Galactic Exploration

Galactic Exploration #1-4

by Peter Cawdron

Galactic Exploration looks at the Rare Earth hypothesis through the fictional outlook of three interstellar space craft exploring our galaxy.


This novel is the compilation of the


* Serengeti
* Trixie Me
* Savannah
* War

Genres: Science Fiction, Ebooks, Fiction, Short Stories, Space Opera, Science Fiction Fantasy

423 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 14, 2012

Reviews

[Veronica Sicoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

To the credit of its title, "Galactic Exploration" has a predominately essayistic flair, one of intelligent speculation and discovery, perhaps with philosophical repercussions. It is comprised of 4 novellas, that explore complementary facets of humanity's search for intelligent alien species, and contribute to create a wide-scale mosaic of humanity's future. Even though I sometimes longed for a faster progression of events, the worldbuilding was fascinating to read, marked by scientific plausibility and care for detail, and ultimately thought provoking and memorable.

In hindsight, each novella is a distinct reflection of the main theme, that of humanity reaching out to other intelligences through the immensity of space.

"Serengeti" is the most contemplative of the four, setting the reader up for the vastness awaiting us "out there". It conveys a deep seated sense of the immensity of space and the insignificance of man, but it's also decidedly marked by hope and curiosity, and a tireless reach for contact.

"Trixie And Me" brings an instinctual sense of urgency and drive for survival, which are aptly woven into the narrative. The heavy details effectively contribute to the atmosphere and the sense of claustrophobia the characters feel. A very gripping story!

"Savannah" is perhaps the most intimate of the bunch, and offers a singular and personal perspective on one of the main scientific premises used throughout the book.

In "War", the descriptions are heavily mixed into the action, but still captivating and plausible. The daring moves and commendable attitudes displayed by all parties involved in the conflict make this last novella a very thought provoking read, though I wish the ending would have been explored more intently.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in speculative fiction, and unafraid to extrapolate on the limitations and dangers we face when we speak of venturing into space. It was a great read, and I am definitely hooked to follow Peter Cawdron's works.

[Paulo Ribeiro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly good and verisimilar science fiction

I don't like science fictions with crazy and unreal assumptions needed to develop the history. Fortunately, that's not the case of Galactic Exploration. The author made me see the whole idea of manned flights to explore the galaxy and possible alien contacts with other eyes.

Even though the history is not 100% verisimilar (as another scifis, like The martian by Andy Weir), it's enough to bring really important topics for discussion with unique views.

The book is divided in 4 separated but interconnected short novels.

Serengetti
Approaching the idea that we actually find A LOT of intelligent life out there, after going far enough (using the idea that the Milk Way itself is not that good environment for life.

Trixie & Me
It tackles the idea that there's alien life out there and we are far behind them. And that they are out there hunting planets to go after stuff (I'm not going to say what to not give spoilers).

Savannah
It explores the vast amount of possible advances on science that can help us with interstellar travel, like cloning.

War
Yes, it talks about a war with a alien species. Not Us x Them, but a single earth ship versus them, so that our ship don't give them our location on galaxy, putting our species in risk.

Some of the histories could improve a little better.
- The 1st could have a little less description and more plot developement or even more tactical information, like day by day activities of the folks.
- The 2nd could be sensibly better in terms of writing. It starts really slow and it takes (proportionally) a considerably amount of time for the plot developement begin; I almost dropped the reading.
- The 3rd is my favorite. You just have no idea what's going to hit you until close to the end. You start reading and have no idea what the hell the history is doing in the book, but the plot developement was incredible during 95% of the time (the last 5% was predictable).

My thought: yes, you should read this book.

[Saretta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Acquistato quando era in offerta gratuita su amazon. E' una raccolta dei diversi racconti/romanzi brevi sul tema dell'esplorazione galattica.

