Pacific Book Review, January 7, 2010
Reviewed by: Gary Sorkin, Pacific Book Review
Title: The Universes
From the start Marla A. Martin's book, "The Universes", takes off on an adventure through wormholes of hyperspace. When reading this, I was at first startled given my sci-fi curiosity of what new physics and projected scientific advancements might have taken place with mankind to make a voyage such as this possible. Realizing that no minutia of detail is given, it became apparent to me Martin's here to provide a story about the people and not the technology. So accepting this premise I relaxed and read the book, not looking to critically burst bubbles of technical inconsistencies, but to totally enjoy the adventures of the well developed characters and just going along with the scientific assumptions.
So off to new worlds inhabited by strange humanoid types possessing various technological achievements and alien powers in an effort to find a suitable planet to relocate the population of Earth I went. A nostalgic sci-fi adventure indeed, reminiscent of early Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek, mixed with a bunch of Louis L'Amour types of characters, in Frank Herbert's kinds of worlds, without Arthur C. Clarke's attention to detail. Even the size of the book, a 205 page paperback, is printed with an easy reading layout and with a chapter title font bringing up old sci-fi book memories. The cover art depicts angelically winged aliens with antennae capturing an Earthling in front of a uniformly shaped background landscape ~ clearly setting the reader's imagination into a Zen of curiosity.
Martin writes a truly enjoyable and fun book. I gravitated to picking it up as often as I could to savor the storyline, and upon finishing it I felt very impressed with her sense of adventure and creativity. This book is a perfect companion on an airplane, or by a pool, or tucked by a fire at a ski resort. We are not alone!
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Overview
The Universes begins with the information that Earth's poles are gradually shifting, and will require the entire population to be evacuated. Sampson Gould, scientist for the space program in Washington, is asked to head a voyage into hyperspace. He eventually finds a suitable planet, but in the process, loses his beloved Captain Mora. He searches repeatedly, but can't find any trace of her. She comes to him in his dreams, pleading with him to find her. Sampson befriends humanoids called Tsees, and humans called Nadirans. At first, they refuse to allow Earth men to settle on their planet, Alta. Suddenly, the Nadiran leader changes his mind, and agrees to the settlement. Sampson is pleased, but worried. Why did the Nadiran