Baxter Stephen 01

Reviews & Overviews by Rod Cameron

Time : Manifold 1 by Stephen Baxter

An ambitious story from Stephen Baxter, which uses a number of big ideas, such as an end of the world prophecy, super-intelligent children being born around the world, communications from the future, and genetic manipulation of squid to produce intelligence, to name but four. The book is readable, certainly, but elements made me a trifle uneasy.
My greatest concern is with the Carter Prophecy - that the Human Race will be extinct in 200 years. According to the book, the prophecy is supposedly irrefutable, and expressed in the universal language of numbers. In his afterword, Baxter acknowledges that the idea came from John Leslie in 'The End of the World'. The argument goes that "we are alive now because if there is a near-future extinction, it is overwhelmingly likely that we find ourselves alive within a few centuries of the present day. Simply because that is the period when most humans who ever lived, or who will ever live, will have been alive. Ourselves among them."
Baxter claims in the story that this is supposedly an argument that "is impossible to prove, but hard to refute". However, my feelings are that with one or two noted wobblers (such as the Black Death), mankind has had steady if not exponential population growth since the first proto-human stood up and smashed open his first carcass skull for the meat inside. So, surely the same argument could be raised at any time in mankind's past (or future for that matter)? The reason for the relevance of this prophecy to Baxter is that he uses it to drive the heros to go travelling round the Solar System, when a coded message from the future turns up amid the cosmic background noise of the Big Bang.
Reid Malenfant, a NASA drop-out and entrepreneur is the likeable hero. He diverts his entire space enterprise (building space craft from second hand NASA parts) to find out what the message means. The message gives the co-ordinates of the asteroid Cruinthe, which is circling Earth in a strange orbit. Soon, Malenfant, his ex-wife, a super-intelligent child and a disturbed mathematical genius are on their way to Cruinthe to find out what is there.
What of the genetically manipulated intelligent squid - the heroine is called Sheena 5? They are a nice idea, which is well developed as she trail blazes a way to Cruinthe. However, disappointingly the squid are neglected for a large portion of the book. It would have been nice to see them take a larger part in the story.
And what is found on Cruinthe? Nothing less than a revelation - the secret reason for human and other life in this universe. But does this knowledge save the human race? You'll have to read the book to find out. All in all, a flawed book which is worth reading for the ideas - an investment in time? (sorry!)

Publisher: Voyager (Harper Collins)
Date: 1999
Pages: 456 pp
Price: £6.99
Format: Paperback
Reviewed by: Rod Cameron
Date Reviewed: October 2001