The Earth is in a state of collapse, with wars breaking out over resources and an environment pushed to the edge by human greed.
Three living generation ships have been built with a combination of genetic mastery, artificial intelligence, technology, and raw materials harvested from the asteroid belt. This is the story of one of them—43 Ariadne, or Forever, as her inhabitants call her—a living world that carries the remaining hopes of humanity, and the three generations of scientists, engineers, and explorers working to colonize her.
From her humble beginnings as a seedling saved from disaster to the start of her journey across the void of space toward a new home for the human race, The Stark Divide tells the tales of the world, the people who made her, and the few who will become something altogether beyond human. Humankind has just taken its first step toward the stars. ... Back Cover Blurb
Lex floated along with the ocean current. ... First Sentence, Prologue
Something had changed inside Jackson.
He cranked the manual wheel slowly, pulling the seed in toward the ship, aided by the Dresler's gradual slowdown.
In the air lock, the doctor waited to guide it inside, where they could perform the synth repair.
It was if a new world had opened up to him. What he had viewed with suspicion before - the Dresler and other man-made creatures like her - now seemed a font of wonder, a new creation under God's bright heaven.
He had come to believe the Dresler truly had a soul. ... Memorable Moment, Page 52
MY THOUGHTS ... For various reasons some months have passed since the reading of this and my getting my thoughts down on Pen and Paper and still I'm struggling to figure out what exactly made it such an exceptional read. Maybe it was that there were no aliens hellbent on destroying mankind just as likewise there were no aliens racing to the aid of mankind (both of these were left down to mankind itself). Whatever it was ...
Whilst its true that I'm not adverse to reading the odd Science Fiction novel every now and then (though I do tend to leave this to Mr T) its not often that books of this genre have such a profound effect upon me.
Its also true to say that to my friends who are connoisseurs of this genre the premise of a sentient spaceship isn't that new an idea, to me however ...
'A bit of a Frankenstein, bits of metal attached to living flesh' according to the ship's engineer, Jackson, 'a miracle of genetic engineering' (Pg 25) according to her captain (and common thread throughout the book), McAvery.
Whatever she, the Dresler, was, I'd never have thought that a spaceship would capture my imagination as much as she did nor that amongst my favourite characters there would be the Ship-mind of the Dresler/World-mind of Forever, Lex.
Told in three parts, 'parts' which to me very much felt like a trilogy of interconnected novellas. It was the first of these three that sees the crew (and what a wonderfully diverse lot they are) of the Dresler tasked with the planting of the seedling that is Forever on an asteroid in order that she can grow thus saving a proportion of humanity that truly gripped me in a way that no previous Sci-fi novel has done.
SUMMED UP IN A SENTENCE ... Take a sentient space ship along with a diverse crew of characters forced to look to the stars, fleeing a dying world; the result of mankind's greed and selfishness and (you get it, the list goes on and on and ...) and you have the beginnings of what promises to be a great series.
My thanks to the author, Scott Coatsworth , for sending me a copy of The Stark Divide thus giving me a glimpse into the world that he has created.
