During a routine trip to Jupiter, a crew of the spaceship Paralus stumbles upon an unsettling mystery: an ancient escape pod in pristine condition. Its sole occupant is a 15-year-old girl claiming to be Captain Kara Psomas, a commander of an expedition that disappeared more than a century ago. Ship’s psychologist Dr. Sarah Dallas tries to learn if the girl is delusional or if she is improbably telling the truth. Meanwhile, increasingly distressing events threaten the crew’s mission and their lives.
Gareth Worthington’s DARK DWELLER is a tense sci-fi thriller reminding readers how outer space is brutally inimical to humanity, while at the same time brimming with interesting science fiction concepts. In the future, people are scooping up Helium-3 from the upper layers of Jupiter’s atmosphere and transporting it back to Earth. Scientists are searching for extraterrestrial life in the frozen oceans of the moon Europa. And yet, these concepts pale before the author’s grand vision of a cosmic conflict stretching back billions of years. A less imaginative writer would have tried turning them into their own stories. Instead, Worthington keeps stacking them one on top of the other to thrilling effect.
It is the book’s ending that will produce the longest-lasting impression on readers. Not to get into spoilers, but it is epic, bleak, and provocative. None of these things are necessarily bad. However, it did leave this reviewer with a distinctive feeling that the author thought it up first and then plotted his way backward. Despite his efforts, his characters frequently don’t seem like experienced professionals working as a team. Instead, they act like petulant teenagers, talking over each other and prioritizing their own emotions and interests. A charitable reading is Worthington demonstrates innate flaws of human nature. A more cynical interpretation might point at his characterizations as a contrived way to prolong the story. If the characters were willing to sit down and exchange relevant information, this novel would have been much shorter.
DARK DWELLER by Gareth Worthington is a fine mix of heady science fiction ideas paired with a thrilling story.
~Danijel Štriga for IndieReader