| Author: | Paul Cook |
| Copyright: | 1999 |
| Date Reviewed: | 1/31/01 |
| Rating: | 9.0 |
A new writer on the scene, I look forward to reading many more novels by Paul Cook. I found this one to be entirely engaging and very difficult to put down. The few minor flaws did not detract from the overall suspense and excitement from this read.
"The Engines of Dawn" take place on Eos University, a several mile long spacecraft that is probing the alley (the Sagittarius Arm) looking for planets to study and giving its students a most unique education. There are two races on board the ship, humans and Enamorati. Humans first came into contact with the Enamorati when a religion leader and founder of the Ainge church called out to them in transpace. The Enamorati offered to take humans anywhere in the galaxy with their faster-than-light ships, as long as the humans did not try to understand the mechanics of the ship's engine. All work on the Onesci Engines is highly ritualistic and forbidden to human eyes.
On route to their next destination, the ship's engine fails; an ominous event. Shortly there after, reports from Enamorati section, which is aft near the Engine, indicate that serious fighting is occurring. Even the Ainge representatives, who act as intermediaries between Enamorati and other humans, are surprised by these events.
In the end, we learn that the engines are really enormous living organisms who feed on the human essence. In the last two hundred years, space-faring humans have lost the will to expand and even procreation has slowed down. Where the colonies should be thriving, they are just barley hanging on. The Enamorati bargained with the Onesci to provide whole civilizations for the Onesci appetites, rather than loose their own race.
With this new knowledge, the ships crew, faculty and students are able to escape from another engine installation and they head back to Earth with a new vigor. Once the truth is known, the book ends a little too quickly. The ship's escape could have been drawn out more. There is room for a sequel and I look forward to reading one some day. Usually I prefer books to not have sequels, the authors tend to draw out stories beyond my interest maintenance level. However another short book in this universe, would be quite welcome.