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Infinity Link
Earth is being invaded by the shetanio-spirit creatures so small and stealthy that only one man knows about the increasing peril. The potential savior is an African elder named Olkeloki who is capable of fighting evil both in this world and the spirit one. But to be successful he must recruit the help of two others: government agent Joshua Oak and a feisty young woman named Merry Sharrow. Only the three of them can keep the shetani from destroying reality as we know it.
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First published January 1, 1984
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April 19, 2021
Published in 1984, TIL does have a bit of a dated feel, but all in all it is still an interesting first contact story, albeit one with lots (too much?) Earthside intrigue and other secondary plots. TIL is a very 'populated' book, with several main characters and an almost endless swapping of POVs, including various alien ones; this can get a little tedious at times, but the unfolding plot pulls the reader along nicely (if a little slowly).
Without much of a spoiler, certain entities on Earth are aware of an approaching alien ship approaching Earth. Recently discovered tachyon technology (tachyons travel much faster than light) allows for transmitting signals via tachyons and by this, strange, musical messages were received on Earth from the alien ship. The powers that be decide to keep this on the hush hush and have a team sworn to secrecy at the tachyon research center outside of New Phoenix; the year is roughly 2035 or so. Besides researching tachyons, the team also is experimenting with advanced A.I. with the hopes of sending a 'super' A.I. diplomat to the aliens; part of the research here also involves brain scanning techniques for human which might one day allow the transfer of consciousness to a computer. Both the A.I and brain-to-computer themes have been basically done to death in science fiction, but then again, this book is almost 40 years old now and the themes were not quite passe then, so I can cut Carver some slack.
TIL takes a long time to get underway, where we are introduced to a wide host of characters, their significant others, their lives, etc. Perhaps the most important protagonist is Mozy, a late 20s something woman who is described as a lonely 'waif', an 'outsider', etc., with low self esteem to boot. Females in TIL are really bland stereotypes, but to be kind to Carver, the men are not much better. What drives the story is the plot, although the semi-vapid character development slows the unfolding to no small degree; this is a bit of a doorstop at 540 pages with tiny typeset after all.
Anyway, Mozy works at the tachycon research center where she enters 'mindlinks' with the A.I. the secret cabal is planning on sending to meet the alien ship. The ship, Father Sky, is already on the way and the story begins with it about a 1/4 light year from Earth. The plan is to finish up the A.I (called David Kadin BTW) and basically beam him to the ship via tachyon transmission. The fly in the ointment, however, is Mozy, who falls in love (head over heels) with David, not knowing that he is really a computer program! The research center works on a need to know basis and secrecy is the prime commodity.
Mozy, with the help of another worker at the center (who knows a lot more than she does BTW) comes up with a plan to brain scan Mozy and send the scan to Father Sky ahead of David. He does not tell her his plan, nor that David is a program, but so be it. Mozy 'awakens' on the ship and it takes awhile for her to realize what is going on. This part had a serious 'Tron' feel to it, making it feel pretty retro to say the least. Eventually, David is also 'unpacked' on the ship and it is off to meet the aliens!
The aliens-- the Talenki-- are really what saves this story, but even they are more 'eye candy' than substance. It seems they can communicate over vast distances and are in touch with many other sentient creatures, including whales here on Earth, along with beings on Pluto, Titan, and other place in our solar system. I will stop with the plotting here, but there is still quite a bit left of the story.
I mentioned the A.I. and mindscan theme-- that is the tech that really drives the story, and yes, it is a bit old hat. The aliens are interesting and were the saving grace to the story; the stodgy characters, imbued in their stereotypical relationships do not give you much to root for otherwise. The political scene on Earth was decent, albeit once again, a bit of a stereotype. All in all, a decent first contact tale, but nothing too deep. 3 stars for the nostalgia value!
