Salvation Lost

The middle volume of Hamilton’s Salvation Sequence space opera trilogy (after 2018’s Salvation) provides a clever variation on the theme of alien invasion, but it’s stronger on worldbuilding than characterizations. Hamilton’s early-23rd-century Earth features intriguing developments: 3-D printers produce much of the food supply, and kilowatt-hours back major national currencies. Against that backdrop, and with 100 million humans living in colonies on asteroids and other planets, humankind must confront an existential challenge from an alien race, the Olyix. The Olyix have given humans biotech in exchange for electrical energy, which the aliens need to power their ships on a journey to “the end of the universe.” But their true intentions are revealed by another nonhuman race, the Neána, one of whom, Jessika, discloses that the Olyix are bent on offering human souls to their deity, whom they expect to find at their journey’s conclusion. The humans’ suspenseful resistance against overwhelming odds sets the stage for the series’ conclusion, and Hamilton keeps things grounded with all-too-credible passages about partisan political bickering in the face of disaster. Series fans will enjoy this installment. (Nov.)