Title:

Providence

Author:

Max Barry

Category:

Science Fiction / Fantasy

Rating:

Date Reviewed:

November 16, 2024

n the future, humans make first contact with a frightening alien species, which they dub "salamanders". These aliens are utterly ruthless, the first contact between the species leads to the slaughter of the five human scientists. It becomes a war to the death between the two species. The gruesome, six-legged salamanders have the ability to survive in the vacuum of space, they can fire tiny blackholes as projectiles, and they are all clones, genetically alike, so each individual has no sense of self preservation, but instead will take any action necessary for the good of the hive.

The future humans are far more advanced than we currently are. The humans have artificial gravity, matter converters, faster-than-light travel, advanced weapons (including "planet busting" plasma bombs), and AI so advanced no one knows what it is doing. The humans construct kilometer-long "Providence" warships. The Providence ships are equipped with the latest weapons and AI; these ships are self repairing and self guiding. However, a small human crew does fly along, even though they do not interact with the AI (at one point in the story, one of the crew members compares themselves to white blood cells in our own body - we understand that white blood cells exist, but we never attempt to communicate with them).

On the fifth Providence ship to launch, a crew of four boards for a four year mission. The captain is Jolene Jackson - she is a survivor of a disastrous battle at Fornina Sirius, which saw almost the entire human army annihilated by the salamanders and led to the decision to build AI-controlled killer spaceships. Although Jackson is captain of the crew, she has no control over the ship itself, the AI will handle all operations and make all the decisions.

Talia Beanfield is the "Life" officer, it is her job to keep all the human crew members sane and working together on the mission despite the incredible stresses of battling the ruthless salamanders for four years while enclosed in the cramped spaces of the ship. (Despite being kilometers long, the Providence Five ship is stuffed with material and equipment, it is not designed for human comfort.) Beanfield is an expert at empathy and human personalities, she knows how to push the right buttons to defuse tense situations and keep the tiny crew focused on their goals.

Paul Anders is the Weapons officer. When the ship engages with the salamanders, he monitors the weapons and armor - but of course the AI selects targets and shifts resources far faster than any human could, so Anders job is really just to watch. Anders would love to shoot some salamanders personally, but the space engagements all take place in deep space.

"Gilly" Gilligan is the Intel officer. He also works as the ships engineer, fixing problems that the self-repairing ship cannot solve. Like Anders, his role is mostly monitoring the action, watching as the ship battles thousands of salamanders each engagement.

Not long after launch, the Providence Five has its first engagement - the weapons deploy and the salamanders are slaughtered. Advanced sensors are careful to ensure that there are no survivors, the humans do not want the salamanders to learn strategy from battlefield results. Yet as the ship goes deeper and deeper into space, the salamander tactics are adapting. The numbers of salamanders increase with each encounter. The ship makes the decision to go into the VZ - the Violet Zone - an area devoid of beacons or relays. They will be unable to contact Earth at these distances. But the crew has no input on the AI strategy, they are just along for the ride.

I thought Providence was an interesting novel. Could the mysterious AI on the ship actually be trusted to be working for the benefit of humanity? What is driving the salamanders, could they be reasoned with? Are the other crew members stable? Anders in particular seems to be cracking as the mission unfolds. There a lot of ideas in this book, and the pace is quick - attack by the salamanders is always imminent, so there is a good deal of tension. I like the Gilly character the best, as he tries to make sense of what the salamanders are doing, and why the Providence Five is behaving as it does. Previously, I read Barry's Lexicon and liked that book also, so I should see what else he has written.