Serengeti ★★★★
Questo primo racconto introduce il tema del ciclo: sulla Terra, un tempo, era nato il desiderio dell'esplorazione spaziale, è stata predisposta almeno una nave (la Serengeti) per partire alla ricerca di campioni che dimostrino l'esistenza delle specie aliene.
Nel racconto troviamo l'astronave nel bel mezzo del suo viaggio infinito e il capitano (ottavo clone del capitano terrestre) in piena riflessione sul senso della vita e del viaggio.
L'incontro con un nuovo membro dell'equipaggio darà una svolta alla vita di entrambi e della Serengeti stessa.

Trixie & Me ★★★★★
Intrappolati in un'astronave aliena (proprio una di quelle di cui erano alla ricerca) Barry e Trixie sperano di riuscire a fuggire per avvertire la Rift Valley (astronave che, come la Serengeti, è dedicata all'esplorazione dello spazio per cercare nuove forme di vita).
Mentre Barry è un pilota Trixie sta acquisendo da poco consapevolezza del mondo che la circonda, nel corso del romanzo la si vede apprendere dal mondo circostante e da Barry.
Il romanzo è bello per la componente avventurosa (la ricerca di una via di fuga, l'interazione con gli alieni), però quello che lo rende speciale è proprio Trixie e la sua interazione con il mondo esterno sempre più consapevole, fino alla totale comprensione della sua esistenza.

Savannah ★★★★
Ovvero come tutto ha avuto inizio. Diana, infermiera in Africa, aiuta un uomo interessante e un po' sprovveduto nel mercato della città e da quel momento nella sua vità inizieranno le sorprese.
Ci ho messo un attimo a capire la logica del racconto, poi l'ambiente è diventato familiare.

War ★★★★
Riprende il filo di "Trixie & Me" dove era stato lasciato; la Rift Valley, grazie proprio a Trixie, acquisirà consapevolezza della minaccia aliena che incombe, Trixie invece dovrà affrontare la presenza di un nuovo Berry, diverso da quello che aveva conosciuto ma simile per molti aspetti.

[Tina Hsu · Rating 5 out of 5]

These four novellas are best read together, for a couple of reasons. First, the fourth novella is not actually for sale on kindle, but the set is only $2.99. But mostly, because the four stories really work best together. When I read the first novella, Serengeti, as a stand alone book, it didn't really resonate with me. However, as the first chapter of a four part book, it makes a lot more sense. The story really picks up with the second book, Trixie and Me, and then books three and four, Savannah and War, bring us back to the same characters again in different settings. Each book has a twist that is reminiscent of classic SCI-FI short stories, so for tho looking to find something satisfying with the flavor of Asimov or Bradbury, this book could fit that need.

[Nat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great theories about rare earth. It was interesting to think we live in a taiga area for the formation of life bearing planets. It is rather profound but in twists but how it makes you think about the universe

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really struggled to get into this book, and stopped almost halfway in when the characters just got to be too much. It felt like a lot of over explaining by characters that seem too pleased with themselves.

[Lisa Hapney · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the author's request, I read the beta of War, the fourth installment of the Galactic Exploration series this past weekend. As it is difficult to separate the pieces of the story now that I've read them all, this will be kind of an all encompassing review for the project as a whole and as I feel the series was intriguing, enjoyable and well written, I'm giving it 5 stars.

War had more punch and tension than some the previous installments which were more world (so to speak) and character building and I really enjoyed seeing it all come together with the action and more tension than we've seen in the previous novellas. War was very descriptive and even some of the portions that weren't actually action seemed that way, but I'd have to spoil the story to tell you how that was achieved.

All in all, Mr. Cawdron really did an excellent job of bringing the characters together from the other installments and integrating them in this latest novella for a chance to mess with your head a little. For the first time the characters from the previous installments are together (in a manner of speaking) and it was good to see them all struggling and working together for the same goals - survival and freedom. For those who have read the three prior novellas, Anderson, Trixie, Berry and Diana are all present as they encounter what so many yearn to search for and may be afraid to find. War was a good read and I think some of the complaints I've seen in reviews from others (and that includes myself) that there wasn't enough and they were left hanging will easily be resolved by reading the four novellas together.

