missing in the crash. Over the next two years, a search for the Object continues, and Filio tries to join another Mars mission. Flashbacks to 2018 follow Dan Jackson, a maverick archaeologist determined to prove that the human race is far older than previously thought. To that end, he enters a pyramid-shaped anomaly in Antarctica built by unknown parties millions of years ago. Jackson’s unfinished manuscript ties in with the manifesto of the Sons of Terra, and Agatha Devenworth and Pano Hofer, two Europol agents, attempt to retrace the missing scientist’s steps. Shadowing them is a mysterious man in black with frightening powers. The narrative piles enigma upon enigma in commendable fashion for about four-fifths of the novel, then finally reveals some answers in a lively denouement with an open ending that points to the next volume. No shortage of questions remain, however. Fans of SF should also be aware that, in this installment, the off-planet action is kept to a minimum. There’s also little hard-science speculation, although there’s a glossary of terms included at the end. Still, there are some good shudder-inducing moments as well as instances of science-fictional awe and wonder.

An intriguing, character-driven mystery/thriller with outer-space trappings.