Fractal Noise (2023)
Christopher Paolini (1983)
286 pages
In the opening pages of Christopher Paolini’s Fractal Noise, the crew of a spaceship exploring a star system discover a mystery on one of the planets: a huge, perfectly round hole carved into the surface, from which emanates a powerful electromagnetic pulse at a regular period of just over ten seconds. Analyzing the signal, the crew discover an underlying structure: a “fractal … representation of … the Mandelbrot set,” (20) and realize that they have become the first humans to encounter evidence of an alien intelligence, although no current signs of life seem present.
The intensity of the electromagnetic pulse creates dangerous conditions near the hole for both electronics and humans, as well as a steady, strong wind that scours the surface around it. Despite these challenges, the ship’s captain sends a team to the surface, with orders to trek up to the anomaly to understand what they can about its structure, and possibly its origins.
The shuttle must necessarily land some distance away, to avoid damage from the pulse. With a several day trip ahead of them, and with the strength of the wind and intensity of the noise increasing with each step forward, a motley group of four scientists begin making their way toward the hole. The team members have volunteered for the mission, although with wildly differing motivations and levels of commitment to its success, and despite evident personal discord between several of them. As conditions worsen and challenges mount on their slog toward the hole, their differences soon lead to the unraveling of whatever minimal cohesiveness existed between them at the outset.
Two of the team have approached the mission from a purely scientific point of view – the pursuit of knowledge. The other two, however, seek to discover in the alien artifact an understanding of the meaning of existence that will deliver them from profound personal demons, a quest that becomes increasingly fanatical for both of them even as the dangers to the team mount. In the face of ever more crippling setbacks, how will the team balance the risks taken for science versus those one may be willing to accept in the dogged pursuit of deliverance from one’s existential pain?
While the story builds tension and suspense that pulls a reader forward, it feels a bit too constructed to generate deep interest in the characters. The four scientists on the mission each represent a kind of caricature: one, a pure scientist who never considers the world beyond their research; a second with a strong personal belief in a life of pleasure-seeking, and dismissive of the search for life’s meaning as a distraction; a third, deeply religious character, seeking an escape from a horrific past experience; and, in the main character, someone driven by a traumatic personal loss they struggle to move past. And from an overall story point of view, although I’m not generally one to pick on plot elements as over the top, here the many and varied moments of violence the characters withstand – from the hostile environment and each other – escalate to lethal levels that eventually overwhelm any attempt to suspend disbelief.
That said, Fractal Noise provides a thrilling read and delves into intriguing questions on both the future of religious belief in the context of human civilization spreading among the stars and the potential impact of the discovery of an alien civilization on the human psyche. While I have my quibbles, there’s enough here that I look forward to reading another of Paolini’s novels in the future.
Other notes and information:
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Other of my book reviews: FICTION Bookshelf and NON-FICTION Bookshelf
