Proxima Rising

Proxima #1

by Brandon Q. Morris

Gegen Ende des 21. Jahrhunderts erreicht die Erde ein Hilferuf vom sonnennächsten Stern Proxima Centauri. Ein Strahlungsausbruch droht, die dortige Zivilisation zu vernichten. Die Menschheit ist ratlos, denn Hilfe zu leisten scheint technisch unmöglich. Einem russischen Milliardär gelingt es trotzdem, mit nicht ganz legalen Mitteln ein bemanntes Raumschiff auf die lange Reise zu schicken. Vor der ungewöhnlichen Crew steht eine übermenschliche Aufgabe. Erst recht, weil die Besatzungsmitglieder nicht mit dem rechnen, was der fremde Planet für sie bereithält.

Hard Science Fiction. Brandon Q. Morris, Physiker und Weltraum-Spezialist, beschreibt die Reise der ungewöhnlichen Expedition basierend auf neusten Erkenntnissen der Wissenschaft und realen Technik-Trends.

Im Anhang: Die neue Biografie der Exoplaneten – was die Forschung über die Suche nach fremden Planeten weiß.

Genres: Science Fiction, Audiobook, Space, Aliens, Space Opera, Paranormal, Adventure

367 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 23, 2017

About the author

Brandon Q. Morris is a physicist and space specialist. He has long been concerned with space issues, both professionally and privately and while he wanted to become an astronaut, he had to stay on Earth for a variety of reasons. He is particularly fascinated by the "what if” and through his books he aims to share compelling hard science fiction stories that could actually happen, and someday may happen. Morris is the author of several best-selling science fiction novels.

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was initially hooked by the author’s claim that he pens “hard science fiction.” His bio as a physicist and space specialist convinced me to take a leap of faith and buy the series. I chose poorly. If hard sf is what you are looking for, this isn’t that series. There are hints and nuggets of hard sf to be found, but they were overburdened by plot holes that were too frequently filled by the magical appearance of the perfect solution at the perfect time without the narrative having done anything to earn the solution.

I liked the premise of the book: The ship, which is self aware, begins its journey as a tiny needle ship. Over a very long time the ship utilizes nanotechnology to grow and build both itself and a two-person crew using cosmic dust and debris that it collects during an interstellar voyage. The way it does this, and the thoughts behind the mission itself, were in my opinion the most well written portions of the series.

Unfortunately the plot issues throughout the series reduced what I had hoped would be a 5-star read to a generous 2 stars.

[Ian Littlewood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book from Brandon Q. Morris. Starting with the Ice Moon series, I've been gradually working through his entire works and I have to say I think he's my new favourite sci-fi author. I love the grounding in actual science combined with inherently feasible yet currently just out-of-reach technology to spin amazing stories that dove-tail neatly from one series to the next.

[reherrma · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.9| Dieses Buch von Brandon Q. Morris (Matthias Matting) ist m.E. der bisherige Höhepunkt seines Schaffens, ein Hard Science Thriller der Extraklasse. Sein Roman, der in seinem Zyklus angesiedelt ist, von dem die Eismond-Trilogie (Enceladus, Titan, Io) der Anfang war, bietet eine neue Idee für eine interstellare Reise zum nächsten bekannten Extrasolaren Planeten mit einer atemberaubenden Technologie, die ich in dieser Form in der SF noch nie gelesen habe.
Da ich hier nicht spoilern will, kann ich dem Autor hier nur gratulieren zu der Idee, wie er von den heutigen technischen Möglichkeiten eine phantastische interstellare Reise extrapoliert, die Idee wurde zwar bereit in Charles Stross "Accelerando" skizziert, aber Matting machte daraus einen großen Roman. Die Beschreibung von Proxima Centauri b ist atemberaubend und nach den technischen Daten her einigermaße gut extrapoliert, ich denke es ist hier auch wie bei jedem Roman von Matting, dass man beim Lesen stetig auf dem Fundus des aktuellen Wissens fährt.
Der Anhang ist also wie immer aktuell und wahnsinnig aufhellend.
Die Handlung nach der Landung ist für mich aber noch ausbaufähig, weshalb ich keine volle 5 Sterne vergeben konnte. Ich hätte mir gewünscht, etwas mehr über die Hintergründe des 2. Marchenko zu erfahren, auch sind mir die Ziele der Expedition noch etwas unklar, warum sollten sich auch Adam und Eva auf ein miserables Leben auf einer lebensfeindlichen Welt freuen, da muss doch noch mehr dahinterstecken.
Immerhin ist klar, dass die Vorgeschichte der Expedion im Eismond-Roman Nr. 4 erzählt wird, die Fortsetzung der Abenteuer von Adam, Eva und Marchenko werden im 2. Teil der Alpha Centauri-Reihe beschrieben; ich kann es kaum erwarten...

