On a huge vessel known as a PODS (Portable Ova Distribution System), ten children spend their days participating in different “blocks” of time as they travel through deep space under the direction of ABRAM (Automated Biological Replication Assistance Machine): an incredibly advanced “alternative intelligence.” ABRAM raises its charges with apparent affection, and the ten children are vibrantly alive, healthy, and curious.

On their tenth birthday, the cadets are informed of their true origin and purpose: they are the result of The Human Dispersal Project, a centuries-long effort by humanity to ensure its overall survival by sending zygotes out into the universe towards distant, potentially habitable planets. The world had grown bitterly divided, but then recognized the danger and banded together to give the species hope based on observable reproductive practices in nature, where creatures release eggs by the thousand.

The cadets are stunned and disquieted—especially Potch, who has an attention to detail and a knack for hacking the systems of the PODS. Potch has figured out how to hide himself from ABRAM’s constant attention, and picks up on small details in the new information that paint a far bleaker picture of what’s going on than ABRAM has admitted. When Squeal decides she wants to be able to disable ABRAM as well—just as the vessel experiences some terrifying malfunctions—chaos soon reigns, and ABRAM falls silent as the children are plunged into a deep ocean of secrets, hurt feelings, and desperate struggles with its guidance and authority.

Adam James Chouinard’s THE HUMAN DISPERSAL PROJECT explores its premise and fictional universe with admirable (and occasionally exhausting) depth. Interspersed between the story of our cadets struggling to understand both their predicament and each other are logs and reports from the Human Dispersal Project’s scientists, engineers, and even custodial staff. These files are initially a bit confounding, as they jump around in the history of the project (some near its beginnings, some decades or even centuries later) and often make oblique references to information the reader is not yet privy to. But they ultimately serve to slowly shape the project’s ambitions, dimensions, and methodology—all of which come together as the mysteries are revealed. For seasoned sci-fi fans, those mysteries will be somewhat familiar, but Chouinard’s ideas are fresh enough to hold interest.

The writing is fluid and confident, but not without flaws. It’s occasionally a bit dry or convoluted, and there’s an over-reliance on dramatic hesitation, where characters announce they have revelations or epiphanies and then refuse to speak them until prodded several times. But these are relatively minor flaws. Overall, Chouinard crafts characters that by and large become multidimensional and plausible people with believably complex motivations. So, too, are the mysteries they unravel over the course of the story, which avoid supposedly mind-blowing twists in favor of good old-fashioned storytelling. The final result is delightfully readable and thought-provoking.

Pleasantly complex and filled with heart, Adam James Chouinard’s THE HUMAN DISPERSAL PROJECT melds exuberant sci-fi storytelling with a compelling existential mystery.

~Jeff Somers for IndieReader