This review originally posted at http://tjsbookblog.blogspot.com/

[Mal Warwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three enormous starships depart Earth on a mission of galactic exploration in the twenty-fourth century. Each harbors a crew of two hundred highly trained specialists. None of them is armed. “The Serengeti had gone north, above the galactic plane in search of intelligent life in other galaxies, and the Savannah had been commissioned to explore the outer reaches of the Milky Way, charting the star-forming regions of the galaxy. The Rift Valley had been given the core,” where stars are packed tightly together in the galaxy’s most ancient region. And in a series of four closely linked novellas under the title Galactic Exploration, Australian science fiction phenomenon Peter Cawdron explores the divergent experiences of the three starships. Cawdron’s literary mission is to examine the Rare Earth Hypothesis from several different angles. It’s endlessly fascinating.

“The silence that surrounds us” in our limited exploration of the galaxy

In a lengthy Afterword, Cawdron relates his thinking about the issues he explores in this book. It’s a common practice for him, and it conveniently underlines his belief (and mine) that science fiction is truly a literature of ideas.

“As a story,” Cawdron writes, “Serengeti [the first of the four novellas] poses a slight variation on the most popular explanation for the silence that surrounds us—the Rare Earth Hypothesis. Serengeti recognizes that the Earth is rare, but suggests this may be a local peculiarity, limited to this galaxy.”

A skeptical view of the Rare Earth Hypothesis

Cawdron is skeptical about the Rare Earth Hypothesis. “It misses the reality that Earth became unique” but didn’t start out that way. In fact, like countless other planets astronomers have observed, Earth began existence long, long before life originated here.

And, belaboring the obvious, Cawdron asserts that “the Rare Earth Hypothesis assumes because nothing has been found [of intelligent life other than on Earth], nothing will ever be found.” Which is, of course, a non sequitur. Serengeti advances the thesis that life exists on Earth alone—at least in our neighborhood on the periphery of the Milky Way—simply because the conditions necessary for the emergence of life are rare in our galaxy . . . but may not be elsewhere in the universe.

So, why has SETI failed?

For the record, astronomers have discovered more than 4,000 exoplanets to date, according to NASA—and the number grows weekly. Only a handful appear to be small, rocky planets in some way comparable to Earth and thus deemed more likely to harbor life as we know it. However, the “nearby” stars around which they orbit are, in fact, located at immense distances, and contemporary technology makes it exceedingly difficult to locate any exoplanet other than a gas giant somewhat similar to Jupiter. The closest star, Proxima Centauri, is located four light-years, or more than 24.9 trillion miles away. A starship traveling at the rate of one million miles an hour would take more than 2,800 years to reach the two exoplanets confirmed to be circling Proxima Centauri.

Why, you may ask, has SETI failed so far? The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence has been underway for many decades. In fact, some say it began with the advent of radio in the early 1900s. Cawdron’s explanation is intriguing. “Our radio emissions extend less than a hundred light-years from Earth, barely 0.1% of the one hundred thousand light-year span of our galaxy.”

Why galactic exploration might confirm the Hypothesis

In the second of the four novellas, Trixie and Me, Cawdron “poses an alternative reason for the Rare Earth [Hypothesis]. Rather than being the first to emerge into the interstellar environment, we may be the last, or at least the last in a long line.” After all, Earth and our sun, Sol, are youngsters in galactic terms. We’re located far from the center of the Milky Way in the outer reaches of a spiral arm, where stars have formed far more recently than those in the center. And if life has in fact developed in many locations in the galaxy, it’s far more likely to have made its presence known closer to the center.

Savannah, the third novella, advances a more radical theory. “One possibility considered quite plausible in SETI circles,” Cawdron writes, “is that alien races may have reached a point of singularity, where their mastery of what would equate to computers would allow their minds to be uploaded into a virtual world obscured from the natural universe.” And that mastery is biological, not technological. As the author notes, “no nuts and bolts machine can compete with 3.8 billion years of evolutionary biology.”

Will extraterrestrial contact provoke interspecies war?

In the fourth and final novella, War, Cawdron comes to grips with the nightmare scenario that is portrayed in so many science fiction books and films: hostile aliens. “If there are other intelligent life-forms,” the argument goes, “there will be war.” And this novella of that name portrays war’s emergence in a particularly entertaining way. However, he professes to be skeptical (as, for what it’s worth, am I) that an alien race would be more likely to be hostile than simply curious to encounter humankind.

