A Legend of the Future

The suspenseful potential of this science fiction novel's premise%E2%80%94a spaceship in the year 2038 is hobbled by a meteorite strike and struggles to return to Earth before its crew perishes%E2%80%94is muted by the ponderous philosophizing of the characters. When tragedy strikes the Sviatagor on its return from Saturn's moon Titan, the three surviving crew members%E2%80%94two of whom have been exposed to an inevitably fatal dose of radiation%E2%80%94struggle to overcome limitations of the conditioning used to train them for the trip and develop an "emotional telepathy" that will allow them to assist their captain, whose brain has to be hardwired into the ship's navigational system. De Roja (1949%E2%80%932011), a groundbreaking Cuban author of science fiction, lets his characters speak at considerable length about the effects of their training on the dynamics of their group, and they confusingly express their silent thoughts while in conversation as though they are speaking aloud to themselves. The translation's stilted prose only adds to the awkwardness of the narrative. (Oct.)