Teaser

In the not-too-distant future, the discovery of an alien artefact in our solar system leads to a renewed space race. But with tensions on Earth rising even as science soars to new heights, the expedition could spell disaster . . .

Review

Reading Mission to Methone, two things about author Les Johnson quickly become apparent. Firstly, he knows his stuff when it comes to spaceflight. Secondly, he loves Golden Age science fiction even more than I do. The former shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to anyone who reads his author bio. Johnson has a long career with NASA, and isn’t afraid to put his unique background to good use in his fiction. His love of old school science fiction, meanwhile, gives you some idea of what to expect when picking up Mission to Methone, warts and all.

Big Dumb Objects are a science fiction trope for good reason. From Ringworlds and Dyson Spheres to Monoliths and crashed spaceships aplenty, the genre is stuffed with them. Johnson is writing in a tradition that includes such luminaries as Arthur C. Clarke (Rendezvous with Rama) and Greg Bear (Eon), along with countless others. But while other authors build on these foundations and incorporate all manner of new-fangled ideas about what stories should and shouldn’t do, Johnson takes Big Dumb Objects right back to their roots. This is a book almost entirely driven by the pursuit of the Idea. There’s an alien artefact out there, and the good guys are determined to reach it before the bad guys. And when they do, they find another mystery to explore. Each discovery opens up new avenues of exploration. Each answer prompts more questions.

This is all stuff we’ve seen before. Or at least, those of us who have read a book published in the past eighty years have. So what does Johnson add to the mix? How does he keep his story fresh? Well, the answer is not much. But this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. One aspect that Johnson does excel at comes from his background. The science is brought up to date. there are a lot of details concerning the inner workings of rockets and orbits. Your mileage may vary, but I have a deep and abiding love of informational tangents. I also love cool science facts. Johnson has a knack for delivering these micro lectures without pulling you out of the story. Do these updates revolutionise the genre? Not really. I, however, argue that this refusal to play to modern storytelling expectations is what sets Mission to Methone apart. More than anything else, this book feels like a return to the Golden Age. The Clarke influences are clear, but Johnson’s work easily stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the late Grandmaster’s. This is a throwback to a simpler time, a charming reminder of the innocence of naivety of earlier science fiction.

There is a price to be paid, however. In my buddy read discussions of this book, the word I kept falling back on was ‘clunky.’ The prose is effective at delivering information (Johnson being a great science communicator) but there are points where it feels messy and unpolished. the characters that modern readers have come to expect are also absent. This is a book full of hypercompetent astronauts and scientists, but not one of them really feels like an actual human being. The political background of Earth in 2065 is largely plausible, but overall rather simplistic. The scheming villains are ever so slightly twirling their moustaches as they plot a nuclear apocalypse. There’s a character choice in the final two pages that not only comes out of nowhere, but also feels utterly implausible.

Personally, these are flaws I’m largely willing to overlook when the core of the book is as strong as it is. I’m not here for deep characterwork. I’m not here for elegant, poetic stylistic choices. I’m here for the big ideas. For the pursuit of knowledge, the love of science, and the sheer positivity towards space exploration that is so lacking in much of the genre today. Yes, this is a throwback to to a simpler time, but it was in that time this genre was born. There’s nothing wrong in revisiting it from time to time.

Mission to Methone won’t be for everyone. but it was most definitely for me.

Book Stats

• A Standalone Novel
• Published in 2018
• 398 Pages