Status
Available
Call number
Series
Collection
Publication
Del Rey (2003), Mass Market Paperback, 544 pages
Description
ONE OF THE BEST SF WRITERS IN THE BUSINESS . . . Manifold: Origin is] filled with marvelous scientific speculations, strange events, novel concepts, and an awe-inspiring sense of the wonders of the universe.-Science Fiction Chronicle In the year 2015, astronaut Reid Malenfant is flying over the African continent, intent on examining a mysterious glowing construct in Earth's orbit. But when the very fabric of the sky tears open, spilling living creatures to the ground and pulling others inside (including his wife, Emma), Malenfant's quest to uncover the unknown becomes personal. While desperately searching to discover what happened to the woman he loves, Malenfant embarks upon an adventure to the very fount of human development . . . on earth and beyond.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member ChrisRiesbeck
This caps Baxter's Manifold series, an extended exploration of possible explanations of the Fermi Paradox. The three books are independent novels. All three feature Reid Malenfant, scientific entrepreneur -- think Elon Musk -- and Emma Stoney, but not the same Malenfant and Stoney. Also appearing
A giant red moon appears, replacing our old moon. Emma Stoney is transported there by a giant blue ring. Two thirds of the novel then alternates between Malenfant's quest to find her, Stoney's struggles to survive, and the story lines of other hominids that inhabit the red moon, deposited there millennia ago by those blue rings, as the red moon shifts from universe to universe.
This is a hard book to read. Not because it was unclear but because it's portrayal of the lives of half dozen distinct hominid characters was very crystal clear. The hominids, including modern humans, do terrible things to each other over and over. Baxter works hard to put the reader inside the minds of every character, including those without long-term consciousness or, in some cases, even an awareness of self.
Manifold: Origin fulfills the title's promise. It's about the origin of humanity, of those blue rings (at least in this novel's sheaf of universes), and a potential explanation for the Fermi Paradox.
If you can stomach it, I recommend it.
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in all three novels are mysterious giant floating blue rings. Each is a gateway of different sorts that drives the exploration forward. A giant red moon appears, replacing our old moon. Emma Stoney is transported there by a giant blue ring. Two thirds of the novel then alternates between Malenfant's quest to find her, Stoney's struggles to survive, and the story lines of other hominids that inhabit the red moon, deposited there millennia ago by those blue rings, as the red moon shifts from universe to universe.
This is a hard book to read. Not because it was unclear but because it's portrayal of the lives of half dozen distinct hominid characters was very crystal clear. The hominids, including modern humans, do terrible things to each other over and over. Baxter works hard to put the reader inside the minds of every character, including those without long-term consciousness or, in some cases, even an awareness of self.
Manifold: Origin fulfills the title's promise. It's about the origin of humanity, of those blue rings (at least in this novel's sheaf of universes), and a potential explanation for the Fermi Paradox.
If you can stomach it, I recommend it.
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LibraryThing member KAzevedo
Book 3. Read all three, in order.
The three books in the Manifold Trilogy will take you on a mind stretching journey. While the characters are somewhat one-dimensional, they keep you grounded enough to enjoy the science which is presented on an immense scale. Why isn't there any evidence of other
Stimulating, entertaining, and ultimately satisfying.
The three books in the Manifold Trilogy will take you on a mind stretching journey. While the characters are somewhat one-dimensional, they keep you grounded enough to enjoy the science which is presented on an immense scale. Why isn't there any evidence of other
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sentient life in the universe? What is the purpose of intelligent life at the end of billions of years of evolution. What would the "old ones" do to change things "downstream", to make life more meaningful? Baxter's characters search for the answers to these questions in unique and fascinating ways.Stimulating, entertaining, and ultimately satisfying.
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LibraryThing member tjsjohanna
The scale of the idea behind this book is pretty grand - experiments using whole planets. Mr. Baxter explores the ideas of what humans would be like at different stages of evolution, under different circumstances. The main characters, Reid Malenfant and Emma Stoney take us through this grand idea,
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letting us get a feel for just what it might be like. I liked their names too - "bad infant" and "stoney" both linked up to their characters and how they managed under such extreme conditions. Show Less
LibraryThing member RobertDay
Another outing in Baxter's 'Manifold' sequence, starting with the same main characters, but placing them in an entirely different situation - this time, catapulted via portal to a new Moon where different prehistoric species of human co-exist, not peacefully. Certainly not a read for the squeamish,
A third of the way through, the focus changes and we encounter another species of hominid, one that never evolved on our Earth but which has achieved civilisation and mastery of spatial manipulation. They lead the main characters into an examination of the mechanics of the mysterious moon and give us a pointer towards the underlying concepts of the whole series.
But be warned - there is no revelation. There is no mastermind behind the events of this novel and its two prequels. But there is a solution - one that involves another answer to the Fermi Paradox, one not often considered. And this is probably the novel where Baxter discovered a taste for writing about the deep past which he then explored further in his later novels such as 'Evolution, the 'Time's tapestry' series and the 'Northland' trilogy (as well as that one about the mammoths).
It's not an easy read, and it does not present a neat and tidy package. But it is certainly thought-provoking.
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life being nasty, brutish and short in prehistory, the puzzle of the book is how come these different species of hominid a) are where they are, and b) speak English (well, some of them, and after a fashion).A third of the way through, the focus changes and we encounter another species of hominid, one that never evolved on our Earth but which has achieved civilisation and mastery of spatial manipulation. They lead the main characters into an examination of the mechanics of the mysterious moon and give us a pointer towards the underlying concepts of the whole series.
But be warned - there is no revelation. There is no mastermind behind the events of this novel and its two prequels. But there is a solution - one that involves another answer to the Fermi Paradox, one not often considered. And this is probably the novel where Baxter discovered a taste for writing about the deep past which he then explored further in his later novels such as 'Evolution, the 'Time's tapestry' series and the 'Northland' trilogy (as well as that one about the mammoths).
It's not an easy read, and it does not present a neat and tidy package. But it is certainly thought-provoking.
Show Less
LibraryThing member DarthBrazen
Almost as good as Manifold:Space. I really enjoyed this book and the depictions of early human ancestry. The mystery of the Red Moon is more than enough to keep you hooked, although the bloodshed by the Hominid species helps. It was nice reading another of Malenfant's journeys, even if it is not
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the "same" Malenfant. And of course, who could forget Nemoto. I thought she was just as much of a bitch in this one as Space. I look forward to reading all of Stephen Baxter's books. Show Less
LibraryThing member rondoctor
3rd volume of Manifold series. Still a good read, with a number of new surprises and speculations. Worth reading.
LibraryThing member kimmy0ne
an unusual story
LibraryThing member brakketh
Exploration of the Fermi Paradox (that we are the only sentient species in the universe) - characters easy to dislike but the ideas carried the day.
Awards
Locus Recommended Reading (2001)
Original publication date
2001-08
Physical description
544 p.; 4.2 inches
ISBN
0345430808 / 9780345430809