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The Crystal Spheres (2011)

by David Brin(Favorite Author)

3.84 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0011410590 (ISBN13: 2940011410598)

languge

English

genre

Science Fiction

publisher

David Brin, via Smashwords

review 1: This was definitely one of the more unique takes on the Fermi Paradox -- that is, given the probability that life will evolve on a planet, the probability that that life will evolve intelligence, and the number of goldilocks planets likely to be out there (based on recent astronomical research), and it seems like the universe should be a noisy place, full of life and even intelligent life. And yet we detect no intelligent emissions.There are a multitude of different possibilities (from the possibility that life is actually vanishingly unlikely, to the fact that space is just really really big and detection of radiation is actually harder than it sounds, etc), but Brin, who is a working scientist, wrote this quirky, imaginative short story as a way to put forward a (not nec... moreessarily serious) proposal that would never fly in a scientific journal.It's a quick read, and a little odd with its use of evolved "combined" words (like "deepspacer" etc), but definitely worth the time if you have any interest in interstellar life/communication.
review 2: THE CRYSTAL SPHERES won the 1985 Hugo for best short story.In the far flung future, humanity only had children when necessary. Humans were virtually immortal, living many lives and careers with the agency of suspended animation. Live a life, go into suspension for an undetermined time, then come out, lounge around for a few years to adapt to the new future before deciding what career one might want this time around.Joshua had been a spacer and had been back in life for a year, sill not even thinking about his next phase of life when a small ship came looking for him. The woman aboard, Alice, he knew well, having married he on three of his lives.He knew right away why they were here. Another shattered sphere had been found!We had long ago satisfied ourselves that Earth had never been visited by a space faring race, Erik Von Daniken and UFO enthusiasts not withstanding. No one knew why.So you see, when humanity had tried to venture out of the Sol system, having settled almost every moon and asteroid in it, they crashed head-on into the crystal sphere that completely surrounded the system, destroying themselves even as they shattered that sphere. It disrupted the Oort Cloud and a two century war with the comets knocked out of their orbits and descending toward Earth followed. When that was over, humanity turned toward the stars again.Seven ships were destroyed before they realized every star they found had a crystal sphere surrounding the system. Every one. Which lead to the conclusion that every star they would find had a crystal sphere. They could see in with their instruments, measure the planets(and found four with technologies), we just couldn't get in. The same disaster that shattered Earth's crystal was attempted. Nothing worked.Now with the shattered sphere found by robot probes, Joshua was part of the generation ship sent out to assess this new accessible system for habitability. A system of settled worlds and moons, all abandoned. The answers they found, both what happened to the beings, why, and how to break the spheres, as well as the reason for them, make for a great story. less

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