Yuri Eden, a man literally out of his time, finds himself on a ship bound for the third planet from red dwarf star Proxima. He and thirteen others are slated to go to the planet's surface to colonize the planet, as one of a dozen splinter groups. This colonization effort is not voluntary on any side of the equation, but all the same it has to be done if humanity is ever to survive in the stars. Mardina Jones is an astronaut forced to the planet by her comrades after a riot. She has no desire to be there, but her faith in her organization is solid. Stef Kalinski is a scientist back on Earth whose father launched one of the most controversial programs in all of space flight history. One trip to Mercury and a mysterious door called "the Hatch" later, she finds herself with a sister she never knew she had. With the threat of interplanetary warfare looming, these three find themselves fighting for something much bigger than the people involved: Proxima and her future colonies.

Steven Baxter's PROXIMA starts off very slow but picks up toward the middle of the book. In the first half there are many branching pathways and points of view, but it never stays on one long enough to really invest oneself in the story. The narrative jumps from one person to another, often without any inside insight or commentary. I couldn't bring myself to care about the main characters except for Yuri, and he only drew me because he was Obviously The Hero. I knew when the story picked up it would be with Yuri, and I was completely correct. Around the time his daughter is born, I start feeling for this guy. Once you get some inside information, some personal details, the character of Yuri Eden becomes easily the best part of the book. He is dynamic, clever, and just a touch bitter, what you'd expect from a man who had been cryogenically frozen for decades.

Another great part of the book is the ColU. He might not have been intended as comic relief but he is by far the funniest thing in the novel. He is a robot, a scientific advancement with curiosity and an almost parody-quality amount of sass. ColU stays with us from the moment he's introduced to the final chapters of the novel, so you'll never miss him and you'll never want to. ColU is a great addition to the world of PROXIMA and the technology. While Yuri is by far the best part of PROXIMA, I absolutely love the technical world building: space flight, cryogenic freezing, artificial intelligence, hologram programs. It all speaks to me and I really love what Baxter has done with his world. While some things are quite uncomfortable and somewhat confusing (the focus on international politics was somewhat bothersome in particular) I love the idea that humanity spreads out in the stars. Really good sci-fi has the ability to immerse you in the world even if you're not that fond of the characters. PROXIMA does that, it gives you the beauty of space exploration in spades without so much science that it's easy to get lost.

On the whole, PROXIMA is a great book. It does start slowly but after a while you will love it. Yuri Eden, Stef Kalinski, the beautiful world building, and the wonderful tech make this a really great novel. If you read this for nothing else, read it for Yuri and ColU. If you are looking for gentle sci-fi with a pretty intense set of circumstances, PROXIMA might be the one for you.

Book Summary

Mankind’s future in this galaxy could be all but infinite....

There are hundreds of billions of red dwarf stars, lasting trillions of years—and their planets can be habitable for humans. Such is the world of Proxima Centauri. And its promise could mean the never-ending existence of humanity.

But first it must be colonized, and no one wants to be a settler. There is no glamor that accompanies it, like being the first man on the moon, nor is there the ease of becoming a citizen of an already-tamed world. There is only hardship...loneliness...emptiness.

But that’s where Yuri comes in. Because sometimes exploration isn’t voluntary. It must be coerced....