Silent Galaxy

by William Tedford

When the surface of Earth was ruinously contaminated by radiation, it became a forbidden sanctuary. Though orphaned in the blackness of space, civilization struggled onward, persevering in sterile isolation. Now, centuries later, while the mighty space-faring superpowers war tirelessly for control of the solar system, humanity has adapted too well to its new home. None could survive exposure to a natural world.

Or so it was understood.

In the midst of a catastrophic but ultimately meaningless wargame, faced with imminent death from every direction, one remarkable Jovan fighter pilot chose to die pursuing a dream: the dream to look upon the landscapes of Earth with his own eyes. What he could never have anticipated was surviving the experience.

Faced with both unspeakable beauty and terrible hardship, Jon has the singular opportunity to gaze into the mysteries of the past, and to stumble into the embrace of humanity's future.

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Raj · Rating 3 out of 5]

After a nuclear holocaust, the only remains of human civilisation are the fledgling space colonies, which adapt and colonise the solar system. A couple of hundred years later, a Jovan fighter pilot crash-lands on Earth after a battle with Luna Nation setting off a chain of events that would take him all across the solar system and and possibly lead to the life or death of the human species.

I enjoyed this book. The story kept going at a decent pace, the characters were all likeable and sympathetic and, although there was a strand of mysticism running throughout the book, it didn't overwhelm it, but just nudged the story along when it needed it.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun book!! Clever and compelling!

[Barbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I struggled to finish it but enjoyed it for the most part.

[Steve Brady · Rating 3 out of 5]

After Earth is decimated by wars of civilizations, space colonies vie for control of the solar system. An alliance based on the moons of Jupiter controls minerals, while an Earth’s Moon based federation does photosynthetic food.

A Jupiter group pilot crashes on good old Earth, which is inhabited by (1) Throwback tribes people, and (2) cloned women in touch with cosmic consciousness, who want the errant space traveler to be enlightened, so that humanity’s first contact with alien intelligence with be fruitful rather than disastrous. An interesting attribute of these women; they like to have a lot of sex with errant space travelers.

I knew what to expect: a union of cosmic opposites creates trans-Terran optimism beyond verbal understanding.

I didn’t know what to expect: that while such optimism is a hard sell, this time I would buy. A lot of anti-matter nonsense leads to a harmonious conclusion and I like it.