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

PROXIMA RISING takes place an unspecified number of years after the events in the ICE MOON series, but still in the 21st century. Unlike all the other Brandon Q. Morris novels that I have read, the initial premise of this first of a trilogy is a bit fuzzy and some of the SF seems a bit magical. A signal is received from an exoplanet of Proxima Centauri that appears to be some sort of plea for help. There is no FTL and so the 4 light years to the star and neighboring Alpha Centauri binary system is a very long way. Too long for a normal crew and mission (decades at least, so why bother at all really? Much to late to help?), so a very advanced, tiny light sail powered vessel containing Marchenko, a once human astronaut in the ICE MOON series who is now a computer AI, plus biologically stored human DNA is sent to Proxima b.

The tech seems incredibly far advanced compared to previous entries in the same universe by the author, principally by the addition of self-replicating nano-fabricators that are essentially magic. They can take almost any substance as input and deconstruct it at an atomic level to make new molecules and assemble them into anything from food to an entire spaceship. So while there is still a good bit of hard SF here, the nano-fabricators (which seem at least a few centuries advanced from the tech in the mid-21st century featured in Morris' previous novels) are like get-out-of-jail-free cards for almost any jam. En route to Proxima b, Marchenko has the nano fabricators greatly enlarge the spaceship including an artificial womb and a robot body, and creates two human fetuses that grow up into Adam and Eve. By the time they land on Proxima b, the kids are 16 or so and the hunt for the source of the alien signal commences.

Regardless, the read is still fun. I am now reading the second book and still enjoying it, while still questioning why all of this is happening in then first place. I guess you can blame it all on the crazy Russian Billionaire who footed the bill for the whole thing.

JM Tepper

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ich habe gezielt diese Trilogie ausgewählt, weil ich wieder Zeit mit Marchenko verbringen wollte. BQMs künstliche Intelligenzen, Cyborgs etc sind immer noch meine liebsten Charaktere im Morrisversum. Darum musste ich auch wissen, wohin es den armen Machenko verschlagen hat.

Adam und Evas Kinderstube kam etwas zu kurz fand ich und auch schlecht umgesetzt. So pragmatisch kann man nicht einmal Hundewelpen großziehen, ohne dass die psychische Schäden davontragen.
Vielleicht funktioniert das im Kopf eines Autors aber überzeugend muss es auf dem Papier.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novel. It is hard Sci-Fi, though some reviewers see magic in the science. Not enough modern science knowledge? Not enough imagination? I found nothing in this novel that seemed 'magic', ie, outside the realm of possibility. Nanotechnology and genetic manipulation are carried far beyond present capabilities, but one hopes are future possibilities. In any case I consider it hard Sci-Fi.

8 of 10 stars for similar works

[Moshe · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tremendously awful

The writing is so poor that it is difficult to believe this was actually published. That the book was successful enough to have sequels is mind boggling to me. I kept pushing forward in hopes of finding some redeeming quality to the story, despite the truly bad writing. 60% is too much, I regret the time lost.

[Edward Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good science at a very slow pace. I was missing a story line that would pull me in to invest in the main characters Adam and Eve. The third main, an AI, describing the science behind the self developing spaceship, was numbing. I didn’t get the passive evolution of the ship streaming through space on momentum. The last 1/4 of the book started to grab my attention, once the the three mains landed on Proxima.

