Hope 239 is a SF space resettlement story with a difference. A 15-mile long ship from Earth arrives in the Hope system after a centuries-long journey, not to transplant their civilization but to plant the seeds of a new series of human settlements (Neolothic-era) on different Hope system planets.
The plot is satisfyingly intricate, akin to the traditional Chinese boxes, one within another in a series. The residents of the one hundred Neolithic village units on board ship have no knowledge of the ship they’re on, its crew, or the command oval officers who ostensibly manage it; even the command oval, while having the most knowledge, are ultimately kept in the dark by ship’s computer about vast parts of the ship. Each ‘box’ is unaware of many of the other boxes. Records of the past are regularly deleted, and mission plans for the future after the resettlement are unknown. The reader however sees most of these levels (or boxes) operating within their narrow cells as laid down by the mission’s originators centuries earlier. This is one of the best story setups I’ve seen.
Nor are characters neglected in the story. The command oval officers are well-drawn, detailed, and their motives complex but clear; the crew less so; and the few villagers we meet even less so. Thus the story’s characters are presented in a manner that reflects the different levels of knowledge in the story. Moreover the protagonist is an ensemble of several characters at different levels, each curious and seeking the knowledge withheld from them. The antagonist is those now-absent originators of the ship and its resettlement mission.
'Hope 239' is a clever, well-told story about the dangers of control, regardless of the benign motives involved. I look forward to a sequel to this fine addition to the genre.
