A standout…
In this multifaceted and rewarding novel, Koelsch has created a world which features some of the most ambitious aspects of SF: faster-than-light travel, alternate reality, multiple universes, and artificial intelligence among other intergalactic scientific elements. When Captain Anton Ekels, a disgraced scientist, happened to witness the near-collision of the space travel vessel Endeavor with an alien stasis pod, he had no idea the discovery would leads to two different civilizations’ aspirations of piercing the unfathomable Celestial Ocean and beyond. Koelsch’s vivid characterization is a knockout, but his great strengths, though, are his depiction of the P’nesian society with its influential Clerics and their oppressing ways as well as understanding of people’s deeply rooted, unshakable beliefs. Though the plot is heavy on hard SF concepts, Koelsch’s prose is accessible, and the story never loses its momentum. With its intriguing politics, well-drawn, realistic characters, and absorbing storyline, the novel makes for a compelling hard SF read.