I will say the final four chapters were intriguing enough to perk my interest to read the next installment.

[Justin Redman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pleasantly surprised

At the beginning I got bored pretty quickly but kept on reading and really started enjoying the characters. Turns out it's a well written and different sort of space opera if you could call it that. Nevertheless it's a good read but you'll have to continue with the next book

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I struggled at the start as I thought it was quite boring. It seemed very scientific (I know, sci-fi). However, along came Adam and Eve and it just got better. It became almost a fantasy style book with all the weird and wonderful scenery and creatures. On top of that the imagery made me want to draw the weird and wonderful things described. Can’t wait to read the next one!

[Harry · Rating 3 out of 5]

scientifically great, but... I miss a great story, something exciting me to the end! Maybe more imagination and not just a bit too sober facts. Worst was the sudden right in the middle of nowhere, not even close to a cliffhanger...

[Tyler Jacques · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the things I enjoy most about reading science fiction books is it's ability of showing a possibility of things that may happen in the real world and introduces new ideas and concepts about the future. And I think this book exemplifies that very well. In this book humans get a signal from the planet, Proxima b, orbiting the star closest to Earth, Proxima Centauri, so a Russian billionaire creates a needle like spaceship accelerated by a laser to the planet to investigate. This ship was to expand itself using microscopic particles in nearby space to contain an artificial intelligence and two humans designed for life and exploration of this foreign planet. Once there they land to discover a world filled with complex alien life as well as an abandoned space port which may be the source of the distressed transmissions. The part of the book I enjoyed the most was certainly the parts on the needle space craft. This is the part that makes it seem the most like hard science fiction. It provides a very detailed description of this vehicle that could potentially be used for space travel to another world based on real plans proposed by Breakthrough Starshot, a startup that plans and is to create laser accelerated space craft, like the one in the book, to go to other stars. However, I think this book was lacking on the part of the plot. It seems like things happened that shouldn't have to keep the protagonists alive. I don't think this ruins the way I see the book altogether. The author revealed a realistic perspective on the conditions of the exoplanet, Proxima b and of the potential conditions of life there. Even though they are theories they were presented it as if life actually can exist like that. These scientifically grounded theories that seem true are some of the thinks I admire about science fiction like this.

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Earth has received a distress message from a far away planet. While nations struggle to agree on how to put together a rescue mission, a billionaire Russian makes his own plans.
He sends a 'messenger" space ship with a human based AI and human genomes to seek the distressed colony.

The story is told primarily by the AI, Marchenko, first as a lonely space traveler and then as a fearful parent to his Adam and Eve. The presentation is very dry and the "kids" are quite often depicted as annoying. (Yes, that may be realistic but who wants to be reminded of or read about spoiled children and disobedient teens?) I liked Marchenko as a character more that his charges.

I did enjoy the exploration of the planet with its interesting lifeforms. The trio, especially the humans, did not seem to exercise sufficient care. Fortunately, Marchenko is there to pull them out of trouble. There is a twist at the end which adds some suspense for the next book. Still, I am not sure that I will rush off to get the rest of the series. There are mixed reviews so try this if the sample gets your attention.

Audio Notes: Edoardo Ballerini does a good job with the narration. I think he captured the dry, but caring nature of Marchenko. I was glad to listen to this as I am not sure if I would have pushed through a printed version.
Source: Free through Audible Plus Catalog. My Rating: 3.5.

[Javier Delgado Rosas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Los viajes más rápidos que la luz, y los agujeros de gusano, las velocidades warp siguen estando en el rango de la fantasía.
Sin nada de eso ¿cómo se podía intentar colonizar otro sistema solar?

El acelerar una nave a grandes velocidades y requiere mucha energía. Pero podemos usar naves minúsculas, de sólo unos centímetros, con energía externa enviada desde las horas desde los satélites exteriores del sistema solar..

El lugar enviarás astronautas podemos enviar el código genético hermoso ir a los seres humanos..tofo bajo la dirección de una inteligencia en la nave.

La novela es una exploración de este concepto.