Without much of a spoiler, certain entities on Earth are aware of an approaching alien ship approaching Earth. Recently discovered tachyon technology (tachyons travel much faster than light) allows for transmitting signals via tachyons and by this, strange, musical messages were received on Earth from the alien ship. The powers that be decide to keep this on the hush hush and have a team sworn to secrecy at the tachyon research center outside of New Phoenix; the year is roughly 2035 or so. Besides researching tachyons, the team also is experimenting with advanced A.I. with the hopes of sending a 'super' A.I. diplomat to the aliens; part of the research here also involves brain scanning techniques for human which might one day allow the transfer of consciousness to a computer. Both the A.I and brain-to-computer themes have been basically done to death in science fiction, but then again, this book is almost 40 years old now and the themes were not quite passe then, so I can cut Carver some slack.
TIL takes a long time to get underway, where we are introduced to a wide host of characters, their significant others, their lives, etc. Perhaps the most important protagonist is Mozy, a late 20s something woman who is described as a lonely 'waif', an 'outsider', etc., with low self esteem to boot. Females in TIL are really bland stereotypes, but to be kind to Carver, the men are not much better. What drives the story is the plot, although the semi-vapid character development slows the unfolding to no small degree; this is a bit of a doorstop at 540 pages with tiny typeset after all.
Anyway, Mozy works at the tachycon research center where she enters 'mindlinks' with the A.I. the secret cabal is planning on sending to meet the alien ship. The ship, Father Sky, is already on the way and the story begins with it about a 1/4 light year from Earth. The plan is to finish up the A.I (called David Kadin BTW) and basically beam him to the ship via tachyon transmission. The fly in the ointment, however, is Mozy, who falls in love (head over heels) with David, not knowing that he is really a computer program! The research center works on a need to know basis and secrecy is the prime commodity.
Mozy, with the help of another worker at the center (who knows a lot more than she does BTW) comes up with a plan to brain scan Mozy and send the scan to Father Sky ahead of David. He does not tell her his plan, nor that David is a program, but so be it. Mozy 'awakens' on the ship and it takes awhile for her to realize what is going on. This part had a serious 'Tron' feel to it, making it feel pretty retro to say the least. Eventually, David is also 'unpacked' on the ship and it is off to meet the aliens!
The aliens-- the Talenki-- are really what saves this story, but even they are more 'eye candy' than substance. It seems they can communicate over vast distances and are in touch with many other sentient creatures, including whales here on Earth, along with beings on Pluto, Titan, and other place in our solar system. I will stop with the plotting here, but there is still quite a bit left of the story.
I mentioned the A.I. and mindscan theme-- that is the tech that really drives the story, and yes, it is a bit old hat. The aliens are interesting and were the saving grace to the story; the stodgy characters, imbued in their stereotypical relationships do not give you much to root for otherwise. The political scene on Earth was decent, albeit once again, a bit of a stereotype. All in all, a decent first contact tale, but nothing too deep. 3 stars for the nostalgia value!
September 14, 2025
Jeffrey A. Carver’s The Infinity Link is both an expansive space epic and an intimate exploration of human identity. The novel centers on humanity’s first genuine contact with an alien race, the Zardalu, and the extraordinary experiment in telepathic connection that brings them together. At its heart is the story of Mozy, a young woman whose consciousness becomes the bridge between human and alien minds, forcing her to confront questions of individuality, sacrifice, and belonging. Around her, Carver constructs a vast stage of political maneuvering, scientific ambition, and cosmic danger, all of which test the fragile bonds of trust between species.
What makes the book so remarkable is not only the breadth of its narrative but the depth of its vision. From the very beginning, I found myself drawn into the world so completely that the boundary between reader and text seemed to dissolve. The prose has a lyrical beauty, and the author’s world-building is so vivid that every environment—whether terrestrial landscapes or alien vistas—feels at once strange and utterly real.
