Aftermath
by Charles Sheffield
1998 (trade paperback), 1999 (mass market paperback)

Starfire
by Charles Sheffield
1999 (trade paperback), 2000 (mass market paperback)

What's up with that?

In the year 2026, the Alpha Centauri system goes supernova. As the gas shell's outer layers began to weaken, a cloud of gamma rays and X rays bursts through, heads straight for Earth, and on arrival crisps half a century's worth of microprocessor technology. As Aftermath starts, parts of Earth are beginning to recover from the technological collapse, and from the climatological ruination that transpired during the weeks in which "Alpha C" outshone our own sun. Other parts--most of the Southern Hemisphere, in particular--are lost forever.

In Aftermath, the introspective American President tries to plan the nation's future, surrounded by panicked, venal friends and enemies in a Washington that makes the 2001 version look almost cheery. Meanwhile, the remnants of the first manned expedition to Mars are captured by a paramilitary/religious group; and three desperate cancer patients search through the rubble for Oliver Guest, the most brilliant medical researcher of their time, and a serial murder.

Starfire tells of building an immense space shield to protect Earth from an even more dangerous burst of supernova debris. The remnant of Aftermath's millenarian group--no longer religious, but the world's most powerful technology provider--is apparently sabotaging the shield. The infamous Oliver Guest is enlisted to help track down another serial killer. And some eccentric but brilliant scientists have determined that these "cosmic bursts" coming Earth's way couldn't have happened at random.

Who is Charles Sheffield?

He was born in England, has a doctorate in physics from Cambridge University, and had a substantial career that included some work with NASA; he didn't start publishing science fiction until he was in his forties. Although he is now a full-time writer and has been for some time, he keeps up with developments in science, and publishes a nonfiction title every few years; The Borderlands of Science is the most recent of these.

What's good about his writing?

Sheffield's training as a physicist shows up consistently in his fiction. The scenarios in his books are detailed and convincing. (Aftermath is somewhat unusual for him in that it is set on Earth, although a badly damaged Earth. The space colony of Starfire is more Sheffieldesque.)

His characters have a certain amount of depth--more than in most hard SF--and quirkiness. (In Aftermath, the President suffers from recurring bouts of sexual dysfunction, not typically a technothriller malady, nor, perhaps, a presidential one.) The dialogue is usually conversational and only rarely brings attention to itself; I should mention that Sheffield's attempt to render the Australianese of one of the eccentric scientists in Starfire really doesn't work, but that's an unusual misstep. His prose style is breezy and efficient: appropriate, and above average, for high-tech adventures.

At one point in Aftermath, an aging Air Force captain resurrects a Sikorsky CH-53A helicopter that had been hanging around since well before the supernova just because nobody had gotten around to scrapping it. He presents it to President Steinmetz as a replacement Air Force One. It's an unexpected treat in the post-technological context, and an oddly moving vignette.

What's bad about his writing?

In both Aftermath and Starfire, an important role is played by Dr. Oliver Guest, who, when he's not developing lifesaving medical technology, abducts, kills, and clones teenage girls who appeal to him. If you don't want to spend time with some very bad bad guys--Dean Koontz baddies--you might want to sample Aftermath before investing in both volumes. (If you get through the first ten pages of either book, I think you'll be okay.)

Every now and then, a couple of his characters--scientists or astronauts--will sit back and discuss the scientific principles behind whatever mayhem is going on. Starfire, in which a pair of Australians explain the arcana of intelligent subatomic combinations, is especially voluble. Personally, I eat this stuff up, and he's good at it, but if you have no patience for science chats, you might not like these books or this writer.

Despite what I said above about his "efficient" style, I wouldn't call Sheffield "fast reading." The two novels under discussion juggle multiple plots, and both do so successfully. Sometimes, however (especially in 1993's ambitious The Mind Pool), some of the threads fly away. He often uses character ensembles that can be hard to keep track of if you aren't paying attention, or if you're reading in a cafeteria. His novels are suspenseful and consistently entertaining, but they can feel overstuffed.

Sequelitis

I read Aftermath and Starfire back-to-back, and therefore can't tell you for dead certain if they work independently. Despite having a few characters in common, the two books have different emotional tones and narrative structural devices, and don't feel at all like two halves of one big long book.

Aftermath left some loose ends open (notably, the threat of a second wave of particles from Alpha Centauri; as far as hints go, I'd say that was a biggie). Starfire efficiently backfilled the disaster scenario, and I think it could be read as a standalone. It didn't drop any obvious clues about the direction of the next one--and there will be a next one; he's already signed a contract.

Last thoughts

More of a narrative storyteller than Arthur C. Clarke, and more fun than Gregory Benford, Sheffield shares with them an imagination that is informed by the possibilities of science on the edge. Charles Sheffield is writing some of the best science fiction of the last twenty years.