About the author

To date, Australian author Peter Cawdron has written eighteen standalone novels and novellas in his First Contact series as well as other science fiction titles. He is a member of the advisory board of the Lifeboat Foundation, an NGO dedicated to encouraging scientific advancements while helping humanity survive existential risks and possible misuse of increasingly powerful technologies, including genetic engineering, nanotechnology, and robotics/AI. Cawdron writes a lively blog, sharing his thoughts on science and science fiction.

[Andy Coleman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A SIMPLE MAN'S REVIEW:

Yes, it's a collection of a few stories, but they're related and happen within the same universe. So our understanding of each is expanded by reading the others. It actually worked pretty well!

The stories are about how humanity reaches the stars and what happens once we're there. The action picks up about halfway through and it turns into the more typical "first contact" that we all enjoy from this author.

My only complaint (which is why I only gave it three stars) is that it is super heavy on characters expounding and philosophizing about "big ideas". There are many times that the story feels like it's just an avenue for the author to share this thoughts on a variety of topics. It's not bad, necessarily, it just detracts from the flow.

If you enjoy this author, you'll enjoy this book.

Read it!

[Marc · Rating 4 out of 5]

My backlog of books to read is long and most are non-fiction. However recently I wanted to read some new science fiction as a change of pace. So in browsing Kindle's offering I came across Peter Cawdron's Galactic Exploration. Priced at just under $3.00 I thought it might be ok, but that's it. The book is actually a compilation of four novellas; Serengeti, Trixie & Me, Savannah and War.

I have to say I was hooked early on by the premise and just kept reading. For pure science fiction entertainment and to make one think hard at times, I found the book very good. For those looking for some easy but compelling reading this book will surely captivate your attention.

[Colby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Galactic Exploration was a pretty cool read! When it switched between the different ships and books it was a little confusing (on the Kindle edition). If you missed the switch between books like I did because you were reading too fast. Trixie's half of the story was very well written, drawing you in to the characters and keeping you until it was done. Ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, so darn it, I'm going to have to get the sequel to see what happens. Overall a solid sci-fi offering, and well worth the cheap kindle price.

[Allan Ashinoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, to me, was a pleasant surprise. It did a very good job of presenting many interesting concepts (rare earth, cloning, etc.) and keeping the reader, at least this one, interested. A bit high-brow but really good stuff. Highly Recommended.

[Jerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Not only did it leave me wanting more stories in this collection, it left me wanting to find more new, intelligent science fiction!

[William S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incomplete

My "like" count is too low for me to take a significant spot among the reviews, especially since I'm giving this book a five star rating. I consider this book a series of short stories which are related, but give a slightly disjointed view of an attempt to explore the universe. It contains stories of three interstellar ships that are sent in different directions. This might remind one of the voyage of the space beagle, an old sci-fi book. The first story introduces us to a concept that the ships would need to be crewed with clones so as to maintain a consistency of purpose. There's an acknowledgement of the limiting speed of the universe without further comment. The book adopts the usual solution that there is some sort of shield that protects the ship from damage when striking various debris in space when traveling at luminal speeds. The author believes that any interstellar voyage would necessarily be for scientific investigation. I disagree. Was Lief Ericsson or Christopher Columbus' voyages for scientific investigation? We're doomed to repeat our mistakes if we don't learn our history, and I believe the lessons learned when we took to the high seas are relevant. In another story, we get the back story of how the crews were established. This is mainly interesting in that we find that all three ships are crewed by the same collection of clones. The last story presents an interaction between one of the ships, and an alien civilization. In the epilogue the author presents a discussion of Fermi's famous statement, and a thoughtful discussion of what characteristics an alien civilization would have. There is a mention of Stephen Hawkings, who apparently criticises us for calling attention to ourselves. I consider that a much more intelligent position than the one taken by Carl Sagan who believed that any civilization that achieved space travel would be benevolent, and therefore he supported shouting louder. Although the author mentions Columbus' invasion of the American continent, I think Cook's invasion of Hawaii much more instructive. Even with benevolent intentions, the outcome will not go well for the less advanced civilization. This is an obvious corollary to Darwin's theories. Anyway, the book concludes as one of the ships finds itself in the middle of a war not of its making. Although this may be considered a conclusion to the concept of "first contact", it certainly leaves the reader wondering about what is next.

