A first-contact story with more than just a cold war twist, Celestial is the latest novel from author M.D. Lachlan (the SFF pseudonym of Mark Barrowcliffe), and begins when a team at NASA become aware of a mysterious hatch covered in strangely familiar symbols on the surface of the moon.
Firmly set in the post-space-race era of late 1970s America, where the imminent end to the détente of the Cold War is awakening with a renewed distrust of the Red Menace, the NASA team are obviously excited by the possibility of ending the conflict with whatever alien technology may lay on the other side of the mysterious hatch.
Soon, the United States assemble a team to send to the moon and investigate. The only problem is that the Russians found it first and already have a man inside. Though he hasn’t returned…
Aware that the hatch’s symbols may be a warning of sorts, linguist Ziggy Da Lucca is seconded to NASA and their lunar investigation team. Joining a crew of accomplished and armed astronauts, Ziggy is tasked with deciphering the hatch’s purpose and packed off to the moon, not knowing if she’ll ever return.
Tense and paranoid, Celestial’s opening chapters bear all the hallmarks of a fun space-bound cold-war thriller with enough intelligently constructed sci-fi concepts to avoid collapsing into Moonraker-esque silliness.
What sets Celestial apart, though, is that it doesn’t seek to dwell on the oft-explored themes of fear and suspicion in alt-history tales like Man in the High Castle.
As Ziggy approaches the point of first contact the story instead transforms sharply and smartly into an existential horror more akin to the terrors experienced in Event Horizon. However, rather than being reduced to a fan-fiction reimagining of the Nineties space horror movie where Sam Neil must literally confront Hell in space, Celestial’s subtle but significant divergence of shifting the protagonist’s perspective away from the traditional straight white Christian male protagonist to that of a female Buddhist leads to a wholly different interpretation and exploration of nature, communication, purpose and existence.
Although the concepts of self and re-incarnation can develop into quite convoluted constructs, (especially when adding in some mind-expanding LSD trips), Lachlan’s writing keeps it relatively light and accessible. And despite some light meandering in the middle, all plot threads are pulled together to a satisfying and enlightening conclusion.
Celestial by M.D. Lachlan is out now. Read more reviews at SciFiNow here.
