The future. Having been ravaged by relentless wars, revolutions and terrorist uprisings the leaders of planet Earth finally called a truce and agreed to work together to save mankind. Earth Core United was formed and for almost twenty years ruled as a unified world government. Huge advances in technology were made as countries and corporations joined forces and man was able to found a colony on Mars. Soon a schism occurred and Mars established itself as an independent tax-free state. But in spite of their differences, and with the assistance of the Omega Group, a think-tank of young brilliant minds drawn from both planets, Mars and Earth realized they must unite as one to develop a space program that would enable mankind to locate distant planets where more new colonies might be built. The space explorer Deep Contact was the first ship to be constructed. Finally mankind was ready to embark on an age of exploration beyond the solar system. The era of interplanetary colonization could begin.
Jeff Walker’s THE MASSIVE PLANET: The Adventures of Deep Contact (Book 1) is a tremendous page-turner of a sci-fi novel focusing on the flawed Captain Christopher Riley and his crew as they man the maiden voyage of their ship. Obviously indebted to the world of Star Trek (the OG sci-fi franchise that began in the 1960s is mentioned within the text and in the author’s acknowledgments), the book reads like a high quality novelization of a TV show with its mix of intriguing, often argumentative characters and well drawn action sequences. Walker is good at the minutiae of space travel, on the mundanity of life on board a glorified tin can and this is a great counterpoint to the more expansive sequences that happen out in space. The “massive planet” of the title appears from nowhere and sets out to absorb the ship “like a Venus flytrap consuming an insect or snake that swallows its victims whole.” It’s illogical of course, but reminiscent of the sort of scrapes Captain Kirk and his crew would encounter week after week.
Although short, by the end of the novel Walker has established the crew of the Deep Contact and their antagonistic relationship with their captain. And in an epilogue a secret is revealed that throws the truth of the entire Deep Contact mission into question. Everything is perfectly set up for future volumes.
THE MASSIVE PLANET: The Adventures of Deep Contact (Book 1) is a fast-paced and entertaining novel of interplanetary exploration that is knowingly reminiscent of classic TV science fiction.
~Kent Lane for IndieReader