The Ark - A Review

There's nothing quite like a good old-fashioned murder mystery. Especially one that takes place in outer space.

In The Ark by Patrick S. Tomlinson, the remnants of humanity, roughly 50,000 people, have fled a doomed Earth and now live on a generation ship destined for Tau Ceti. Bryan Benson is one of them - a retired sports hero who has been given a cushy job as Chief Constable in Avalon Sector. It would be a stress-free job if not for a missing person case suddenly landing in his lap. When that missing person turns up dead - blown out an airlock - it becomes a murder investigation, and one that eventually leads nearly all the way to the top.

The timing of the murder couldn't be worse for the ship, which means it couldn't be better for an interesting plot. The Ark is just abut to execute a flip to begin final deceleration towards Tau Ceti. Any mishap or disruption could affect humanity's very survival. A murder investigation causing headaches for the chain of command is the last thing the command structure wants, and Benson knows it. But something else relating to his investigation is an even bigger threat - sabotage!

It is the murder mystery which drives the plot, not the science. This is not a technological adventure akin to something by Andy Weir or Kim Stanley Robinson. But there's enough science to satisfy any nerd. The Ark is a 100-mile long spacecraft, built in a herculean effort to save humanity at the last moment from a wayward black hole. It is an Orion-class vessel, driven by a series of nuclear bombs which provide the thrust. Axis rotation provides gravity near the outer hull, which dissipates if one moves towards the hub.

Patrick Tomlinson hails from Milwaukee, and there are subtle Easter eggs from his hometown that are peppered throughout the book. For example, the sports game of "zero" (so named because the points score counts down from 40 to zero and whichever team gets there first wins) is roughly analogous to football (with a number of twists for zero-G play), and one of the two main rival teams is named the Mustangs - which also happens to be the name of Milwaukee's former indoor-league football team. The fans who cheer for the Mustangs wear foam cheese on their heads, although it has long since been forgotten where this odd tradition first started - a nod to present-day fans of the Green Bay Packers. And there are side-characters named after popular Wisconsin politicians like "Feingold." Local readers will find these subtle clues delightful.

As with many murder mysteries, the initial clues lead to a dead-end and a false accusation. In this case, the reasons for subterfuge on the part of the initial suspect are unique. The accused man, an officer of the line, is secretly a homosexual, and the murdered man was his partner. But proclivities such as homosexuality are not conducive to humans having more children, which is the ultimate imperative of the Ark's mission. The officer had to marry and sire children, regardless of his sexual preferences. It's a unique plot twist, and one that has some appeal to modern readers. The prejudice against gays does not stem from homophobia, but survival imperative.

In the course of his investigations, Benson discovers something truly remarkable - a small community of rogue breeders who survive by siphoning off ship's resources so subtly that they remain undetected. They have a secret agenda all their own, and it all stems from a terrible secret surrounding Tau Ceti, their supposed new home.

The story has some pleasant plot twists, such as the very last surviving gun - no less than the very gun used to assassinate Arch Duke Ferdinand and ignite World War One - getting used at a key moment of the plot.

In all, The Ark is a pretty good romp. It starts small and ends big. It's an A+ for a murder mystery and a B+ for sci fi. It takes plenty of unexpected turns, sticks the landing, and sets itself up well for a sequel.

I'm admittedly biased in favor of Milwaukee writers, but I can honestly say that this book was not a disappointment. I'm looking forward to book 2 in the series.

Eric

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