Jumpnauts

January 22, 2024
Hugo winner Hao (Vagabonds) impresses with this sci-fi thriller series kickoff set in 2080. Archaeologist Yun Fan has devoted her career to proving that the Mayan and Egyptian pyramids and other historical feats are evidence of benign extraterrestrial intervention in human affairs. Her study of major inflection points in Chinese history has led her to conclude that aliens visit Earth every 800 years or so, causing a “sudden burst of innovation and advancement, pushing civilization into a new age.” If that pattern holds, another such visit is imminent, and Yun has been analyzing signals from space that could indicate attempts at communication. Those signals attract the attention of military leaders in the Pacific League of Nations, which rules the planet alongside the Atlantic Alliance. After the Pacific League learns that Yun has made likely alien contact, and that all evidence indicates the aliens are peaceful, several of their scientists attempt to communicate with the life-forms before word gets to the more reactive Atlantic Alliance, who could unwittingly send Earth into interplanetary conflict. Hao’s patient worldbuilding and character-driven approach lends fresh life to the familiar first contact trope. Contact fans will be thrilled. Agent: Katelyn Hales, Robin Straus Agency.

February 1, 2024
A mysterious radio signal brings three scientists and a pilot-chef together for a space adventure that leads them to some thoroughly unexpected discoveries. The story begins with Jiang Liu receiving information from his family's networks about this signal, which he brings to Yun Fan, who is the sole archaeologist resident at the Museum of the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang. Qi Fei is an AI expert who leads a military-research institute; when the Pacific League catches wind of the same signals, he is sent to investigate, in part because he has a personal connection to Yun Fan. Their investigation will lead them into space and beyond. The Atlantic Division--Earth's other primary political bloc--sends its own agent to investigate, the devious Chris Zhao. Amidst a classic space adventure, there are illuminating elements of the ways history can be corrupted by time, along with well-placed development of our heroes' relationships. Translator Liu provides unobtrusive footnotes and a general introduction which effectively clarify some of the historical and cultural references which may be obscure to the Anglophone reader.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

February 15, 2024
Blending elements of adventure SF with Chinese history and mythology, Hao follows a group of unlikely heroes as they attempt to avert two looming catastrophes: a war between adversarial superpowers and a botched first contact with benevolent aliens who could facilitate humankind's next evolutionary step. Set in 2080, the story begins when Jiang Liu, the rebellious youngest son of a politically powerful family and founder of the "world's largest hacking collective," is made aware of fluctuations in pulsar emission patterns near Earth. After attempting to meet with Yun Fan--an archeologist working in the Museum of the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang--Jiang Liu finds that Qi Fei, the head of a top-secret Chinese military research institute, is also looking to meet with the reclusive Yun Fan in search of answers to the cosmic questions. Yun Fan informs the two men--who obviously don't trust each other--that a massive alien ship is approaching Earth and that her mission is to enter the ship. With the world's two warring factions, the Pacific League and the Atlantic Alliance, desperately seeking to possess the alien ship's secrets, Yun Fan and company enter the ship first--and find, among wonders beyond their wildest imaginations, that almost everything they knew about human history has been incorrect. The integration of Chinese history and myth throughout the narrative--the Terracotta Army buried with the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang; Confucianism; Daoism; fenghuang; qilin; and more--gives the narrative added depth. The themes explored, involving humankind's violent and self-destructive tendencies, conclude with a glimmer of hope: "For all mankind to be one brotherhood is the grand dream of every great teacher in our history, and now we know it is also the article of faith of cosmic civilization." A deeply philosophical and thought-provoking story of humankind's search for its destiny in the cosmos.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.