Flux

hard scifi with a great story as a framework. another good novel of the xeelee sequence.

The review by Christopher is articulate and accurate regarding the imperfect story in Flux. However the environment and senario are so wonderfully drawn and described that weaknesses in the story are a minor distraction in the work of the facinating author.

Flux is only one of several books in the Xeelee sequence and does exactly what those other novels and numerous short stories do for this magnificent saga. It adds to its complexity, enlarging the vastness of the sequence by adding yet another layer to this magnificent, time engulfing Story. Much of the book stands on its own (appart from carefully added references to the other books, I especially enjoyed Parz City, a reference to a character in Timelike Infinity). Throughout the novel the reader knows, as do the neutron star's inhabitants, that they were put there by Humans. Only in the end does the reader learn why this was so. These micro-people were implanted into the star and sent on a multimillenial journey only to arrive at the Ring (the final Xeelee book). There they were intended to take their place in the great war and ensure that the neutron star would continue in a direct impact course with the Ring, hoping to destroy it. True humanity prevails. Find out how.gv

If you want to read something bizarre and imaginative, read this. It's the story of sub-microscopic "humans" embedded in a neutron star and (like several other Baxter novels) has a certain Victorian flavor to the setting (believe it or not - in a neutron star). While all that was good, I was a little disappointed with the plot. The ending was a little hard to understand, or at least to imagine. It had potential, but it didn't quite deliver. Also, throughout the book, there is a certain darkness to the society which makes the read just a tad depressing, but obviously it was supposed to be that way. Still, a lighter moment (or aspect to the plot/society) or two would have been nice.