Orb - Gary Tarulli

   2011; 338 pages.  New Author? : Yes.  Genres: Hard Science Fiction; First Contact; Romance.  Overall Rating : 7*/10.

 

    It’s the dawning of a new age for humankind.  The previous spaceflight over the planet 231-P5 confirmed the presence of water, which is an understatement – the planet is almost entirely covered by it.  And where there’s water, there’s the possibility of life, and something even more exciting: sentient life.

 

    Now the seven crew members on the spaceship Desio are about to enter into orbit around 231-P5, and, pending some preliminary tests to confirm a habitable environment, land there.  Their mission: search for intelligent life and if they find asny, initiate contact.

 

    The Desio’s crew has been carefully picked: Commander Bruce Thomson, PhD in Geology and Engineering; Kelly Takara, Medical Doctor; Diana Gilmore, PhD in Marine Biology, and a Master’s in Astrobiology; Paul Bertrand, PhD in Climatology; Larry Melhaus, PhD in Physics and Mathematics, and a Master’s in Chemistry; Kyle Lorenzo, writer.

 

    Whoa!  That last guy's credentials are rather humdrum compared to those others.  But hey, his assignment is to chronicle the expedition, so it’s his output that we’ll be reading.

 

    The final member of the crew is Angie.  She doesn’t have a degree either, but she’s exceptionally bright, disciplined, well-trained, healthy, and has a sweet disposition.  Those are all admirable qualities, but it should be noted that she also has an indefatigable urge to chase and chew on squeaky toys.

 

    Angie is Kyle’s lovable, black-furred miniature poodle, and he simply refuses to leave her behind.  And who knows, she just might make some of her own special contributions to the mission.

 

What’s To Like...

    Orb is Gary Tarulli’s ambitious and clever combination of Hard Sci-Fi and First-Contact Sci-Fi genres, with a skosh of Romance mixed in for good measure.  The central theme of the book is: what if the first sentient beings we encounter in outer space do not even remotely resemble humans, Klingons, Ewoks, or Vulcans?  It's statistically unlikely that their evolutionary path will be similar to ours.  Instead, it's much more likely they’ll be something so strange we can't even imagine it.

 

    The storyline also examines the psychological toll that space travelers are subjected to when they find themselves incredible time/space distances from home.  Once, on a business trip, I found myself in Bangkok, Thailand, all by myself, half a planet removed from anyone to contact should I run into trouble.  That “all alone” stress is very real.

 

    The mission's plan calls for a one-week stay by the crew of the Desio on 231-P5, its brevity being mostly limited by the quantity of food needed to sustain seven beings.  Each of the PhD’s will run tests in their respective fields looking for signs of intelligent alien life, and report their progress at daily meetings.  This gives our space team lots of opportunities to interact with each other, for better and for worse.  Conversely, if any extraterrestrials inhabit 231-P5, they get to observe us humans, warts and all.

 

    I liked the way the “hard science fiction” aspect was laid out.  The effort to find, and make contact with, sentient life on an alien planet will probably be a painstaking process, and we get to watch the crew's efforts gradually pay dividends.  I also enjoyed learning a smattering of several "earthly" languages (Japanese, French, Arabic, Italian, and Swahili), appreciated the way the strength of classical music was acknowledged, and marveled at the science nod to Mendelbrot fractals.  It was enlightening as well to learn about the spaceship’s namesake, Ardito Desio.

 

    The ending is a mixed bag, and it’s difficult to discuss it without introducing spoilers.  Let’s just say I found the final-chapter to be both poignant and disappointing, and leave it at that.  Orb is a standalone story; there is room for a sequel, but it certainly isn’t a necessity, and I don’t think Gary Tarulli has any plans to write one.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Spatchcocked (adj.) : split open (such as a poultry of game bird) in preparation for grilling.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.1/5 based on 132 ratings.

    Goodreads: 3.78/5 based on 166 ratings and 25 reviews

 

Excerpts...

    The objects were speedily heading back out to sea, and quicker than they appeared, until completely vanishing from our view.

    “This is torture,” gasped Diana, then, in an instant of controlled madness, waved her hand oceanward and cried out, “Whatever you are, you come right back here, damn you!”

    “Calm yourself,” Thompson admonished.  “They’ll be back.”

    “And how do you arrive at that conclusion?” Diana said.

    “If they’re sentient beings, they’ll be curious about the bizarre entity yelling from shore.”  (loc. 1687)

 

    “A laser doesn’t belong on this ship, never did,” Thompson remarked.  “You and I are going to dismantle it.”

    “And when we return to Earth?  Don’t we need protection from orbiting pirates and space junk?”

    Thompson scowled.  “From my conversations with other ship commanders I’d say the presence of space pirates is no more than a rumor started by certain multinational companies looking for an excuse to establish a significant space presence.  Started, and deliberately cultivated, to foster militarization of space.”  Thompson’s scowl deepened.  “Space junk?  What in hell would a laser do except create numerous smaller molten pieces, each harder to detect, each more dangerous.”  (loc. 4073)

 

Kindle Details…

    Orb currently sells for $3.99 at Amazon.  ANAICT, Gary Tarulli has only one other e-book to offer, The Symbionts of Murkor, which also goes for $3.99, and is in the Sci-Fi genre as well.

 

“The worst possible mistake we could make would be to assume a square peg won’t fit in a round hole.”  (loc. 1999 )

    Most of the complaints by Amazon and Goodreads reviewers center about the slow pacing of the plotline and the wordiness of the dialogue.  Their point is well-taken, and if you’re looking for an action-packed space opera type of novel (think "Star Wars"), you probably should give Orb a pass.

 

    The emphasis here is on the “Science” part of “Sci-Fi”, not the “Fiction”.  If you're curious about how, a couple centuries from now (or even sooner), a terrestrial space program will prepare to visit other solar systems in search for life (via wormholes, of course), this book gives you a very plausible scenario.

 

    “Hard Science Fiction” is a very challenging genre to write in, and hats off to Gary Tarulli for tackling it with his debut effort.  Sadly, it appears he has retired from his writing career.  Orb came out in 2011; The Symbionts of Murkor followed three years later; but there appears to be nothing since from this author.  More’s the pity, since good novels in the Hard Science Fiction genre are few and far between.

 

    7 Stars.  All of the characters in Orb are of course fictitious, except for one: Angie.  If you’re wondering what she looks like, and you’re a partaker of Facebook, you can do a search there for the author and see a couple of touching pictures of her.