Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

This is our discussion of the novelette:


"Drive" by James S.A. Corey

This story is part of the Edge of Infinity anthology discussion.

★★★★

This is a prequel set some 150 years before the Expanse series.

Synopsis:  Solomon Epstein tests his famous spaceship drive for the first time, and it works. It works too well, because he has difficulties stopping the acceleration. In alternating chapters to this malaise we learn about his past on Mars and his evolving relationship with Caitlin on the background of colonial tensions with Earth.

Review:  Corey is the pen-name of the two authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, both having worked with GRRM. Knowing that, it is clear without giving away too much that someone in this story has to die.

The story keeps you involved from the first sentence on - the building tension in the test drive part where Epstein realizes his situation, but also an emotionally engaging love story with believable characters.

The author doesn't throw too many technical details at you considering the importance of the Epstein drive for the later Expanse series. He manages to slice the setting into believable conversations of friends. It is this modified fusion drive which made it possible to colonize the Asteroid belt and the outer planets because it enables spaceships to sustain thrust throughout the entire voyage. Mars is already technologically advanced, but the Epstein drive sets the defining advantage against any potential threat by Earth.

The story works as a standalone, but far better if you've read Leviathan's Wake already. Expanse fans might consider buying the anthology only because of this story.

Great tension arc, fine characters, emotions, a small bit of setting, what else would one expect from a story? Maybe a bit more literary experimentation or exoticness.

Andreas wrote: "The story works as a standalone, but far better if you've read Leviathan's Wake already. Expanse fans might consider buying the anthology only because of this story..."

I don't know if it's actually better or not if you've read Leviathan Wakes. I suppose it has a little more significance that way, since otherwise the plot is rather thin.

The main character, Solomon Epstein, is mentioned once in the Expanse, at the very start of Leviathan Wakes, where he's an historical figure.

(view spoiler)[

"Then Solomon Epstein had built his little modified fusion drive, popped it on the back of his three-man yacht, and turned it on. With a good scope, you could still see his ship going at a marginal percentage of the speed of light, heading out into the big empty. The best, longest funeral in the history of mankind. Fortunately, he’d left the plans on his home computer. The Epstein Drive hadn’t given humanity the stars, but it had delivered the planets."

A bit of a Flying Dutchman takeoff. (hide spoiler)]

In some ways I thought reading this was similar to reading McCaffrey's Moreta: when you read a story about a "historical figure", you probably know the outline of the story and how it's going to end.


Anyway, with that Expanse preamble aside, I thought it was a decent standalone story. I thought the transition to flashback was a bit abrupt. "He met her ten years before." Who her? No other character had been even hinted at prior to that sentence. The authors want to drop in the backstory after using the opening paragraphs as the hook to the story. I thought it was a little awkward.

So, yeah, 3 stars ***


Andreas wrote: "what else would one expect from a story? Maybe a bit more literary experimentation or exoticness. ..."

Goddess save us from literary experimentation.

I haven't finished the collection yet (just started "Vainglory" at lunch), but "Drive" stood out as better-than-the-middle-of-the-pack to me. I haven't read the Expanse novels yet, but I did appreciate the story -- possibly more so than if I'd already known the protagonist was a successful innovator (although from the opening, I pretty much figured that the character had successfully designed some kind of engine prototype). There were definitely times in the story when I thought a correction or rescue would be possible, and I thought the ending where Epstein admits his imminent demise was well- (and not over-) written.

The overall structure of problematic test drive main storyline interspersed with flashbacks to give context and describe the development process (lauding Epstein's willingness to work outside the box for the sake of progress) was maybe a bit obvious, but it worked, esp. the small details of everyday life in the Asteroid belt.

I have to say that there were some things about the story that really REALLY annoyed me, most of them tied into the portrayal of Caitlin. Epstein's throwaway reflection about being proud of her for almost overcoming her humanities background struck me as much more patronizingly insulting than funny -- and while that's not necessarily the authors' POV, it does seem in line with the portrayal of their relationship as a fairly traditional one. Caitlin's job is rather vague, but unless the authors intended "resource management" to just mean HR, her position would likely require analytic and strategic processes that aren't terribly far removed from prototype development. & given that he & Caitlin meet and bond over wide-ranging discussion and his work his something he does talk about w/her, it seems odd that he wouldn't think to talk w/her before buying the test yacht -- but then we the readers wouldn't have been treated to not-so-scintillating nagging wife conversation.

Barnes' story, which I liked quite a lot, had some similar issues for me when it came to depicting the central relationship, but I thought Barnes' ending leavened them a bit more.

Hillary wrote: "I have to say that there were some things about the story that really REALLY annoyed me, most of them tied into the portrayal of Caitlin."

So you're telling me the terrible way they write women wasn't just an aberration in Leviathan Wakes... yikes.

Sad to hear it's a trend, although the overall storytelling is good enough that I'm still mostly looking forward to the novels

Hillary wrote: "it seems odd that he wouldn't think to talk w/her before buying the test yacht"
Doesn't seem odd to me at all, just plain normal. I almost had to love at that situation which read like a satire to all those guys buying a boat/car/bike without talking to their wifes, and then that embarassing situation "hey look what I've got" :)
I guess that humanity won't have evolved that far 100 years in the future. Yes, equality rights (especially to Sushi) might have improved. But no, not in every family. The only question for me is: Did the authors want to demonstrate that intentionally or just didn't care?