Review: Time to Orbit: Unknown

The Javelin Program by Derin Edala
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've always been fascinated by sociology in science fiction. Whether they're Belters from Corey's The Expanse, or various individuals in Banks' The Culture, seeing the sociological ramifications of various sci-fi premises is always something that scratches my rationalist itch.

I also love a good mystery in science fiction; these are somewhat more rare, usually showing up with unfair deus ex machina, but occasionally something like Clement's Mission of Gravity will present a hard sci-fi mystery that the reader can technically figure out from context, but which is difficult enough that you'll usually fail to do so. Good mysteries will always reward a second reread, like Palahniuk's Fight Club. Good mysteries in the hard sci-fi genre are almost nonexistent.

So consider my surprise when I come across Derin Edala's Time to Orbit: Unknown series. This is rational science fiction (my favorite kind!) focusing on a series of entirely fair mysteries (so rare!) about sociology of all things! This is a rarity of rarities, and it does not disappoint.

The main character of the two books in this series, The Javelin Program & The Antarctica Conspiracy, is the sociologist Dr. Aspen Greaves. They are, without a doubt, one of the best protagonists in a rational sci-fi mystery that I'm, aware of. (Part of this might be because the great hard sci-fi mystery writers are generally only good at _natural science_ mysteries, not mysteries of motivations or sociology. (Clement in particular is *terrible* at dialogue, to the same extent as he is utterly amazing at setting.)) Aspen, despite originating from a society that is foreign to me, proves to be an excellent reader surrogate. I'm not sure how exactly Edala was able to accomplish this, but it is easy to imagine myself in Aspen's shoes, even as they evaluate the various cultures of those around them.

I haven't even spoken to the plot of the Time to Orbit: Unknown series, but, honestly, I don't think I need to. The fact that the setting is a deep space colonization ship; that the characters are all from various cultures in the Sol system far enough in the future that everything is not quite what you'd expect; and that the mysteries are all entirely fair, predictable if you spend enough time thinking about them, but difficult enough that you'll never figure them out before reaching the point in the text where they are resolved — these are all superfluous to the fact that I just plain enjoyed this series.

If any of this would also appeal to you, then I heartily recommend Derin Edala's two books in the Time to Orbit: Unknown series: The Javelin Program & The Antarctica Conspiracy. I fully endorse this story as a rationalist sci-fi sociological mystery. Well done, Edala.

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