Jumping The Abyss

scifi action and adventure

By: Dietmar Wehr

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

This novella contains 31,000 words.The first manned mission to Alpha Centauri is in trouble. Pathfinder carries experts from six nations to survey the Earth-like moon, named New Haven, discovered by a robot probe, in advance of the arrival of other colony ships built inside hollowed-out asteroids. New Haven is mankind’s only hope of avoiding extinction from the inevitable deluge of comets disrupted from their orbits by a rogue, brown dwarf star.

With only weeks left before arrival at New Haven, the collegial atmosphere among the passengers is shattered by a shocking death and an apparent attempt at sabotage. But something more is going on besides dysfunctional human personalities, that could threaten the entire mission and humanity’s survival. Can the passengers put aside their national prejudices and solve this mystery, and if they can, what surprises wait for them in Alpha Centauri? This suspense-filled technothriller will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Interesting Direction

This is an interesting direction for Dietmar Wehr. I have to say though, I did like it. The Virtual Voice narration was actually pretty good. I would wonder if you can assign different voices to the characters in the book. This one had an English female voice that was just fine, but all characters, male and female, sounded the same. You need to pay attention to know who is talking.
The story, I liked it. Definitely different than the usual Wehr stories. It was a mix of science fiction, exploration, and thriller/mystery. I think it worked well. While this is short, it is because it was a test to see how the change of story worked and if it was welcomed.
I would like to see how the story continues as this one left you wondering just that, what is ahead.
Time will tell.