Mirror to the Sky

Mark Geston's fifth novel (and first in almost twenty years), takes an ordinary sf premise and transforms it into a dark brooding novel that refuses to give into the conventions of the genre. Mirror to the sky opens along similar lines to Arthur C. Clarke's classic Childhood's End. As in Clarke's novel, mysterious aliens from beyond our solar system make contact with our planet and appear willing to help mankind in their fashion. But whereas Clarke's aliens, santanic in appearence, ultimately enable mankind to reach transcendence with a cosmic overmind, Geston's aliens appear almost godlike in their perfection but, as time progresses, it becomes increasingly clear that they have their own agenda. Mirror to the sky functions as a fasacinating counter-aurgument to the optimism of Clarke's work. By contrast, Geston's future appears dilapidated and weary, but honest.

I was prepared to dislike this book. It had been twenty years since Geston wrote a novel, and many of the reviews I had read had been lukewarm at best. To my surprise, I found myself enjoying it so much that I was obliged to read it in one sitting. I should have known better -- Geston's style appeals to a fairly narrow audience, but if you've read any of his other books and enjoyed them, as I have, you will not be disappointed by this one. I suspect that _Mirror to the Sky_ would actually appeal to a wider audience than his previous books._Mirror to the Sky_ seems at first to lack the overarching theme of cosmic menace and human futility which fairly screams from the pages of Geston's earlier novels. This is deceptive, however. It's all still there, but it is handled in a far subtler fashion, with the customary crushing defeat replaced by a chillingly empty victory that left me thinking about the book for hours afterwards.Highly recommended for Geston fans, and probably the most accessible introduction to his work for new readers.