Name: Breaking Strain
ISBN: 9780380753444

Paul Preuss

Sparta, a beautiful and mysterious agent whose superhuman ablities are the result of advanced biotechnology, investigates a tragic accident aboard the freighter "Star Queen" that leaves a lone survivor

Breaking Strain

Justin Jerome Price

Now, this is a strange book. In many ways, it should not work. This novel is one of a series of books inspired by and as a homage to Arthur C. Clarke’s short stories; utilizing the short stories as a base to connect them into one singular coherent storyline. This first novel in the series is particularly inspired by two different adaptations of the same story: Clarke’s original novella Breaking Strain and a canceled Hypertext(interactive text computer game) based on the novella that the writer of this novel had worked on as a scriptwriter. The novel is a mashup of two different genres: mystery, specifically whodunnit, which tend to work by limiting and being particular about the amount of information given to the reader so that the reveal of the murderer or criminal makes logical sense; and science fiction of the hard variety, which tends to give a wealth of information based on current scientific theories to give the reader a vision of the world they have crafted. And while these two genres are not diametrically opposed, it can be challenging to balance the two genres satisfactorily enough for fans of both genres. Thus one can see why I was skeptical of the novel. It is written not by Clarke, but by someone operating in his universe. Written more based on the Hypertext game he was working than the original short story. Merging together two genres that while not opposed to one another have widely differing goals. All of this feels like it should have gone off poorly. Yet, it does work. Not perfectly, for there are some major flaws with the story. But it works well enough to be an enjoyable read.
One of the things that I liked about the story was the character of Sparta. Now her character is somewhat of a cliché. When we are first introduced to her character, she is in an asylum suffering from amnesiac syndrome—amnesia. Especially anterograde amnesia since she cannot form new memories at first. We end up learning from the doctor overseeing her case that this condition was induced in her by a governmental agency that Sparta worked for with the use of special nanotechnology designed to cause such a state. That she was in a program, first created by her parents before taken over by the governmental agency, designed to explore the concept of multiple intelligences. The idea that intelligence is not simply mere retention of knowledge and its application but that it also involves the concept of interpersonal relationships, emotional, physical as also important aspects of intelligence.  We also learn fairly quickly that she was modified with state of the art bionic implants designed to give her several abilities; chief one being the ability to mentally connect with and manipulate technology. The doctor, sympathetic of Sparta, ends up injecting her with an antidote that gives her back her memories. And she escapes from the asylum.
So already we are introduced to secret governmental plots; missing parents; a secret agent that not only has been trained from birth to be intelligent but also modified to basically be an information sponge and living computer, able to read people, places, and technology for her ends. And this is within the first five chapters of the story. What separates Sparta and this story from other stories similar to this one is the fact that care was taken to make Sparta feel like an actual person, rather than a blank slate. She is a vulnerable character, not a stoic one like many of the other protagonists in those other stories tend to gravitate towards. Thus there are times where we see her emotions. There are times where we see her emotions cloud her judgment. There are times where we see her break down. Yet she is still a capable, cunning character. A capable character who can protect herself very well. A cunning character who seems to be several steps ahead of others. And while she has been augmented with extrasensory and technopathic abilities, her intelligence and understanding of people are her most formidable assets. Thus we have a fairly capable female main character with a fairly understandable motive. She just wants to find out what happened to her parents and why they were taken from her. To this end, she seeks to become an investigator with the Space board. 
Now this is where I start to have issues with the story. And all of the issues can be summed up with just one word: pacing. For the story does not follow Sparta going through her investigator courses or training beyond a brief moment where it appears that Sparta is questioning herself as to if she should continue due to how strenuous the physical aspects of the training are. Instead, we are introduced to the other characters of the story in such a way that the story feels disparate or discontinuous. As if one were reading a separate story altogether. And while these characters are important to the whodunnit aspect of the story, I somewhat question the wisdom of introducing these characters when the author did. For almost all of these characters are completely irrelevant to the mystery that drives Sparta, which is the disappearance of Sparta’s parents. And the whodunit portion of the story involving the spaceship freighter is completely divorced from this central driven force as well. This is not to say that the whodunit aspects are poorly done for the story does set up the main mystery as well. The story does create logical solutions for the main mystery concerning the spaceship Space Queen. Yet, I feel that by introducing the mystery of Sparta’s parents at the beginning and then introducing the mystery that the book is actually about of the spaceship halfway through the book, it creates the expectation that the two are related when they are not. This hurts the story by making the story feel busier than it should and does rob the story of some key character progression with Sparta. I almost think the story would have been better served to focus on Sparta going through investigator training and somehow work the mystery of the Space Queen into the story rather than how it was handled. And by the end of story, it does feel like it is rushing to a conclusion to the mystery of the Space Queen while still trying to setup for the main overarching mystery concerning Sparta’s parents. This makes the story’s conclusion feel like it goes on longing than it should and would probably be better served if they pared the ending down. 
With all of that said, I cannot help but like the book and the character of Sparta. The science used in the story feels plausible. There is nothing that remotely stands out as an impossibility. The main mystery involving the spaceship freighter the Space Queen is quite impressive. The author is able to keep the mystery suspenseful with the use of twists without making those twists feel like a stretch. So I do recommend the story, even if it can feel hurried and busy at times.

Breaking Strain

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