[Dan Grout · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly imaginative story; frustrating writing style.

This book is an engrossing tale in an imaginative setting. There are three major sections; two, in the distant future, comprising the main storyline; one, in the near future, contains the background that sets the stage for the other two. I was thoroughly drawn into each of the segments but was repeatedly frustrated by the author's tendency to draw out action sequences long past my interest in the particular event. For example, in one "chase" scene, the protagonist is being hotly pursued by a swarm of lethal creatures through a labyrinthine series of tunnels. After several pages of describing turn after turn, tunnel after tunnel, and the protagonist's feelings of fear and hopelessness, I found myself starting to skim over paragraphs in order to find out what happened. The same kind of thing happened several times in the book where I thought, "OK, I get it, I get it! What happens next?"
SPOILER ALERT - One other thing I was dissatisfied with. Near the end it's revealed that the monsters aren't so bad after all -- they just want to use the humans to lure their real enemies into a trap. This turnabout didn't square with previous behavior in which they took great pleasure in inflicting horrific torture on one of their human victims.
Those flaws aside, enjoyed the book and was intrigued by the story.

[Jak60 · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the second book by Peter Cawdron I read, after Losing Mars and, at this point I think I start to see a kind of pattern in his style.
First of all, he is much better in my view at handling the scientific parts of his stories than the human ones; not that his novels are, like many review suggest, rooted in hard science, far from that (and that is not really a problem for me), but he's pretty good at providing a number of science sound bites and fan facts. When it comes to the human aspect though, and this comprises character development and depiction of their interactions and relationships, well, that's generally a downer; wooden dialogues, mono dimensional characters, artificial situations, long philosophical tirades, moralistic clichés and what you have.
Now, hard science is not important to me, some of the greatest sci-fi books have barely any of it; but the second area is vital in a novel, whatever the genre, and that's where Cawdron's novels are rather weak.
Galactic Exploration is no exception to the above, so I think with this I am done with mr Cawdron.

[Erwin Van Den Broecke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is the tenth novel I've read in this series, and I have thoroughly enjoyed each one. Each novel is a unique story of different forms and consequences of the possible outcomes of various first-contact scenarios, as the series name suggests. The individual novels introduce totally different protagonists as well as completely diverse types of intelligent extraterrestrials. In some of the stories, the aliens appear hostile, as they do in this volume. However, sometimes it turns out that their hostility is not necessarily directed toward humanity.
Every story has been a pleasure to read, the characters are very believable and you will quickly feel like you've known them, or someone like them. This particular offering is set in the not-too-distant future when we finally make it beyond the boundary of our own solar system. You will marvel at the ideas set forth as the story unfolds.
I highly recommend this entire series of twenty eight books with a new edition soon to make it 29. Enjoy!

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read several of the author's First Contact books. They're all fun reads...insightful and meaningful SciFi. Some of his characters are pretty simple, and yet I always enjoy the ways he writes them. This book was unique good though.

I saw that it was a collection of short stories in a genre that he has made out of related, but less short stories, and wasn't as excited for it. However I was happily surprised to see how these vignettes fit together. The story is told asynchronously, and I don't always enjoy that. I'm this case, it made several key points especially emotionally compelling. This book went beyond his usual characteristics of fun and insightful to also reach beautiful. Well done!

[Debra Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great read from Peter Cawdron

This book of related stories is rich and exotic. The aliens whose technology is both terrifying and so far beyond the human experience is well detailed. I really enjoyed the twist in the story, but was confused by what or who made the transformation possible.

The characters were fabulously drawn, with unique perspectives that made teamwork a given, and contrast a delight. Space can be a scary place for humanity to explore. But what a great to read.

