HEAVEN'S FALL

Final part of the alien-contact trilogy (Heaven's War, 2012, etc.).

Previously, Keanu, a vast alien vessel built by the mysterious alien Architects using their unimaginably advanced technology, snatched up a random selection of people from space mission headquarters (in Houston and Bangalore) and deposited them inside Keanu. The snatchees found the vessel infested with deadly predators, which eventually they wiped out—but not before some escaped to Earth. These Aggregates, collectively intelligent machinelike insects or insectlike machines (it isn’t clear which), now control most of the globe with the assistance of their cultlike human associates, the Transformational Human Evolution. Finally, the humans aboard Keanu learn how to control the ship and steer it back toward Earth, where the Aggregates and their slaves are toiling in the American Southwest to build a colossal, fortresslike structure—but to what purpose? Once triggered, the fortress will certainly release a blast of radiation powerful enough to sterilize the planet. Rachel Stewart, her teenage daughter Yahvi, alien warrior Zeds and others launch themselves in a spaceship toward Earth in the hope of learning the Aggregates’ plans and infiltrating the fortress. Back on Keanu, meanwhile, outcast Dale Scott learns how to communicate with the ancient machine intelligence that runs things. All this churns industriously without developing any real characters or sparking any narrative tension. Neither do Goyer and Cassutt make any attempt to engage with the true nature or purpose of the Aggregates—they’re just evil and destructive.

Readers will, eventually, figure out what’s going on. But will they care? Some. Maybe. What’s really surprising is that authors with such impressive screen/scriptwriting credentials (The Dark Knight, The Twilight Zone) could labor so mightily to achieve mere mediocrity.