The year is 2066 and the Earth is experiencing dire troubles. There's flooding of landmasses, bad air, contaminated water, disappearance of wildlife, shortage of food, and other difficulties.
The lack of food in particular causes mass unrest in the United States, with riots, violence, rape, killing, looting, and so on.
Worse yet, it appears the entire planet is dying, and won't sustain life of any kind for much longer. In the circumstances, a new religious movement is established in America, as people seek comfort in difficult circumstances.
U.S. President Kim - an anthropologist by training - consults with her advisors, and they decide on a plan to establish a human colony on the moon.
This will put a small segment of humanity out of harm's way, but even more importantly, the lunar colony will grow food plants that can survive harsh circumstances. These plants are being created by an innovative botanist named John McCabe, and the botanicals will feed the moon colonists AND provide seeds that can grow on the moribund Earth, to relieve the starving populations.
A number of dedicated individuals are tasked with establishing and maintaining the American lunar colony, which is named Diaspora. These include Jeffrey Patel - a brilliant physicist, engineer, and entrepreneur;
Gabriel Farigola - a lunar ecologist and space administrator;
Captain Joanne Wakefield - commander of America's two space stations (USS Kennedy and USS Armstrong) who's being reassigned to command Diaspora;
John McCabe - the botanist;
Mercedes Fontaine - an activist and diplomat who functions as a liasion between Diaspora and President Kim; and more.
Physicist Jeffrey Patel and botanist John McCabe come to believe that the Earth is dying because of a newly discovered force called Entropy. Entropy functions to deconstruct matter, and it's causing the deterioration of everything on Earth. The scientists believe that if Entropy can be controlled, the Earth might (eventually) be saved.
The establishment of the moon colony Diaspora goes smoothly enough, but there's trouble on the horizon. China has built it's own lunar colony, named Jiā, which is only a few hundred kilometers from Diaspora. Moreover, China's colony is not a research facility, but a military one. China's President Liu plans to invade Diaspora and take it over, which leads to some riveting combat scenes.
Meanwhile there's also some drama back on Earth, where treachery is afoot.
In addition to adventure and action, the book touches on some important human relationships, like the bond between diplomat Mercedes Fontaine and her earthbound parents; Commander Wakefield taking space cadet/aide-de-camp Ned Henson under her wing; the association of Chinese and American lunar colonists; the romance between Mercedes Fontaine and botanist John McCabe; etc.
The author has clearly done his research, and the science fiction elements of the novel have a good dollop of real science. For example, there's an excellent scene in which colonists take off for space, and I could almost sense the vibrating rocket ship and the feeling of being squished by gravity (which is like being sat on by an elephant). There are also fine descriptions of the space stations, lunar colonies, lunar vehicles, methods of getting air and water on the moon, and more.
The story leads to a satisfying climax which leaves room for a sequel.
I listened to the audiobook, which was well-narrated. I like the story and recommend it to science fiction fans.
Thanks to Netgalley, Dana Hayward, and Widow's Watch Publishing for a copy of the book.
Rating: 3.5 stars
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