The Bridge

by Janine Ellen Young

Remarkable in its world-spanning scope, breathtaking in its visionary intensity, THE BRIDGE is an epic novel of human transformation and destiny that will rank in the classic tradition of Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End and Octavia E. Butler's Dawn.

Somewhere in the cosmos, inquisitive, utterly unhuman aliens reach out, seeking intelligent life, sending greetings and knowledge encrypted within microscopic packets of genetic data. Their information takes on the form of a virus designed to bridge worlds through understanding. But its creators, the alien Kasarans, do not know that their communication might kill...

For when it reaches Earth, the Kasaran virus can't completely adapt to human biology. Instead, it transforms into a plague called the Pandemic that annihilates billions of humans at random.

And when the Pandemic ends, the Earth is changed forever...

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy

368 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 2000

Reviews

[Ame Baraw · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this story-like Contact meets Stargate meets Station Eleven. I found myself curious about the aliens and invested in the building of the bridge and the motivations of the characters. Unfortunately, there were a few small inconsistencies that just took me completely out of the book. I also found the character Piper to be unlikable and not very interesting, which made the last part of the story harder to get through since she became the main focus towards the end.

[Sierra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Janine Ellen Young's post-apocalyptic, yet hopeful sophomore novel has such an entertainingly strong concept that I found it entirely engrossing. In search of other sentient life, a benevolent alien race launches a genetically based greeting into space containing information on their species and instructions on how to contact them. Unfortunately, when the message reaches Earth, it takes the form of a pandemic, wiping out and devastating portions of humanity.

The wake of the pandemic leaves two camps of survivors: the Tenors, who have a natural immunity to the pandemic, and the Kasarans, who have the intended alien message emblazoned in their minds. The Kasarans realize the pandemic was an unintentional side effect and follow engineer Judas Tarkenton in their scramble to achieve physical contact with the aliens. The minority Tenors helplessly watch their fellow humans see this goal to its completion—a goal that, as far as they can tell, will finish off humanity.

Judas' foster daughter. Piper, is the only surviving child born of a pandemic-infected woman. As a result, she has unique alien abilities that manifest as she ages. She becomes the obvious choice to act as emissary between the two species. Besides the devastating first contact, there is a tangential incorporation of Hindu belief. In Hindu scripture, Nataraja gave hope to the world with his right hand, showed the way with his left hand and with the beat of his drum, could create and destroy. The eternal dancer embodies all aspects the humans ascribe to their alien counterparts.

With Piper's dual nature, not unlike Nataraja's, she becomes humanity's avatar, pointing the way to the aliens, showing humanity the way to reach them and creating the necessary envoy in herself.

[Steve Scanlan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aliens light years from Earth seek other intelligent life by sending out probes. These aliens, the Kasarans, have built a stargate and hope that a distant species will build another to form a bridge between them. When a probe finds Earth, it releases viruses that quickly spread to all corners of the planet. The Kasarans communicate via colour and viruses and are unaware of the potential havoc of viral communication to human beings.

The initial chapters of this book had me hooked. The onset of a viral plague and the struggles of a handful of central characters provided plenty of good reading. I found my interest waned slightly after the plague and the political manoeuvring of some characters didn’t do much for me. One character did begin to create interest when her health started to take a strange path, and the eventual meeting with the Kasarans was long overdue.

THE BRIDGE did have potential which I thought wasn’t fully realized.

3.5 stars

[Hugo · Rating 2 out of 5]

A neat concept—amorphous, space-bound aliens communicate with other life, but through viral probes, which adversely affect physical organisms—leading to a post-apocalyptic society on Earth, with survivors of this pandemic struggling to regroup and respond. The blurb on the back of the cover encompasses most of its plot, which jumps forward in time yet still manages very little narrative thrust or interest, adding odd and unexplained elements (cloning technology just turns up, out of nowhere), ending just as things gets interesting.

[Dani Wing · Rating 4 out of 5]

A unique story that I resisted because it wasn't "my kind of thing" but ultimately invested in and enjoyed. A bit uneven in pace and order, but came together in the end. I would've matched the initial emphasis and detail of character descriptions and backstory to the importance of those characters later on, so it would've been easier to follow, but I think the way it was told made it unpredictable. I read for the journey not the destination, which is hard for me.

[Joe Kovalchick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book at a junk store and bought for a quarter. I'm glad I did, I found the book to be very enjoyable. The idea of such alien contact was very interesting.

[Marsha Valance · Rating 4 out of 5]

When a genetically encoded message from the stars functions as a plague to wipe out 9/10ths of humanity, the survivors must use their hard-won knowledge to build a bridge between their peoples.

[Sfreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was nominated for a Philip K. Dick Award -- and after reading it, I can see why...

When the Ring aliens first thought to contact other worlds, they gave no consideration to the fact that other species might be constructed differently from them. Deep-space dwellers, more like large and complex bundles of genetic information than physical entities, they sent their probes off into the night hoping to build a bridge between their dark and beautiful society and others. Most probes vanished into the infinite ways of space, but one found Earth. And one was all it took to utterly disrupt life as we know it for all time...

The Bridge, by Janine Ellen Young review at SFReader.com

[Candyg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hoping for more works from this talent. Her novel is strong and passionate, clever and wellcrafted.

[Miriam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bad science-fiction. It fills the need for something to read, but not well.

[Claire Botman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/10273785

[Bobby Treat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of rich analogies, metaphors, and deep congruences... a great story, almost-real characters, and a poetic yet unpretentious prose style. Good science fiction, and good literature.