Esta es la primera de una trilogía de novelas, qué ocurre después de los sucesos de la serie de" luna helada". Pero puede leerse de una manera independiente.

En un futuro tal vez no muy lejano la tierra recibe una señal de radio de próxima centauri. Al lograr descifrar la se averigua qué es una llamada de auxilio.

Aunque es imposible qué los seres humanos viajen hasta allá, se decide enviar alguien para investigar. Por supuesto es un viaje sin retorno. Humanos modificados creados para una misión.

Esta es una fascinante novela que aborda un concepto no menos fascinante.

[Tania · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was between credits in Audible so I pulled this out of their free collection because I was feeling sci-fi-y and it seemed to have good reviews. Not from this reader. The premise: a consciousness uploaded from an involuntary astronaut has been commissioned to respond to a distress call picked up from an alien civilization across the galaxy. Its job is to safeguard the delivery of a pair of humans, male and female, who would be conceived and gestated artificially and timed to have reached the age of 16 when they arrive at their destination. Cool premise, big mystery about what they'll find. I kept listening in spite of how painfully slow the plot unfolded and how shallowly the author imagined raising two children on a spaceship would be. They think and talk just like earthbound kids, gender roles played to the hilt, yawn. Then JUST when it got interesting and some real conflict was introduced the whole thing was resolved simplistically and the book ended and there's no way I care enough to continue with the sequel. Sigh.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the concept of hearing the story from the AI/downloaded consciousness's perspective, as well as the microscopic ship building itself up from it's singular atom weilding builders, to constructing the gestation chamber, to full on living quarters. I would image that two kids growing up in a confined space ship with no other human contact (beyond said AI) would either have serious social issues or would go without the negative psychology of modern teenagers/kids. Unfortunately for this rather dumb AI, they were allowed to watch Earth television. Naturally, the boy grew up to be an incredibly petulant and short-sighted teen. Realistic, sure; but, made for an annoying experience every time he spoke.

I would have liked to continue the series, but I just can't take his attitude any more.

[Hugo S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Proxima b trip!

An speculative description of our closest exoplanet with some unnecessary alien warfare, and flawed in its conception since these tree warriors rather fight their regular foe and ignore the fact that one of their own has been slain and taken apart by aliens to the planet and used as construction materials. The science was good enough to keep my interest to finish this installment of what I now know is a trilogy, but the decision to let the other AI walk Scott free to take its time and exact revenge on who now are his enemies which makes the next book or the one after the next predictable. Four stars because of the author's following on the footsteps of other writers always making Artificial Intelligence going psychotic.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook:

The first lap of a very long run

No wormholes, no teleportation devices or inventive technologies to manipulate the fabric of space time, and certainly no alien invasion to fend off, at least not yet. No, this is the vast bleak distance of space travel done the hard way. It is hard science constructed from credible technology a few short steps ahead of what is currently available.

The basic premise includes a nuanced reworking of Old Testament Genesis. It is a creation story without the attendant organised religion, and with a seemingly altruistic creator that remains absent yet omnipotent throughout.

Unquestionably, the truly colossal distances involved in space travel will be monotonous. It does not lend itself to the short span of human lifetimes or readers that require quick entertainment and conclusions. But the story cleverly distracts us by alluding to a developing mystery, leading us to believe that our patience will be rewarded if we stay the course.

The book is well written, and the narration is good. However, the foreboding menace that felt promised is never adequately rewarded in this first volume, and the reader must plan for the long haul. This is not necessarily a criticism, but I feel the author might have been a tad more generous with this first instalment to encourage me to follow.

[Cool Cmsc · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is OK...

An initially interesting concept develops, initially, into an interesting story.
However, eventually, because the concept is never developed, the story become linear; predictable; simplistic.
A bit like an never ending game of snakes and ladders where the the good and bad consequences repeat themselves as similarly structured threats and successes.
And there’s some interesting ideas. Gills! But they are under developed - unlike the gills - especially the associated technical matters such as the hydrological consequences of deep sea diving which are mentioned, but not explained.

