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The Sundering
Nine hundred years in the future, a peaceful but struggling humanity reaches out from Earth, looking for planets, looking for people, looking for their place in the galaxy.
They find more than they bargained for.
Book 1: The Sundering
Far in the outer sectors, the supply chain from Earth is stretched to the breaking point. Ships can only jump between stars using an ancient alien transportation system called the a-rings. But now, someone or something is jumping into human space, destroying the a-rings and trapping people on rundown space stations.
Cargo captain Beezan Mirage, one of the few people that can jump, has sacrificed eight years as a solo pilot delivering critical supplies to keep space stations operational. For Beezan, it’s better to be alone than suffer the loss of another crew.
Runaway Jarvie Atikameq makes a desperate move to get away from teen training school, onto a ship, and back to his last surviving shipmate. He may be the only person with a clue to what’s really happening with the mysterious a-ring accidents.
They never meant to change history.
Non-violent
First Contact
Science Fiction Adventure
Illustration © Tom Edwards
TomEdwardsDesign
They find more than they bargained for.
Book 1: The Sundering
Far in the outer sectors, the supply chain from Earth is stretched to the breaking point. Ships can only jump between stars using an ancient alien transportation system called the a-rings. But now, someone or something is jumping into human space, destroying the a-rings and trapping people on rundown space stations.
Cargo captain Beezan Mirage, one of the few people that can jump, has sacrificed eight years as a solo pilot delivering critical supplies to keep space stations operational. For Beezan, it’s better to be alone than suffer the loss of another crew.
Runaway Jarvie Atikameq makes a desperate move to get away from teen training school, onto a ship, and back to his last surviving shipmate. He may be the only person with a clue to what’s really happening with the mysterious a-ring accidents.
They never meant to change history.
Non-violent
First Contact
Science Fiction Adventure
Illustration © Tom Edwards
TomEdwardsDesign
541 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 11, 2022
18 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
About the author
D Rae Price
5 books6 followersA native of Earth, D Rae Price lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family. She has a bachelor’s degree in Astronomy, but spent her class time thinking up space adventures instead of thesis topics. In real life, she’s looking forward to the Lucy mission flybys of Trojan asteroids and finding out more about the origins of our solar system.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 15, 2023
Read this out loud with husband. We loved it so much! We had a hard time doing anything else. We are reading the second book now!
March 31, 2023
A welcome change from fighting and blasting through the stars and a unique alien thread. I found it a page turner without traditional violent action scenes driving it forward. Characters took the front seat. Once the 'universe' was introduced the technology took a back seat to the story but was inventive and exciting. I was left very curious about the future for the series.
May 22, 2024
Spoilers in second half of review with warning.
The book is well paced, and the gradual development of a connection between teen runaway Jarvie and loner pilot Beezan was compelling. I almost cried when Beezan learned what Jarvie had been hiding. The author did a great job of witholding information until the right moment, building suspense. I read on to find out “why is he acting this way?”
But the way Bahai authority figures are portrayed in the book bothers me. There is a councilor who appears later in the book and makes monumental decisions alone. He has people working with him and consults with them. But it didnt feel like true consultation to me because his associates are clearly subordinate to him. Several times these associates suppress their true opinions of what is going on to avoid contradicting their leader. One associate, who it turns out is just a clerk, acts especially high and mighty towards the spaceship crew.
In the Baha’i Faith, bodies of elected people have power. But the individuals on those bodies are just individuals. An individual of the Universal House of Justice, our highest elected authority in the world, does not have the same authority. As a body they are to be obeyed, but as individuals they just have opinions like anyone else. When I was at the Baha’i World Center I saw how humble the House members were. People often tried to get advice from them on personal matters, and the members would always carefully say “This is just my opinion,” or even withold their opinion lest Bahais give it too much weight. In the messages the House of Justice writes to the world, when they do exercise their authority, they leave astonishing leeway for us to carry out that message. The goal is to increase understanding, to steer us back to the Writings, not just to get compliance.
MILD SPOILERS FOLLOW for set up of plot in second half of the book.
I did not see this in D Rae Price’s book. Councilor Oatah is secretive when he commands the crew to go along with his mission. He demands huge sacrifices and threatens punishment if the crew do not comply, so they dont really have a choice. He disregards the needs of the crew in the name of “the good of humanity.” The crew feel like they cant bring things up with Oateh that he doesnt want to hear. Their job is blind obedience.
Even Reeder, who is just a clerk who has become Oatah’s personal assistant, is allowed to lord over Jarvie and Beezan in an arrogant way. When Beezan agrees to work with them, he has to agree to sign custody of Jarvie over to Reeder because of some technicality. Reeder says it’s just a formality. But later he insists on having that authority over Jarvie when it’s convenient for him. Reeder even refuses to allow genetic therapy for Jarvie’s life threatening condition because Reeder is from Earth where gene therapy is “wrong.” Reeder is not a member of the Baha’i administrative order! Where does this culture of blind obedience and despotic authority come from when Bahais in the present day are moving away from it? I cant imagine a member of the National Assembly demanding that I start a childrens class or face punishment! And Oatah is expecting Beezan and Jarvie to risk their lives and give up their control of thr spaceship without telling them why.