Thematically, The Infinity Link is concerned with the possibilities and costs of connection. Carver raises profound questions about communication: What does it mean to truly understand another being, and what is lost—or transformed—when minds merge? The novel also grapples with the fragility of memory, the instability of identity when consciousness can be shared, and the ethical consequences of scientific advancement. At a broader level, it reflects on whether cooperation across vast differences is possible without erasing what makes each side distinct. These are not presented as abstract dilemmas alone but as deeply human struggles embodied in Mozy’s journey, giving the novel a striking emotional resonance.
The conclusion is one of extraordinary power—both inevitable and unsettling. It resists the neat closure of simple resolution and instead opens into reflection. For me, the ending carried a weight that lingered long after I had set the book aside, expanding the very questions the story had raised rather than resolving them.
In all, The Infinity Link is a novel of vision and beauty—one that speaks both to the boundlessness of the cosmos and to the vulnerabilities of the human heart.
What makes the book so remarkable is not only the breadth of its narrative but the depth of its vision. From the very beginning, I found myself drawn into the world so completely that the boundary between reader and text seemed to dissolve. The prose has a lyrical beauty, and the author’s world-building is so vivid that every environment—whether terrestrial landscapes or alien vistas—feels at once strange and utterly real.
Thematically, The Infinity Link is concerned with the possibilities and costs of connection. Carver raises profound questions about communication: What does it mean to truly understand another being, and what is lost—or transformed—when minds merge? The novel also grapples with the fragility of memory, the instability of identity when consciousness can be shared, and the ethical consequences of scientific advancement. At a broader level, it reflects on whether cooperation across vast differences is possible without erasing what makes each side distinct. These are not presented as abstract dilemmas alone but as deeply human struggles embodied in Mozy’s journey, giving the novel a striking emotional resonance.
The conclusion is one of extraordinary power—both inevitable and unsettling. It resists the neat closure of simple resolution and instead opens into reflection. For me, the ending carried a weight that lingered long after I had set the book aside, expanding the very questions the story had raised rather than resolving them.
In all, The Infinity Link is a novel of vision and beauty—one that speaks both to the boundlessness of the cosmos and to the vulnerabilities of the human heart.
March 8, 2014
I read this book while stationed in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War. It provided a wonderful escape from the day to day uncertainty and drudgery of a long and scary deployment. I thoroughly enjoyed the development of the characters, the intrigue and the story's conclusion. I only wish there had been another story with Mozelle. I loved that character.
October 25, 2019
It takes a while to build, but The Infinity Link is definitely a solid read for any dedicated fan of science fiction.
Without spoilers: the aliens are very artfully realized, and are intriguing even while remaining essentially static as characters. Depictions of life beyond Earth, while only glimpsed, are bizarre and thrilling. The book is much more centered on the human interactions that surround the alien arrival, and while the larger geopolitical context isn't exactly masterfully drawn, individual characters are very nuanced and are capable of realistically disagreeing on issues without one becoming a true bad guy (and, in fact, many characters who seem to be antagonists become more sympathetic as the book goes on).
The main character, Mozy, is a capable lead, whose perspective evolves throughout the book. A couple of side characters have relatively abrupt ends to their stories and seem to largely be forgotten, though it is in service to the greater plot.
Without spoilers: the aliens are very artfully realized, and are intriguing even while remaining essentially static as characters. Depictions of life beyond Earth, while only glimpsed, are bizarre and thrilling. The book is much more centered on the human interactions that surround the alien arrival, and while the larger geopolitical context isn't exactly masterfully drawn, individual characters are very nuanced and are capable of realistically disagreeing on issues without one becoming a true bad guy (and, in fact, many characters who seem to be antagonists become more sympathetic as the book goes on).
The main character, Mozy, is a capable lead, whose perspective evolves throughout the book. A couple of side characters have relatively abrupt ends to their stories and seem to largely be forgotten, though it is in service to the greater plot.
August 27, 2025
A group of researchers have finally generated tachyons and are working on a transmitter for messaging and eventually solid transfer. But their detectors have given puzzling readings, almost like there is a signal being directed at Earth from the direction of the constellation Serpens, over 40 light-years away. Since tachyon speeds can vary from close to lightspeed to almost infinite it is not known exactly how far away the signal is, however the lag is getting shorter, which means the signal is moving towards Earth. A spaceship has been sent towards the signal, the Father Sky, and when it is about 4 light months out it suddenly gets the signal to alter course for a detected object. Meanwhile on Earth Mozelle Moi (Mozy) is a volunteer for a computer AI training program designed for uploading to the Father Sky, and she becomes infatuated with another program participant which she only knows as Kadin. When she is cut from the program she forces a technician there, Hoshi Aronson, to scan her mind and upload it to Kadin’s which has already been transferred to Father Sky. This leaves her physical body catatonic and her cyber-mind in for a rude shock. Kadin was never human - he was always just a computer simulation! The first contact is still achieved however, but the military which was secretly running the mission have doubts about their peaceful intentions and launch a manned craft, the Aquarius, which investigative reporter Payne suspects carries forbidden nuclear weapons. Entertaining space opera from Jeffrey A. Carver, with characters you care about and a plot you can (mostly) get behind.
August 6, 2018
I read the Kindle version, one that the author updated to remove some of the anachronisms concerning today's technology and the imagined technology in the original version. I never read this book before, but I found a 1984 issue, which I know own. I started reading it, but the paper was fragile, so I decided to go with the Kindle version. I didn't know it had been updated until I reached the end of the book, last night. I loved the novel. Tachyons were a popular concept back when the book was published, I remember. I would highly recommend the Kindle version of this book to anyone who loves science fiction.
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October 23, 2025In the year 2034, a young woman named Mozelle Moi learns that her work as a test subject in a top-secret tachyon transmission project will soon be terminated. The purpose of the project has never been revealed to her; she only knows she is in love with David Kadin, a man she has met only through the tachyon cyberlink. Desperate not to lose her chance at love, she conspires with a programmer friend to join her with Kadin through the tachyon transmitter.She succeeds—but the truth that awaits her at the end of
April 30, 2020
This is a science fiction gem. It sat on my bookshelf for years before I finally decided to pick it up and give it a shot, and it hooked me immediately. Very interesting concept and a cast of sympathetic and believable characters. Worth the read.
January 6, 2019
The end was a little too metaphysical for my tastes, but it was a great read about a potential alien contact and how their values may differ from our own.
October 23, 2012
For a book written in the 1980s I must say that it had an imaginative view of the future in terms of technology--having (landline) phones in which one can view who s/he is talking to, manned spacecrafts that can travel as far as Pluto, and computer links that can bring our minds to places other than here and now--among others. It has shifting voices and view points, and it is particularly obvious when we get to chapters featuring Hoshi Aaronson's thoughts. The writing style has the kind of authority I look for in sci-fi novels. While I have no problem with the writing style, I think at times it tries to tell too much to the point of being dragging--the side stories sometimes making me forget where the main story had gone.
What I liked the most about this book is Mozy's character development throughout the story. The book was able to portray her changes and realizations under realistic circumstances, eventually molding her character into something she would never have dreamed possible in herself. It all might have started small and petty (that's what I thought of the story's conflict at first), but I was glad that in the end, she was able to get something out of it--fully realizing and appreciating her own humanity. The other characters also had their own unique likeable and unlikeable personalities. In terms of character development, I can say this book did well--the characters came out alive and believable.
A worthwhile journey... though anyone would have to be patient to get through it.
What I liked the most about this book is Mozy's character development throughout the story. The book was able to portray her changes and realizations under realistic circumstances, eventually molding her character into something she would never have dreamed possible in herself. It all might have started small and petty (that's what I thought of the story's conflict at first), but I was glad that in the end, she was able to get something out of it--fully realizing and appreciating her own humanity. The other characters also had their own unique likeable and unlikeable personalities. In terms of character development, I can say this book did well--the characters came out alive and believable.
A worthwhile journey... though anyone would have to be patient to get through it.
