Hypernova

by James Schmidt

Somewhere off in the Atlantic Ocean a meteorite crashes down. A nearby navy ship races to investigate the scene. What they find however is beyond imagination. A substance that is so unreal and alien, it’s straight out of science fiction. Fast forward a few years and a group of highly skilled scientists wait eagerly in Lavo station, a multi-billion dollar science lab, constructed where the meteorite had originated: Jupiter's smallest Galilean moon Europa. With the hopes of identifying the mysterious Marhatta sample- as it becomes known- the crew explores the Europan surface, a place void of human interference since the beginning of time. It’s a place of untold mystery, potential, and danger. With hopes high and minds racing the crew soon discover their enigma. What they find is more than they were prepared for; a substance that requires them to question everything they know, even the universe itself. Nothing could have prepared them for the breakthroughs that lay ahead or the dangers. In the blink of an eye, their scientific paradise turns into a hellish nightmare. Now the crew must rely on more than just their wits to save their jobs, reputations, and possibly their lives.

492 pages, Paperback

First published July 29, 2018

Reviews

[John Coon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first manned expedition to Europa becomes the backdrop for some fascinating drama. A pair of private Earth companies fund the expedition to discover the origins of the Mahratta sample, a mysterious extraterrestrial element that turns up on Earth. The novel splits time following the crew on Europa in their investigations and company executives monitoring the mission back on Earth.

I'm a bit of a history buff (and that sometimes includes fictional history) so I enjoyed the fact that Hypernova has such a detailed backstory. You can tell the author has spent plenty of time building out his fictional world and characters just from the first few pages. We get a snapshot of their individual personalities, so that they feel more like distinct people and less like cardboard cutouts. That isn't always the case in some stories these days.

The description of the scenery is well done. You get a real feel for Europa itself, the station where the crew lives, and other major settings. The author paints a vivid picture. And since this is hard sci-fi, prepare yourself for a deep dive into concepts suited for a physics class or chemistry class.

Awkward dialogue is one element that took me out of the story, at times. Some dialogue sequences contained gobs of exposition that filled in the blanks for the reader rather than feeling like a true conversation between characters in the scene. Varying dialogue tags were also used a bit too often to convey a character's thoughts and emotions where body language would have done the same thing in a less intrusive way.

Overall, this is an intriguing hard sci-fi mystery that will make you think.

[Joshua Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Schmidt introduces a fascinating and adventurous near future in Hypernova! When a meteor crashes down on Earth containing a reality-warping substance, a science team is dispatched to the meteor’s origin Europa. They soon discover that their mission on the alien world will be anything but simple. Schmidt keeps you on the edge of your seat with a variety of discoveries, survival elements, and corporate intrigue! This was a great batch of hard sci fi, perfect for any fans of novels with a plethora of twists!