[Ton · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author definitely knows his field and put his work in researching and making the sci-fi more science than fiction—i mean it kinda helps when you're already a physicist, right?
But there's some parts of the book that bothered me:
-No Rosetta Stone but could read the alien scripts?
-They could print an entire ass submarine but not a type of vehicle to run on the ice sheet? Make it make sense man...
-almost got murdered but let the perpetrator walk free? I'm sorry what 😩

Overall I enjoyed the book though 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know, honestly, I really appreciate all old-school SF adventure/exploration tales. Especially when they just KNOW their job and do it extremely well. Bring out that sense of awe and wonder and danger, throw in a little intrigue, but really stick to the landing.

It's not something we get much of anymore. So, I rather loved it.

It's half of Bobbiverse, and half Interstellar. Maybe not quite as wonderful as either, alone, but very entertaining and nerdy anyway.

I especially love the awe. :)

[jboyg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Hard SF With Both Heart & Soul

Q steps up to the interstellar plate and tags a high fast one for a solid three-bagger, of which this is just first base. In looking over Morris' list of books I found I've read five or six of his novels and enjoyed them all--it is hard to keep all the books and author's I read straight but Morris is now officially on my top five list and should probably be on yours too.

[David Green]

Hmmmm.... It meandered a lot and the characters seemed to take really odd choices during their explorations. I was let down as the ending only wanted the reader to buy the next book. I will not be buying the next book nor shall I buy anything from this author again. Although the writing and grammar is very good it just seems the author is writing a lot of words and stringing the reader along.

[Roberto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ich fand den Roman insgesamt sehr unterhaltsam. Gerade auch die Perspektive aus der Sicht einer KI, die menschlicher wirkt als die übrigen Protagonisten, die Menschen sind. Die ein oder andere Wendung war in der Mitte zwar ein kleines bisschen vorhersehbar, die übrigen Wendungen haben dies aber mehr als wett gemacht. Bin schon gespannt auf die Fortsetzung. Auch die zusätzlichen Infomaterialien fand ich sehr spannend als Hintergrundwissen.

[Jo P · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pleasant surprise! I think I expected less because of some reviews I read but I really enjoyed this book and I’m looking forward to the other books in the series. I enjoy science fiction that has a good amount of science and I felt this hit the mark. Adam though - he was getting on my nerves. I hope he’s more pleasant in the next books. The little twist at the end needed more time. It felt pretty rushed.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story that is not told in such a way that everyone will appreciate. Narrated expertly by Eduardo Ballerini, it is somewhat monotone because the main character is an AI. It is heavy on the science. And yet, I've come to be invested in the mission and the characters. Go figure.

I debated about continuing with the series, but I'm too interested to not read the next 2 books. It'll be interesting to see what I think at the end of the third book.

[Mark Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Morris does a good job of integrating occasional science and knowledge of space and Proxima in with the plot. I love space opera SciFi but less so the emo AI extracted from the character of a human from a previous book. The AI tells the story in first person, with two teenage kids the only other characters for much of the story. Intriguing imagination of possible life and geology on an alien planet and a plot to keep you guessing.

[Andy Mortimer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book showed a lot of promise as interesting science fiction. The world-building is well thought out, and still at the end of the book I'm interested to know more about the ecology and how it all works together.

Unfortunately the story was less engaging, feeling more like a series of disconnected events, and without enough consistency between parts to predict how the various players might react next.

[Ivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me ha gustado MUCHO.
De hecho hace poco en la feria del libro de Madrid, le pregunté al tendero en uno de los puestos(que tenía bastantes cosas de ccff) que me recomendase algo del estilo de Cita con Rama o de Mundo Anillo, un genero así un poco más ccff hard y esto es exactamente lo que buscaba.
Siento mucho cariño por los personajes y me encantan los detalles de la tecnología y la ciencia que expone.
Muy muy recomendable y estoy empezando ya el segundo.

[Matthew O'Neil · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise was interesting, for sure. However, as the characters grew older, there was a lot of…interesting choices in expressing their maturation and ideas around sex and intimacy. It just felt icky. Especially when you consider they were siblings. Anyway. Probably gonna pass on the rest of the series.