sdlotu
12/4/2022
Our intrepid hero comes across a mysterious cube made of flakes of material from an unknown place and time. It prompts the hero to learn of things in a dream about another place in the universe.
Then a signal is received from the asteroid belt, and the hero builds a spaceship, takes four others (including the love interest) and lands on the asteroid to discover it's connection to his dream and the fate of the solar system.
Pretty typical space opera story, complete with intractible (and unknowable) alien forces, incredibly capable, intelligent, and downright lucky heroes, and a mystery to be solved to save humanity. It has echoes of 2001: A Space Odyssey, but introduces much more mysterious situations for the hero's party to decipher and overcome.
Well written as most every Leinster story, but now quite dated in its references to Cold War conflict and its stereotypical mid-20th century female characters whose main purpose is to fuel romance.
Lots of interesting ideas and concepts, though, which are for the most part glossed over and left undeveloped.