THE END TIMES OF MARKUSZ ZIELINSKI

Stevenson presents an SF thriller in which the fate of the universe depends upon a prickly mathematical genius.

Markusz Zielinski doesn’t have time for incompetence, whether it’s from his fellow mathematicians fiddling erroneously with his equations or from self-interested politicians. His late wife, Helen, understood him—as does the imaginary version of her that he talks to in his head—but that won’t help Markusz with the task at hand: He has to perfect his annulus device to save himself and Thousand Worlds, a civilization made up of hundreds of planets, from the Effect, a systematic collapsing of the universe, its planets, its increasingly displaced peoples, and the energy from all of that matter. Unfortunately for Markusz, he’s been kicked off the annulus team, kidnapped by a separatist group with its own agenda, and is target no. 1 of a murderous aristocrat, politician Ernes Fontaneau. His best chance lies with Sylfe Cachand, a solar expert who’s hellbent on stopping Fontaneau. In this quick-paced thriller, the narrative focus shifts between characters as they race against time. Some secondary characters are underdeveloped, but Markusz and Sylfe are both convincing protagonists, driven in part by pigheadedness and morality, respectively. And while the plot hinges on cursory understandings of space and plate tectonic theory, it’s on Markusz and company to figure out the mathematical and cosmological mysteries. The author provides an adequate explanation of the book’s science and math, even for readers whose scientific background is limited to science fiction, such as in this description of the annulus device: “The annulus floated free above the cradle, a colourful spectrum extruded like toffee and twisted around itself into a mobius strip. This was the visible projection of the mathematical transforms Markusz had wrought.”

An entertaining read that transports a refugee crisis into futuristic, far-out space.