Alastair Reynolds tells a tale that is much larger in scope than it first appears to be. It all starts innocently enough with the crew of the Rockhopper doing what they do best, mining comets in our solar system, also known as "pushing ice." Then something unexplainable happens. One of Saturn's moons, Janus, breaks out of orbit and assumes a trajectory toward Spica, a star 240 light years away. Not only that, it is accelerating as it heads out of the solar system. This brings an abrupt end to the existing mission for the Rockhopper crew as they are the only ship capable of intercepting Janus for a few days before it leaves our solar system for good. They are a crew of miners, not explorers, but they are the only ones who can study Janus up close before it is gone so all of mankind turns its attention onto them.



Reynolds' characters are human to a fault and Janus becomes a polarizing event that pits the crew of the Rockhopper against each other. Captain Bella Lind finds herself trying to carefully balance her own desires with those of her crew and those of the company that owns the Rockhopper. When it is discovered that their employer might be lying to them about their chances of success Bella finds herself having to make monumental decisions with untrustworthy data which puts the entire mission at risk before it even gets started.



The characters are consistently bickering throughout the book and they are not nearly as interesting as the plot itself. This is an epic story that does justice to the genre of science fiction although it does plod along at times. John Lee's narration is decent but it does little to spice up the predictable characters. If you are intrigued by what might be out there among the stars and want to bear witness as mankind uncovers some of the universe's secrets then this book offers up a unique take on that storyline. If you want interesting characters that you will remember forever then this is not the book you are looking for.