Second Third - Chapters 31-60

[Jason]

Discussion for the second third of the novel.

[Jason]

It turns out this was a perfect point at which to split discussion of the novel. I was wondering how the two seemingly disparate storylines of the Kalinski sisters and the colonists on Per Ardua were going to connect, and this is it - the hatches are linked, some sort of corridor from Per Ardua to Mercury. If Lost taught me anything, it's that you should be wary when you find a mysterious hatch hidden in the ground.

Speaking of the Kalinski sisters, it was a bit confusing as to how suddenly Penny appeared when Stef first went into the hatch. My first instinct was that she had crossed over into a parallel universe, one where she has a twin sister (and this could still be the case for all we know).

There are a lot of elements that have been introduced by Baxter at this point, and there is no way he can wrap most of them up neatly by the end of the novel. What happened to Angelia? Dexter Cole? I find it hard to believe that the astronauts and peacekeepers outright lied to the colonists when they first dropped them off on Per Ardua. What would they have to gain by misleading them into thinking they were completely isolated. And to find out they were being monitored the whole time, while they killed each other?

Regardless, the story has drawn me in and I'm looking forward to continuing.

[Sam]

Yea, good call on the cutting to discussion at this point.

The hatch creating Penny was very strange. If the hatch moved Stef to a parallel universe, why did her mother's tombstone not mention Penny? Speaking of the hatch, the discrepancy between the volume and the dimensions seems to be a favorite of Baxter. Another book of his that I read recently used the same plot element.

Why has there been no mention of Angelia during this part? Baxter spent so much time building her up that it's odd to never mention her...

Do you suppose there's some parallel between the hatch creators and the UN folks who lied to the colonists about being watched? Are the hatch creators watching humanity even now?

When Yuri and Mardina joined the other colonists, I expected some long drawn out antagonist story involving Klein being an asshole. It was nice seeing that trope turned on it's head by Mardina shooting him at point blank.