From the author of “The Circuit Series” and “Titanborn” comes a science fiction short story taking place in the “Titanborn” universe.
Synopsis: After twenty five years serving as the lone human Monitor of the Interstellar Ark, Hermes, Orion is scheduled to be placed back in his hibernation chamber with the other members of the crew. Knowing that he will die there and be replaced before the ship’s voyage is over, he decides that he won’t accept that fate. Whatever it takes he will escape Hermes and see space again, even if it means defying the regulations of his only friend — the ship-wide artificial intelligence known as Dan.
"This is for anyone who has ever felt a sense of adventure or looked up at the sky and wondered what is out there. "
Reviewer: Reader for Bookangel.
Brilliantly crafted, Rhett C. Bruno's story the Long Vigil has only two characters, Orion, the human caretaker for a colony ship, and Dan the AI who runs it.
Told in first person from the point of view of Orion, it covers the last day of his decades-long shift before he is due to return to sleep and eventual expiry. Orion is nearly fifty, but his controlled education gives him a near child-like view and the limits of his education become obvious. He works as someone it is easy to feel for, and because of that the story is gripping.
Raised by the AI, never interacting with another human being from birth to death, the caretaker would be lonely if he had ever known anything else. As it is, he can only look at the window, at the forbidden vastness of space and wonder because even the most sterile and controlled environment can't stop someone looking for more.
The cover's nice, and if there were flaws in the writing, formattings etc. I'd mention them. There aren't. It is at least a four and I am tempted to give it a 5. It's hard sci-fi, in the mold of the classic story the Cold Equations, and it is very, very, good.
For readers? Just read it. You don't have to like sci-fi to enjoy this story. It's one for anyone who has ever felt a sense of adventure or looked up at the sky and wondered what is out there.
That was sad, but also brilliant. Some of the concepts are truly disturbing. Entire generations of people living out their entire lives in a coma, from mechanised, assisted, birth to the withdrawal of life support at the cut-off age, never reaching consciousness.
As a fan of science fiction in any form - book or movie, I have to say that I am intrigued and I would definitely love to add this short story to my list of books to read in the near future.
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