Written science fiction is not, generally speaking, known for a heavy focus on characterization or social relationships. This tends to be especially true of “hard’ science fiction, or science fiction that is based in realistic science. This reputation is somewhat exaggerated due to a mainstream media whose knowledge of the genre is limited to decades-old television shows, but it is not without a basis in fact. It is in part for this reason that the literary mainstream generally denies the existence of any serious value in the genre.
This aspect of science fiction doesn’t bother me terribly. Indeed, the fact that the genre tends to reject mainstream culture’s implicit but relentless privileging of emotionalism and extraversion, and denigration of the alternatives, is one of the reasons I love it, and I suspect that’s true for many people. Nevertheless, an emotionally charged character-driven story can be a great pleasure, even for someone as coldly Spock-like as I tend to be. This is especially true when it is combined with a story that retains the traditional virtues of hard science fiction, and this is precisely what Michael Flynn achieves with The Wreck of the River of Stars.
Launched in the year 2051, the magnetic sail-driven ship The River of Stars was the greatest luxury ship in the solar system, carrying wealthy passengers between Earth and the exotic tourist spots and dens of vice of humanity’s growing Martian settlement. When the novelty wore off and the tourist trade faded, the River took up a less glamorous but still respectable career hauling cargo to sustain the colonization and terraforming of Mars.
It didn’t last. After decades of honorable service, the invention of the Farnsworth fusion engine turned The River of Stars and her magnetic sails into a relic overnight. No longer fast enough to keep up as a cargo transport, she was reduced to scratching out a living harvesting hydrogen from Jupiter’s upper atmosphere, supplying the fuel to feed the same fusion drives that had brought her low. Finally, in 2083, The River of Stars was overhauled and equipped with fusion drives. It meant the end of an era, as the grandest magnetic sail ship the solar system had ever seen bowed to the inevitability of progress. Now a shadow of her former self, her luxurious interior stripped away, the superconducting hoops of her magnetic sails stowed away forever, she hauls cargo between the worlds of the inner solar system, while the aging veterans among her crew bitterly think back to better days.
Then disaster strikes. En route to Jupiter, the old captain unexpectedly dies, leaving his rather less capable first officer in command. Shortly thereafter, the ship suffers a catastrophic engine mishap that leaves the ship crippled and unable to properly maneuver. Without the thrust provided by her full complement of engines, the River will be unable to decelerate upon reaching Jupiter, dooming her to drift uncontrollably into deep space. The crew immediately sets to work fixing the engines, but some of the veterans of the ship’s better times have another idea: bring the River’s old magnetic sails back into working order and use them to reach Jupiter in one last hurrah for the glory days of the ship.
It’s not a spoiler to say that The Wreck of the River of Stars ends in tragedy. Indeed, readers are told this as soon as they read the back of the book. The story is not about whether or not the crew succeeds, but why they fail. To tell that story, Flynn creates a wonderful cast of characters and masterfully explores their dynamics as a group. Some characters are more likeable or admirable than others, but there’s no one who could be called a villain. I didn’t like every character, but Flynn made me feel for them, and by the end even the more disagreeable members of the crew inspire sympathy.
That, in large part, is what fuels the emotional power of the novel. The River is not doomed by any malice or evil. It is not even doomed by chance or nature; the crew could have overcome their initial bad luck. The River of Stars is doomed because the eminently understandable personality flaws of the characters, flaws anyone can understand and sympathize with, interact in a way that allows the crew’s dangerous situation to gradually spin out of control until catastrophe becomes inevitable. We learn more about- and care more about- each character at the same time that we see the noose tightening around their necks, and the result is utterly heartbreaking.
Despite the focus on characters, Flynn doesn’t let the reader down on purely science fictional matters, either. Flynn takes the difficulties of realistic space flight seriously, and in particular dealing with life in microgravity. The magnetic sail is a real theoretical propulsion system, and the Farnsworth fusor is a real technology that has been proposed as a future power source. Seeing close attention to scientific and technical detail in what is primarily a character-driven story is a rare pleasure.
When someone who likes to read fiction but isn’t familiar with science fiction asks me what in the field they should read, I’m frequently at a loss. The virtues of great science fiction are not always the virtues of more conventional works, which means that science fiction can seem like a cold and forbidding genre for many people. The Wreck of the River of Stars is an exception, combining rigorous hard science fiction with wonderfully drawn characters and tremendous emotional power. Everyone who likes science fiction, and anyone who is at all curious about the genre, should take the time to read this book.
Questions and comments may be sent to John.Markley@CrucialPop.com
