Review of Pushing Ice . . . Posted December 10 2007

Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds Gollancz, 2005. ISBN 0575078154 Reviewed by Edwina Harvey Book reviews index

The prologue of this book starts in a far-flung, and almost ungraspable future that raises lots of questions for the reader. In contrast, chapter 1 of Part 1 of this book starts in a future not all that far away: 2057. United Economic Entities (UEE) keep the Earth's economy ticking over nicely by sending nuclear powered ships into the solar system to capture and mine comets. The story of Pushing Ice concerns one of these mining ships, the Rockhopper, and its crew. When Janus, one of Saturn's moons, leaves the planet's orbit and starts travelling across the solar system of its own volition, the crew of the Rockhopper, the closest mining ship to the wandering moon, are contacted to follow it. As the moon's icefields start to melt, alien machinery can be seen on its surface. This could be it: the Big One. Rockhopper may end up being the envoy that makes first contact with an alien culture. Unless a Chinese rocket gets there first.

As Janus keeps picking up speed, Rockhopper's crew find themselves thrust into the limelight, instant heroes, their progress tracked by CNN, their mission watched by school children all around the globe. Celebrity status is not something Captain Bella Lind has been groomed for.

And what price do mega-corporations place on the welfare of their workers? This question is dealt with on a personal level as the ship's second in command, Jim Chisholm, is suffering from brain cancer. Perversely, Janus going AWOL throws him a lifeline. While the company would not permit deviation to repatriate him to Earth under normal circumstances, achieving star status by chasing Janus creates an opportunity to get him back to Earth for treatment sooner.

The plan seems to be to rendevouz with Janus, take happy snaps and a few samples, then turn tail for home. But is the UEE keeping something hidden? What if their fuel tanks aren't as full as they're supposed to be? Are the crew of Rockhopper expendable?

There's an uprising amongst the crew at a vital moment, that sees Rockhopper miss its opportunity to turn back home to Earth, and as it turns out it is Janus, not Earth that dictates the Rockhopper's fate.

They do meet aliens. First Contact comes from a benevolent, advanced alien culture, that portions out advanced technology to the humans as it sees fit. The second contact is from a malevolent society that is only out for what it can get. (Looks like that's consistent the galaxy over!)

Pushing Ice is very much a character-driven book. Reynolds' characters are three dimensional, and flawed, which makes them, and the story, all the more believable and interesting. At its core, Pushing Ice is the story of two friends becoming rivals, then putting personal difficulties behind them for the greater good of the community.

Similarly, Reynolds' science is believable to the reader. He has a knack for describing and explaining science to the reader without info-dumping. I particularly like the concept of flimsies; semi-organic foldable versions of lap-top computers. I can see computers we currently use evolving into such tools. But he doesn't wander too far out of the square. Not for him the blithe assumption that Faster Than Light space flight is achievable, but what he achieves while keeping to the parameters he has set himself is quite remarkable.

There's a lot of story crammed into one book, and I often got the impression when reading it that there were other characters or situations the author wanted to more fully pursue, but was constrained from doing so by the word count. It's easy to see how Alistair Reynolds continues to write in the universe he has created, and why readers keep flocking to read his works. At the same time it's comforting to know that each novel he pens is meant to be a "stand alone" effort, so you don't have to worry about fustily hunting for a missing title to make sense of the series further down the track. I'll definitely be going back to sample his other titles!



Reviewed by Edwina Harvey