Alpha Redemption by P A Baines

Splashdown Books (September 1, 2010)
Juxtapose a regression of both age and events with a journey of massive proportions from which Brett may never return. After losing his family Brett has nothing left to motivate him or provide a reason for moving forward. Regardless of whether he returns to Earth or not, everything and everyone he knows will have experienced nearly a decade of life. Hyper sleep is the only way his body can be protected from the ravages of lightspeed travel however the time that passes for Brett as the Comet hurtles through space is only a few years though his regression accelerates as time proceeds till he has experienced a majority of events in his life in reverse.

Through interweaving plots of the Comet’s voyage with Brett along for the “ride” and Brett’s personal regression as experienced throughout the journey Baines devises a complex yarn of reviewing one’s life as their earthly existence could be on it’s way to oblivion. Even Jay as the ship’s computer, consciousness, and Brett’s companion on the journey comes to be known encounters moments of enlightenment through attempts to discover in a limited manner what it means to be human. Emotions and other human traits are presented to Jay through societal icons and human history stored in his own personal data bank. Baines also interjects another surprise near the end of this story which could be attributed to human error or some sort of outside force invading the Comet’s internal network of systems. Be sure and grab your own copy of this layered narrative addressing both a need for purpose and the concept of AI abilities to grasp ambiguous concepts that populate human existence. (ISBN#9780986451744, 270pp, $10.95)