The Sundering rationalizes Oatah’s actions saying the remoteness of space impedes communication with higher ups and required him to act on his own. But wouldnt communities in the outer rings have dealt with that right away? Wouldnt the House of Justice on Earth have set up elections in the Outer Rings for their own authority figures, so the decisions arent made by someone dispatched all the way from Earth?
I can see how D Rae Price made these decisions to create tension in the plot. But the book is billed as a representation of Baha’i society in the future, when supposedly we are further along in practicing our ideals. That carries a responsibility to represent the Faith accurately. The book has lots of Holy Days, a Bahai calendar and everyone greets each other with Allah’u’abha. But to really be a Bahai society, we need to see our essential ideals in action. The ordinary characters wrestle with following God’s will and putting aside their misgivings to obey councilor Oatah, even though he irks them. But I dont see a corresponding test for the councilor or his aides to respect Jarvie and Beezan’s boundaries, encourage them to have individual intitiative and frank consultation. If I was not a Bahai I would look at this and say “blind obedience to uncaring authority figures? No thanks. That’s not a future I want to live in.”
The book is well paced, and the gradual development of a connection between teen runaway Jarvie and loner pilot Beezan was compelling. I almost cried when Beezan learned what Jarvie had been hiding. The author did a great job of witholding information until the right moment, building suspense. I read on to find out “why is he acting this way?”
But the way Bahai authority figures are portrayed in the book bothers me. There is a councilor who appears later in the book and makes monumental decisions alone. He has people working with him and consults with them. But it didnt feel like true consultation to me because his associates are clearly subordinate to him. Several times these associates suppress their true opinions of what is going on to avoid contradicting their leader. One associate, who it turns out is just a clerk, acts especially high and mighty towards the spaceship crew.
In the Baha’i Faith, bodies of elected people have power. But the individuals on those bodies are just individuals. An individual of the Universal House of Justice, our highest elected authority in the world, does not have the same authority. As a body they are to be obeyed, but as individuals they just have opinions like anyone else. When I was at the Baha’i World Center I saw how humble the House members were. People often tried to get advice from them on personal matters, and the members would always carefully say “This is just my opinion,” or even withold their opinion lest Bahais give it too much weight. In the messages the House of Justice writes to the world, when they do exercise their authority, they leave astonishing leeway for us to carry out that message. The goal is to increase understanding, to steer us back to the Writings, not just to get compliance.
MILD SPOILERS FOLLOW for set up of plot in second half of the book.
I did not see this in D Rae Price’s book. Councilor Oatah is secretive when he commands the crew to go along with his mission. He demands huge sacrifices and threatens punishment if the crew do not comply, so they dont really have a choice. He disregards the needs of the crew in the name of “the good of humanity.” The crew feel like they cant bring things up with Oateh that he doesnt want to hear. Their job is blind obedience.
Even Reeder, who is just a clerk who has become Oatah’s personal assistant, is allowed to lord over Jarvie and Beezan in an arrogant way. When Beezan agrees to work with them, he has to agree to sign custody of Jarvie over to Reeder because of some technicality. Reeder says it’s just a formality. But later he insists on having that authority over Jarvie when it’s convenient for him. Reeder even refuses to allow genetic therapy for Jarvie’s life threatening condition because Reeder is from Earth where gene therapy is “wrong.” Reeder is not a member of the Baha’i administrative order! Where does this culture of blind obedience and despotic authority come from when Bahais in the present day are moving away from it? I cant imagine a member of the National Assembly demanding that I start a childrens class or face punishment! And Oatah is expecting Beezan and Jarvie to risk their lives and give up their control of thr spaceship without telling them why.
The Sundering rationalizes Oatah’s actions saying the remoteness of space impedes communication with higher ups and required him to act on his own. But wouldnt communities in the outer rings have dealt with that right away? Wouldnt the House of Justice on Earth have set up elections in the Outer Rings for their own authority figures, so the decisions arent made by someone dispatched all the way from Earth?
I can see how D Rae Price made these decisions to create tension in the plot. But the book is billed as a representation of Baha’i society in the future, when supposedly we are further along in practicing our ideals. That carries a responsibility to represent the Faith accurately. The book has lots of Holy Days, a Bahai calendar and everyone greets each other with Allah’u’abha. But to really be a Bahai society, we need to see our essential ideals in action. The ordinary characters wrestle with following God’s will and putting aside their misgivings to obey councilor Oatah, even though he irks them. But I dont see a corresponding test for the councilor or his aides to respect Jarvie and Beezan’s boundaries, encourage them to have individual intitiative and frank consultation. If I was not a Bahai I would look at this and say “blind obedience to uncaring authority figures? No thanks. That’s not a future I want to live in.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 17, 2024
Great Social Space Travel
Reminds me of C J Cherrih writing but not as exhausting! First Contact, Earth space settlements are peaceful and hard working but very structured. Alien Contact is through several accidents involving Forerunner FTL accelerators. Great tension without Armed conflict. To Author note Spell out WHY the accidents happen....
Reminds me of C J Cherrih writing but not as exhausting! First Contact, Earth space settlements are peaceful and hard working but very structured. Alien Contact is through several accidents involving Forerunner FTL accelerators. Great tension without Armed conflict. To Author note Spell out WHY the accidents happen....
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews