In 2088 Earth decides to send out twelve deep space missions. Reggie Straifer proposes that they visit an anomalous star that appears to have some kind of shell blocking the light emitting from it. When his proposal is accepted and becomes one of the twelve missions he chooses the name Noumenon, a posited object or event that exists without sense or perception. Nine ships, populated by genetic clones, travel for two hundred years to get to the star while back on Earth two thousand years pass by. The story is told in first person vignettes at crucial timepoints.

The storytelling focuses on the people and social interactions more than what they find at Reggie's star. Some of the social stressors are obvious such as living in tin cans, predetermined jobs, and a finite amount of resources. Others develop from technical difficulties along the way. Their education system instills a strong loyalty to the mission itself but allows for questionable ethics regarding how to achieve success. The story focuses on particular clones across generations but since each viewpoint is so short the only character development is found in the AI program whose viewpoint is used several times.

Overall, this is a well crafted story with more emphasis on the psychological effects of space travel than on what the mission finds. The only off note is the way it finishes just past their return to Earth. Once the fate of humanity is revealed the rest is anti-climactic and would better suit the beginning of a sequel if one is intended. 

Noumenon appears to be Lostetter's first novel length work although she has several short stories out there. The audiobook is narrated by Celeste Ciulla.