James P. Hogan Mission to Minerva

Mission to Minerva

James P. Hogan

Baen, May 2005, $26.00

ISBN: 0743499026

On earth, deputy director of physics for the UNSA, Dr. Victor Hunt receives a call from an older Dr. Victor Hunt inhabitant of a parallel universe. Victor knows that only the Thuriens of the planet Minerva, who once occupied this solar system, can interpret this odd exchange between two Hunts residing in differing universes.

UNSA puts together a team to journey to Minerva to obtain assistance. The scientists soon explore the Multiverse, in which all endless deviations of "this" world exist. However, problems have surfaced causing paradoxical events that cross the multiverse for instance on the earth's moon a human skeleton in a weird spacesuit was found. Knowing that something is wrong, the earth scientists deploy a Thurien machine to investigate the phenomena of apparently their counterparts crossing into this reality for a time.

MISSION TO MINERVA is a complex tale that is not easy to grasp because scientific theory is a major element that at times overwhelms the fiction. When James P. Hogan goes into overdrive explaining what is going on from a theoretical perspective, the audience will be fascinated but the plot stalls and for some it will be boring. Newcomers to the Giant Stars tales are provided with an introduction from the "past", but that too is imbued with much of the latest in physics making that is somewhat difficult to follow. Still worth reading for those who prefer the over the edge science as the solid foundation to their sci fi, but this novel clearly need a week to complete the project.

Harriet Klausner