Other editions of book Reach

It’s natural – yet terrifying.As individuals, we reach out to explore, to learn and to make contact. Our adventures spring from the noble side of our humanity. In the near future, we will reach out again toward the stars, out past previous limits where only our minds have explored before.But there’s an adversary to these noble aspirations, one that also springs from our basic human nature. As individuals we naturally cluster into groups, gravitate into larger units, then grow into divisions and finally develop large bureaucratic organizations, institutions which inevitably fabricate the Enemy that turns inward to rape the individual.Does this contest, this inner battle, arise solely from our human nature, or, on a grander scale, could it be more universal, perhaps even a basic fabric of space itself? In REACH, our astronauts, Joe Ryder and Speed Spencer, unwittingly seek the answer as they encounter Enemy, their deep space mission turns deadly and excitement of exploration turns into terror of discovery.On the surface, REACH is a mechanical quest in response to a mechanical challenge. Joe and Speed lead their crew on a mission to discover the fate of the previous crew that came to a tragic, ill-defined end as they explored a new object in deep space. Subtle at first, the Enemy encountered by both crews proves to be callous, universal and overwhelming.“A great new concept in high-tech terror! Alien life is NOT friendly and peace-loving, but neither is it evil. It is simply, terrifyingly, ALIEN. "REACH" swallows one in a universe both otherworldly and familiar – the more so because the logic of it is inexorable, the conclusion inescapable. Good treatment of scientific/technical issues, while scaring you to death. A fascinating, new conception of first contact. 5 of 5 Stars – A Customer”REACH is crafted by an astronaut who's been there, one of the few who can bring realistic excitement and discipline to space adventure and realistic personalities and competence to the crew that struggles to meet the challenge. For 21 years Astronaut Gibson and his two crewmates held the American record for time in space. “Ed Gibson was an astronaut with the Right Stuff. It’s apparent that as an author he also has the Right Stuff. In most books I’ve read, the astronauts think and talk like Hollywood actors. Not so here; it’s a pleasure to find characters who think and act like REAL astronauts. —Alan Bean, Astronaut, Skylab II and Apollo 12, America’s 2nd Moon Landing.”REACH explores the future, not so much from scientific imagination but from realistic extrapolations of our explosive technological growth that often leaves us behind. For example, as we embed larger, more complex blocks of human thought into software, we back off further in our roles as supervisors and leave increasing room for mischief within the ethereal mountains of coding.Additionally, travel to distant objects outside our solar system requires higher velocities and longer travel times than currently envisioned by any NASA explorations of deep space. The mission led by Joe and Speed isn’t just another flight, another well-measured risk, another trip to Moon, Mars or other established human outpost. They exit the solar system, abandon our home star, leave Sun's warmth and light behind, shed all the comfort and support of humanity's incubator and probe outward far into their real environment, that cold, open, all-encompassing black void that envelopes us all—deep space.To reduce travel times nuclear propulsion is employed. Still, to keep the crew alive requires massive supplies, which make the mission near impossible. A solution is found in hibernation.In essence, REACH is a conflict between we humans and what we create and continue to endorse—and it’s deadly.“A first-rate space adventure... a page turner!” — Michael Collins, Astronaut on Gemini and Apollo 11, America’s 1st Moon Landing with Neil ArmstrongREACH is richly illustrated by paintings of Michae