Conundrum [Signed by Author]

by Michael LaRocca

In 2123, the first manned space flight leaves Earth’s solar system using faster than light travel. They are almost immediately faced with an inexplicable series of events, visions of past events that never happened, and eventually an unseen menace that’s technologically far beyond them. Arthur C Clarke noted that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Unfortunately, that’s the truth. Maybe they should’ve just stayed home.

Paperback

First published March 16, 2011

About the author

Editor, proofreader, retired author, book junkie, self-taught pianist, Carolina Panthers homer.

http://www.MichaelEdits.com

Reviews

[Arthur Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

“I'm on a starship flying to some damn place that nobody has ever gone before. No humans, at any rate. And boldly, I guess. I was born in 1964, but here I go in 2123, on past Earth and Mars and shit. Freaky.”

So begins Conundrum, security officer Drake’s account of one strange trip to the Pegasus system 50 light years yonder. Accompanying him is Miss Picasso the cat, a host of less consequential crewmembers, and the infinite possibilities inherent within them all.

On the surface, Conundrum may read like a scientific/philosophical treatise intercut with one-liners and snide remarks, but somewhere underneath it all lies a good, original story. LaRocca’s background as an editor of both fiction and nonfiction shines through in his polished prose and dialogue. Barry Drake comes across as likable despite his swaggering cynicism, and while his proclivity for gender/ethnic jokes might wear a little thin after a while, I believe it would be a mistake to equate his general misanthropy with any specific bigotry (he describes himself as an “equal opportunity asshole”). In fact, much of the humor in Conundrum derives from the sort of conflicts we might expect between the recently defrosted 20th century man (cryonically preserved for 100 years) and his seemingly more enlightened 22nd century peers. In the tradition of Vonnegut, LaRocca takes aim at the absurdities inherent in all aspects of human behavior, whatever the era.

I’m giving Conundrum 3 1/2 stars out of 5, not because it left me lukewarm by any means, but because it’s the kind of book that readers will likely either love or hate. Those hoping for a standard sci-fi treatment might rate it as low as 2. On the other hand, readers looking for something different might find it deserving of a 4 or more. The term “conundrum” may not be purely synonymous with “dilemma” in this sense, but that is precisely the trouble I encountered in trying to rate this book.