Peter Cawdron is one of my favorite authors, with an ability to flesh out some fun and active ideas. I recommend his books to anyone who loves hard science fiction.

[Adam Osburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book really hard to rate. It was a bit of a rollercoaster – there was times when I really couldn’t put the book down and was really enjoying the action and the dialogue. But other times I found I was a little bit bored.
The author really does like to monologue about topics of his interest, which does take up way from the flow of the action in the book– but his thoughts are quite interesting.
I enjoyed this series of books, I like the characters and I like the story. The end is a little bit fanciful and quite unrealistic but a good story all the same. I would recommend reading this.

[James Geary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Galactic Exploration consists of several stories told from the perspective of characters on Earth and their future replicas who journey into the galaxy in search of extraterrestrial life. I really enjoyed the jumping between ships and Earth across different times. I also liked the depiction of aliens as potentially rare, but that we are not unique by any means, the premise of these stories being a challenge to the Rare Earth Hypothesis. I also like that the stories posited that aliens are likely to be more advanced than us and also have motivations we can't fully comprehend. Another great set of stories from the First Contact collection.

[Daniel Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Original, creative sci-fi space exploration book

This well written sci-fi novel takes us on a journey to three different directions in exploration of new life, new civilizations... the character development is thorough, Cross generational, and the author does a great job of weaving the reader across the three different exploration teams across space and time. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes sci-if, and encourage the author to expand on this first book to bring us further developments on their journey to make first contact.

[Chuck Woodbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

Almost passed this one up...

...glad I didn’t. Read the Afterword to find out why the title was chosen. Three ships, exploring separate parts of the galaxy, crewed with the same characters, who all cloned descendants of the original crew and on a mission that could last 1000’s of years. Interesting concept and brilliantly executed. And then there is Trixie, wow, that threw me!

[jboyg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not his best, by a long shot.

I like Peter Cameron and most of his books but this left me feeling cold. Ostensibly about generation ships sent out from earth to find alternate homes for mandkind, it founders on the greezey shoals of first contact with a powerful and implacable enemy race way out in space. Somehow, it left me behind, not caring about the ending and feeling quite underwhelmed.

[Clark Carr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughtful, Clever, Feline

Cawdron clearly likes to lecture. Well, fine. He’s good at it and fewer and fewer of us know anything beyond the last Facebook posting. Very clever stories, but surely the ‘cat lady’ is the best. Interesting choices he makes as an author. Where I might turn right, he turns left. But always, just when the pot is boiling, he takes it off the stove. He’s a tease. Enjoy.

[Niko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Galactic Exploration is entirely unimpressive. None of the characters stand out and the prose is just good. It "explores" some of the very standard sci-fi concepts but quite superficially. Someone who doesn't read much science fiction might find it interesting because the ideas it mentions are interesting by themselves. However, anyone who is familiar with the ideas and tropes is not going to find anything original in it.

[Mike Smoller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before starting this book I did not understand that this was a compilation of related short stories (actually not so short stories if you will). I am not, and have never been, a fan of short stories. However, in this case they are related enough to ALMOST be a single novel, but not quite. I found the individual stories to be somewhat inconsistent in style, and found the order in which they were presented somewhat confusing. I cannot deny the originality of the related story lines in each, but would have preferred that they be told in a different order.

[KHB · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read.

Even though this is technically four short books, it's really a single story that presents four different parts of the whole timeline. An amazing ride.

The story starts off rather puzzling, but slowly reveals itself until you can't put it down.

It's all done rather well. Highly recommended.

[walter Roethke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great space opera

Haven't read one in well over 20 yrs. Now for me sci-fi is Stephenson, Gibson or the like. But this was great, nicely characterized, and not too farfetched. Most of the laws of physics are in place, the author using great imagination on how to fit this story line into our current understanding. Well done, a great change of pace and an enjoyable read.

[Pierrette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly entertaining and thought provoking!

It has been quite a while since I found a science fiction book that has mostly exploration and almost no fighting,! As we are living in tumultuous times, it seems that the genre is following suit... Peaceful escapism is getting harder to find. This one for the bill.