The Object by Joshua T. Calvert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A mysterious object is detected in the far reaches of the solar system. Is it a comet? An asteroid? Melody Adams is the discoverer. She is also a former astronaut who never got to go into space because a competing candidate cheated on a final test and got the slot. There is a lengthy section where the author shows the depth of his research about space travel and extraterrestrial science as the scientists in the story argue about whether it is a natural object or, as Melody believes, a spaceship. Many chapters – too many in my opinion – are spent on the Melody’s struggle within NASA to promote her views and increase her rank. A halfhearted love story is developed between her and another character. Eventually a mission is authorized to explore the object. You can guess who becomes the mission leader. I won’t say more on the plot to avoid spoilers.
The author’s research is impressive but his manner of displaying it is rather clunky. There are a lot of conversations between scientists and astronauts where person A explains some basic science to person B when clearly anyone in person B’s position would certainly already know that. Some of the “science” is speculation or imagination, which is perfectly acceptable in science fiction, but it can be distracting when we don’t know if we’re supposed to believe it or not. Various crises arise which are resolved in dubious manners. In the end the nature of the object is discovered and it is quite imaginatively resolved, although it is not very plausible. I’m rounding up to four stars from three and a half.