Week 7: SciFi Annotation

 Singer Distance by Ethan Chatagnier

Genre: Literary Science Fiction

Publication Date: October 2022

Number of Pages: 288

Geographical Setting: Arizona, California

Time Period:  1960, 1970s, with various flashbacks to narrator's childhood circa 1940

Series: n/a

Plot Summary:

    Set in an alternate history where intelligent life forms on Mars communicate with the Earth, this book explores the distance between worlds and between people standing right next to each other. 

    The book opens on the cold desert highway in 1960 as narrator Rick drives his girlfriend Crystal and three other MIT graduate students to a site near Flagstaff so they can attempt to "speak" to the Martians for the first time in over 30 years. Communication between Mars and Earth had been composed in mathematical equations carved on the surface of the planets, but as the equations grew increasingly difficult, the time between exchanges had grown increasingly longer. The group now believes that the brilliant Crystal has a reply to the last message and they risk everything to help her deliver it.

    Set in three parts, the first alternates between a history of the Mars communications and the group of students in their current attempt to speak to the Martians. Part two is set after the delivery of the message; it is an exploration of the narrator's distance from his father during his childhood and the growing distance between him and Crystal. Part three finds Rick some 13 years later, as he makes a new discovery about Crystal and is set on a wild chase to find her and close the distance once and for all.

    An exploration of what it means to be alone in the universe and alone here on planet Earth, this is science fiction for lovers of literature and thoughtful fiction.

Subject Headings:

    Speculative fiction

    Alternative history

    Female scientists

    Linguistics

Appeal:

    Length: Readers will appreciate that at only 288 pages, this book is shorter than even a modern fiction title. As many science fiction titles are apart of a series and can be over 400 pages long, this book is a lovely little foray into science fiction without a large time commitment.

    Ideas: Author Ethan Chatagnier explores ideas about the possibility of intelligent life on Mars and the desire to reach out despite the distance of 140 million miles. At the same time, Chatagnier explores the distance between people who are on the same planet and why is sometimes seems that someone standing next to you might a well be on Mars.

    Relationships: Accompanying the idea of distance between planets and people, relationships are important to this story in that the main character spends his life devoted to his girlfriend despite her apparent distance both physically and mentally. Without relationships, there is no story in Singer Distance, and the beauty lies within the relationships of these lost and lonely characters.

3 terms that best describe this book: thoughtful, hopeful, speculative

 

3 Relevant Non-Fiction Works and Authors

 

Cosmos-Carl Sagan

One of the definitive voices on the subject of the universe, this book will illuminate the history of cosmos and the transformation of matter into consciousness. Exploring many topics, this books is one of the bestselling science books of all time for good reason. 

Discovering Mars: A History of Observation and Exploration of the Red Planet- William Sheehan and Jim Bell

Written by a historian and planetary scientist/astronomer, this book dives into what we on Earth have learned about the red planet through careful observation across multiple technologies. Readers will find that all of these observations have helped us gain a better understanding of our own planet and place in the universe.

If the Universe if Teeming with Aliens... WHERE IS EVERYBODY?: Seventy-Five Solutions to the Fermi Paradox and the Problem of Extraterrestrial Life- Stephen Webb

A the title suggests, this book gives seventy-five thought provoking answers to why we have yet to encounter alien life. Described as logical, interesting, and thorough, readers are sure to delight in the possibility that lies within these pages.

3 Relevant Fiction Works and Authors

Sea of Tranquility- Emily St. John Mandel

This novel follows several characters across space and time who all share a similar unusual experience. Readers will delight in this contemplative novel's exploration of what it means to be connected.

The Silent History- Eli Horowitz, Matthew Derby, and Kevin Moffett

Originally a collaborative piece of fiction published as a daily blog, follows a generation of children born seemingly without language. Unfolding over decades, readers will learn that even without a spoken language, there is no lack of connection or understanding to be found between both the silent and un-silent characters in this story.

The Mountain in the Sea- Ray Nayler

When a hyperintelligent species of octopus with their own language is rumored to have been discovered, a race begins to study and capitalize on this miraculous find. This near future literary fiction pick will leave readers reflecting on consciousness and what it means to be human.