Earth's Edge Book Review

Earth's Edge has what makes science fiction good. The story demonstrates that attitude and perseverance bring about changes that will continually improve mankind's future. Science and the human spirit are the elements that drive progress. We can expect setbacks and difficult times, but the human parade will march gallantly onward far into the future. And along the way there will be wonders to amaze us and propel our expectations of a bright future. That is the basic premise of Earth's Edge. It is a realistic portrayal of how some of the challenges we face might play out.

The tone of the story is more personal and intellectual than dramatic. There are no detailed descriptions of beam weapons, faster than light spaceships, inter gallactic warfare, or parasitic body invaders. There are personable characters with admirable strengths and forgivable flaws who interact with each other in ways that are at times endearing and always human. Mixed in is the wonder of some twenty-first century technology that is now just out of our reach.

The main themes are global warming, pandemic, and alien contact. The leading character deals with global warming and pandemic using self sufficiency and advance preparation. Claude is an educated orchard owner working in a government run facility that monitors radio frequencies for signals from possible extra terrestrial civilizations. He takes his job seriously but he also has other interests. The orchard business is failing. If he can genetically engineer an especially good tasting apple with luscious visual appeal, the orchard business handed down to him from his parents, will be saved. But there are many other concerns pulling his attention in other directions.

The alien being Lucy becomes part of Claude's life. Lucy is amazingly similar to humans and is also distinctively different. There is much that Claude wants to learn from Lucy. And there is much that humanity should learn from Lucy and the far off civilization in which Lucy's race evolved. Government officials realize this and put in place a program to learn as much as possible from the Quatsol race.

Genetics is a fast evolving science. It has a central roll in the story, and it will very likely have a central roll in humanity's future. Humanity's command of genetics may, in fact, determine our civilization's fate.