The Sins of the Fathers

Kyyra

by Stanley Schmidt, Ben Bova (introduction)

Volume One of Stanley Schmidt's Classic Tale of the Planet in Peril -- back in print at last! A scientific expedition returns from deep space, and brings back shocking the galactic core has exploded -- and the Earth is doomed! Includes a new introduction by Ben Bova, editor of the original magazine serial, and the essay "How to Move the Earth" by the author.

Genres: Science Fiction

190 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1976

About the author

Stanley Schmidt is an American science fiction author. Between 1978 and 2012 he served as editor of Analog Science Fiction and Fact magazine.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was Schmidt's first novel, and was originally serialized in Analog Magazine (which he would go on to edit from 1978-2012) in 1973 - 1974. The blurb on the cover calls it "mind-shattering," but I don't recall feeling damaged, though I did enjoy the story. It's a good hard-sf novel about an interstellar expedition which discovers the impending end of Earth, and the desperate attempts that are made to survive the event. There are convincing alien characters and likable humans, including the female scientist who discovers the key to salvation. It was followed a couple of years later by Lifeboat Earth.

[Kevin Phyland · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the Archaeopteryx, a new FTL spacecraft, returns from what was to be an astronomical expedition, the captain has been killed by the lead astronomer and only the first mate Turabian survived to tell the tale. Something disturbed the astrophysicist Lewiston so much that he went insane. What they saw when they jumped 100 light-years out was the light from a Seyfert explosion at the centre of their own galaxy and which would reach Earth in just 20 years! But the expedition was followed back to Earth by an alien race, the Kyyra, who offer to help humanity escape the dreadful radiation emitted from the collapsing core. Two options emerge: live underground for a million years, or move the entire Earth at super-c to a new galaxy! Either one would prove frightening but Spaceship Earth has better prospects, however it will be hard to sell as it would require using substantial portions of the planet as fuel. Troubling questions remain. What do the Kyyra get out of this? How will a consensus be achieved? Turabian’s wife Sandy has become friendly with the Kyyran contact Beldan, who lets slip an ability they have that not only plausibly explains their presumed altruism but also terrifies her. Stanley Schmidt crafts a readable adventure tale here, full of wild physics and treachery, that had at least one sequel. Worth a read.

[Raima Larter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic scifi, but not one of the better ones I've ever read. The writing wasn't great and the scenario somewhat goofy, but the characters were reasonably likeable, even the aliens, so I enjoyed reading it. There was also plenty of hard science as part of the plot, for those who insist on such things, and from what I could tell, the scientific points were mostly accurate - except, of course, for the faster-than-light-speed engines that the entire plot requires, but all scifi involves some unreality.

The author did a better job than most of his era in handling the female characters in the story, and one of the women (Sandy) is even the person who figures out the explanation for why the aliens are doing what they are doing, so I give him extra points for that aspect.

After logging this in Goodreads, I realized this book is the first in a series, and that makes the ending more positive than it would otherwise seem if this were a stand-alone novel. I might even read the sequels, since it was definitely entertaining and rather original.

[David Jace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not an adventure but a cerebral consideration of a single question and mental mystery.

[The Final Song ❀ · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good, better that i expected.
at the starts feels like Clarke Childhood's End but it goes pulpy at the end.

>part of a trilogy

Fug.