The Orthogonal Galaxy. A book review by Elliot Jackman
BY MICHAEL L. LEWIS
Independent Author / Publisher
The Orthogonal Galaxy is written by Michael L. Lewis. It’s his first book in the Galaxy series, and I hope the series grows to many books. The story starts out with three different sets of characters that are not really connected. One group of astronauts are tasked with manning a small outpost on Mars. Another is a group of college kids and a professor that is world renowned for his theories and discoveries in the world of astronomy and astrophysics, Carlton Zimmer. The third is a man accused of two murders and his attorney, who enters the story as his trial is just beginning.
While the story line of the murder trial proceeded, it was difficult to imagine what place the characters could fit into the story, but Michael resolved that dilemma about halfway through the story. It turns out that Paol Joonter’s unfortunate fate of being accused of murder brings him into a place in his life where he has to make a decision about what to do with the rest of his existence.
The team of astronauts on Mars are devastated by an unknown phenomenon that has NASA and all other scientists on Earth stymied and looking for answers. Enter Professor Zimmer and his team of Graduate students, as they dedicate their studies, nights and weekends to identifying what happened.
Without giving up too much of the story, their discovery is such that there is a possibility of using the phenomenon to propel a space craft at many times the speed of light directly to another solar system with an Earth like planet that was recently discovered. NASA, along with the Zimmer’s team, work for years to design a mission to do just that.
The story unleashes an interesting theory on faster than light travel and does a great job of making you like all the characters involved. The story is kind of unique, as there isn’t really an antagonist or a protagonist in the standard sense. Aside from one rude and condescending reporter, there is nobody in the story for you to root against. In the end, the unlikely team of astronauts that volunteer to attempt to travel to this newly found planet are our two protagonists that we’re rooting for.
The story moves along at a good pace. There are some parts where there is plenty of technical dialogue that can be confusing. I assumed that the details of the discussion were not important, and the author was only trying to portray the intelligence and competence of the characters. It turns out that this seemed to me to be the case, as I never felt that if I glossed over a few sentences, or a paragraph of extreme technical jargon that it caused me to be lost in the story, or otherwise in the dark.
I will definitely be reading more books from Michael L. Lewis. I wouldn’t feel bad if years from now, I could say that I’ve read a dozen of his books.
ASIN: B00QD35580
Print Length: 374 pages
ISBN-10: 1501099078, ISBN-13: 978-1501099076