SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: What Swims on Uncharted World 550 by R.B. Lovitt

 

What Swims on Uncharted World 550 is a short novel that is part of this year's Self Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC4). The novel is essentially a murder mystery on an alien planet with the story told from the perspective of a new scientist who arrives at an existing scientific expedition just in time to be there when members of the expedition start mysteriously dying off.

It's a book that's easy to read, with a twist near the end (I mean it is a mystery of course) that is decently set up, and yet I still wound up thinking just "huh" at the end of it. Basically it seems to be using the story for an idea and payoff that the story doesn't really earn, which makes it read well but not actually manage to be satisfying or super successful. Some better explanations, with some spoilers in ROT13, after the jump:


Plot Summary:  

Doctor Elora Stephenson, biologist, is part of a multidisciplinary crew of scientists and security personnel bound for the world designated as "Uncharted Planet 550". They will be the second batch of scientists on the planet, which is attracting attention for its abundance of the valuable mineral "Abith" that has been found there. Dr. Stephenson is especially excited to surveil the outside of the planet, even though it supposedly is not home to much if any biological life.

But when the crew gets on planet, they're immediately treated with skepticism and antagonistic views from many of the existing scientific team....a view that only becomes worse when one scientist after another begins mysteriously dying. Is the killer among the planet's old crew or one of the newer arrivals? And is it perhaps connected to the strange shadow captured on camera in the nearby lake?

What Swims on Uncharted World 550 is setup like a classic murder mystery, as you can see from my plot summary. Our protagonist, Elora, is there to be a biologist but quickly winds up tagging along with the gruff and belligerent Sergeant investigating the murders and trying to find answers to what is going on. Along the way we get some sci-fi elements to make clear that the setting isn't the only difference here from a normal Earth-bound mystery: such as a robot that isn't as human controlled as it seems or a strange shadow captured on video in the lake, as if it's an alien being, despite the crew claiming to have never seen anything like that before.

And this mystery is certainly really readable and easy to devour quickly. There isn't really time here in this book to get much characterization of the characters before they wind up dying, so there really isn't a super involved mystery or any reason to be attached to anyone...but the story moves so quickly and Elora's narration is effective enough that you barely mind. And since the book isn't too long, it never overstays its welcome either.

That said, this book relies so much on a late act twist and the result works in some ways but doesn't work in other crucial ones. Don't get me wrong, the twist is excellently foreshadowed (spoilers below in ROT13) and how that changes the perspective on character(s)' actions will make immediate sense to you. This isn't something that feels in any way pulled out of thin air, which is what usually happens with twists that don't work. However, the twist is used to sort of set up a punchline or idea to conclude the novel about one's views on humanity and its own worth. And well, there just isn't enough of a book here to really make that conclusion actually have any meaning and THAT just feels like it comes out of nowhere. The end result is a book that you'll read quickly, go "huh" at the end, and then never bother to pick up again.

Spoilers in ROT13: Gur gjvfg vf gung bhe znva cebgntbavfg Ryben vfa'g npghnyyl Ryben, ohg vf na nyvra vzcrefbangbe jub vf gurer gb vasvygengr gur zvffvba naq xvyy be erybpngr gur erny phycevg: gur nyvra va gur ynxr jub jnf bapr rkvyrq gb gur cynarg orsber uhznaf sbhaq vg. Gurer'f cyragl bs sberfunqbjvat gung Ryben vfa'g jub fur fnlf fur vf - zhygvcyr ersreraprf gb ure rlr pbybe orvat jebat, be ure abg npgvat va nppbeqnapr jvgu ure cebsvyr - naq gung fur unf n frperg "zvffvba" univat fbzrguvat gb qb jvgu gur ynxr (nf frra va ure zvffvba ercbegf). Ohg vg'f jrveq gung fur jbhyqa'g unir xvyyrq gur nyvra evtug njnl gb fgbc gur zheqref naq ure pbzzrag ng gur raq nobhg gur jbegu bs uhznavgl, juvpu fur fnlf pbhyq onfvpnyyl tb rvgure tbbq be onq naq ner jbegu xrrcvat na rlr ba, qbrfa'g genpx jvgu gur erfg bs gur abiry, jurer fur unf irel srj vagrenpgvbaf jvgu bgure uhznaf naq gur bgure fpvragvfgf ernpg gb rnpu bgure ol orvat nffubyrf. Vg'f n erfcbafr naq gurzr gung zvtug jbex sbe n ybatre obbx jurer Ryben zrrgf sevraqf naq unf ybatre vagrenpgvbaf jvgu crbcyr...ohg gung vfa'g guvf obbx.