Published: Aug. 02, 2010
Words: 103,889 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781452318400

Short description

Raife and Doctor Nancy Zing’s electronic DNA records and mind patterns have been travelling for one hundred and twenty years. They will be the first humans to see Zeta Nine, a beautiful Earth-class planet covered in lush vegetation, warm seas and having an apparent absence of predators. Everything looks perfect, or is it too good to be true..?

Extended description

The second of Peter Salisbury's Passenger novels. Each book can be read in sequence or as a stand alone story.

The electronic mind patterns and DNA records of Raife Harris and Doctor Nancy Zing have been travelling for one hundred and twenty years. They will be the first humans to see Zeta Nine.

The AI system aboard an Explorer ship is only interested in worlds habitable by humans. Raife and Doctor Zing are naturally excited when they wake to find Explorer 5017 in orbit. The viewscreen displays a beautiful Earth-class planet covered in lush vegetation and warm seas. Even better, there is an apparent absence of biohazards and predators. Everything looks perfect but is it too good to be true?

Follow the pioneers' journey as they fight to maintain their colony. Together they battle against unseen dangers, explore a forest canopy which conceals an ancient mystery, and discover a cache of curious metallic objects.

Tags

scifi, science fiction, sf, colony, planet, pioneers

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Reviews

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Review by: Engineer Friend on Nov. 20, 2012 :
A good read.
(review of free book)

Review by: Engineer Friend on Nov. 20, 2012 :
A good read.
(review of free book)

Review by: Thor Farrow on March 22, 2012 :
A wonderful tale!
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Philip Chen on June 16, 2011 :
A good science fiction novel takes you on a journey to places where you can't possibly go; an incredible science fiction novel shows you how to get there.

Passengers to Zeta Nine by Peter Salisbury is of the latter sort. In this story about future explorers to a distant planet called Zeta Nine, Salisbury uses his scientific background in describing the discovery of a presumably uninhabited planet. His vehicle, aptly named "Explorer", has been sent on a journey of 120 years to explore the distant planet. Interestingly, there are no humans (as we know them) on-board this high tech ship. When Explorer achieves its orbit above Zeta Nine, its computers signal the creation of human pioneers using stored DNA records and mind patterns.

Salisbury uses precise language to describe the various technologies in his novel. At first, the reader will say, "That is just fiction!" But as she reads further, it dawns on her that she had read or heard on the news that the exact process described by Salisbury is currently being developed in some obscure laboratory at some university somewhere. The technology may not be commercially viable or necessarily socially acceptable at this time, but that is a question best left to bioethicists or engineers to argue at some pedantic symposium as they sit on a stage behind a long table, draped with a white cloth.

Although I rave about the technical aspects of this story, the story itself is about two reconstituted adult pioneers' struggle to understand the new world into which they have been reborn. The story has elements of intrigue and conflicting motives. Our pioneers must deal with demands from afar while trying to absorb the tremendous mysteries that confront them on Zeta Nine. What will be their undoing: the unknown but fascinating and dangerous new world, or the Machiavellian plots from the old? This is a quick read and one that leaves the reader wanting to learn more about Raife and Nancy's future adventures on Zeta Nine.
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: Helen Smith on Feb. 13, 2011 :
Rafe and Dr Nancy Zing are pioneers. They have been travelling for a hundred and twenty years - or at least their minds have, stored electronically - and their mission is to explore and colonise new territories. When their space ship Explorer 5017 finally goes into orbit, their stored identities are `born' into their new bodies. They are ready to start their mission. With artificial intelligence on board to ensure that they are protected from harm and there's no possibility of bio-hazards outside, what can possibly go wrong?

I bought Passengers to Zeta Nine after reading P J Salisbury's first book, Passengers to Sentience, which I found through a recommendation in Amazon's kindle forum. The dry, witty style I enjoyed so much in the first book is evident again from the first few pages of this one as Rafe and Dr Nancy find their way around their new home.

From the detailed descriptions of the world itself - the geography, the technology used to explore it, and how it works - it seems that the author must know the place and be reporting back to us.

I'm looking forward to reading the next and final book in this series.
(reviewed the day of purchase)

Review by: Rose Collum on Sep. 23, 2010 :
I Just finished reading Peter Salisbury's "Passengers to Zeta Nine" which reminded me of when I was a kid and the excitement of discovering science fiction through Arthur C Clarke's "Against the fall of Night," which was written in the late 1940's about a young Alvin of Loronei, who lived in the city of Diaspar a billion years into Earth's future, and how he discovers other civilizations.

This book created the same excitement for me. The minutiae of colonizing a carbon-life-form supporting planet made me wish I was there with them, discovering the old settlements of a mysteriously missing indigenous population, easily defeating a government agency threatening takeover through intelligence, cooperation and reason, and the cloning/birth of the initial human population for population support, testing, and preparation.

After reading "Passengers to Sentience" and this book, I realize the broader scope of the theme. The first book laid the ground work to the technology and it's range of possibilities, how mankind can colonize the far reaches of the stars living longer, healthier, fulfilled lives with cloning, stem cell implantation, personality downloads, and eventually discovering other intelligent lifeforms.

The second book deals with an actual team of intelligent skilled colonists, two of which help expand the possibilities of space exploration, and initializes Zeno-archeology.

I was struck by how the initial team of colonists worked well together, diffusing personality differences and disparate skills with communication, cooperation and teamwork. Don't we wish all life worked that way? People who could rise above the situation to reason the best way to do things for the greater good.

The only disappointment was when it ended, and now I have to wait for another.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

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