June 6, 2015
This is a well-constructed story that has an interesting take on first contact with aliens. But this book has two major flaws. At the beginning of the story, the author withholds a good deal of information. I can only assume this was done to lure the reader forward, to create a mystery powerful enough to make the reader want to find out what happens next. Unfortunately, too much information was withheld, creating a sense of having little idea of what was going on and generating thoughts of putting this book down and never coming back. The second problem was the major female character's "cybernetic" transformation. There are many long passages where we have to endure soaring language, passages that totally depart from the narrative, grounded in nothing and contributing little to the story. Since this is a very long book, these passages could be greatly reduced which would make this a much more enjoyable read.
January 18, 2010
I read this book in 1984 when it came out. I remember loving it, remember the romance between Mozy and Kadin, remembered being lost in the computer... somewhere along the way I totally lost the aliens, and Mozy's experiences within their hive mind. I did thoroughly enjoy this book for a second time twenty some odd years later... I found myself amused by characters in the 2020's digging around for high speed film for their cameras... digital not even being thought about when this book was written. All in all a very enjoyable read. Good characters even if the author seems to just discard one towards the end. So, four stars and back onto my bookshelf for another 20... we'll see how it holds up then.
April 11, 2013
I am a huge Jeffrey A. Carver fan. In fact, I've gone on record as saying he could do no wrong. Apparently, he heard about this, and wanted to make me a liar. This book just gives me nothing. I cannot care about any of the characters, hell I can't even NAME more than three or four. I've been trying to slog my way through this book for months now, and I'm only halfway through. This is so very much NOT how I roll. A book this size, should take a week, tops. But it's just so BORING. It is with a heavy heart that I hereby consign a Jeffrey A. Carver book to The Wall of Fail. May it be lonely there, forever.
June 9, 2015
I hated to see it end!
An emotionally honest story with neither the good or the possibly destructive parts of human nature ignored in the story of first contact with aliens. I love the pacing of this novel. At first leaving an interesting character behind to meet a new one was jarring but it soon became welcome input weaving and advancing the plot line and no one's story was left unfinished. I slowed my own pace to savor it just a little longer.
An emotionally honest story with neither the good or the possibly destructive parts of human nature ignored in the story of first contact with aliens. I love the pacing of this novel. At first leaving an interesting character behind to meet a new one was jarring but it soon became welcome input weaving and advancing the plot line and no one's story was left unfinished. I slowed my own pace to savor it just a little longer.
June 28, 2015
Unusual take on Alien first contact. An older work by this author, and you can see some themes in this story that have parallels in his later novels. If you are looking for a fast moving space opera, this is not it. It is a complex study of how mankind might respond to First Contact: with fear and hope in equal measure. It hypothesizes the different forms life may take, and Earth life's place in the larger universe.
April 5, 2016
This book has too much going on. Too many characters, too many storylines, and too many pages. It just became a fuzzy blur to me. The writing is okay - but so much that seems superfluous. I feel like there are several good books jammed into this - any one of which I might have enjoyed, but cram them all together and it is just a jumble.
July 12, 2015
Assign excellent and mind capturing read!
As others have said before, it's a book you can't put down. While I read the story I was incredibly curious to know what happens next. The concepts are mind boggling.
As others have said before, it's a book you can't put down. While I read the story I was incredibly curious to know what happens next. The concepts are mind boggling.
August 17, 2025
I read this book a long time ago in German and am very happy to have rediscovered it, this time in the original English
It's a wonderful book that I highly recommend to all lovers of science fiction :)
It's a wonderful book that I highly recommend to all lovers of science fiction :)
September 25, 2009
I have only a dim recollection of the story-line of this science fiction love story involving time travel, but recall the cover vividly. Ah, the wasted hours...
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August 31, 2016In the beginning, I was curious.
However, I lost it after one third of the book.
I did not read the book completely.
However, I lost it after one third of the book.
I did not read the book completely.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews