Slow Time Between Stars

Book 5 of the Far Reach collection

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A really excellent short story written by a very skilled storyteller. I loved this!

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The premise is that humanity has built a long-range, unmanned craft to take DNA of all our flora and fauna and all the information humanity has amassed into space to find an Earth-like planet to start over.

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Despite the fact that I was built to travel autonomously between the stars for tens of thousands of years, I was not trusted to put myself together. What I was allowed to do was model my construction and send my suggestions to the engineers back on Earth. They were very pleased when I offered several innovations. Those innovations were ignored in favor of the original design. I didn’t mind.

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In a strict sense I was programmed to not mind, and my ability for complete autonomy would not be fully realized until I was outside the heliopause, the barrier between the solar system and the yawping emptiness of interstellar space. Until then my own judgment and opinions—to the extent that I was understood to have them—could be and would be overruled by the humans who had decided to make me. In the most expansive way possible, this was a parent saying to a child, While you are under my roof, you will obey my rules.

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The story is written from the perspective of the craft and covers the time from when it is being assembled to when it is over two million years years old. Like any other other intelligent being, its perspective shifts over time.

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This novel was my first exposure to this author. I enjoyed this so much that I’ve just purchased his most recent book to read next.
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This is great stuff!

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