|
Dark Ararat is the latest in Brian Stableford's "Emortality"
series. Like the book I reviewed last month, this one is about a colony ship. I
guess maybe I'm in a rut.
Since Stableford's "Star Pilot Granger" series back in the '70s, Brian has
written books whose plots seem vitally connected with ecology. Previous books in the current
series have mostly concerned ecological disasters here on Earth. Despite everything, man
seems to muddle through and live to mess things up another day. This book is a little more
uplifting that that. In this book, Stableford is concerned with the ecology of a colony planet
(called by those left on the ship Ararat, but called by those on the ground Tyre). This
action-adventure, murder-mystery, ecological thriller is in many respects a throw-back to
those earlier novels.
While Matthew Fleury is not Granger (who had an alien presence whispering in his ear), he
is still pretty quick on the uptake. He is awakened early from suspended animation not just
because his expert help is needed, but also because his predecessor has been murdered. Some
think that he was murdered by a race native to Ararat. Most folks think that there is a more
human explanation. There was once a race native to the planet, of course, for they have left
ruins to mystify the visitors from Earth.
But if they once had a city (or cities) and cultivated crops, where are they now? And is
it indeed possible that they murdered the dead scientist? How are the people from Earth going
to affect them (if they are still around) when they begin taking over the land and cultivating
Earth crops? What disasters lie in wait for the colonists?
This is by far my favorite book of this series. All-in-all, a very enjoyable read!
'Til Next Month,
Happy Reading
|
