Heliopause by J.Dianne Dotson

There’s something about space stations that turn me on, in a literal sense of course. For me, some of the best science fiction shows have been set on space stations. Deep Space 9 stands out, of course, but in my opinion the Daddy of them all is Babylon 5, an amazing and for its time, ahead of the posse when it came to CGI, boasting an interstellar cast which told a complex and human and alien story over five seasons. The recent news that B5 will be rebooted in the near future excites and terrifies me in equal measure, but with J.Michael Straczynski at the helm, at least the vision will be somewhat similar. As long as he includes the classic John Sheridan line, “Get the hell out of our galaxy,” I’ll be happy.

At a time in my lead when my ‘read list’ on Goodreads is heavily comprised of many degrees of science fiction, my current reads have been primarily space operas. I’m coming to the end of Gareth L. Powell’s Embers of War trilogy, and soon will start the final novel in James S.A. Corey’s Expanse series, Leviathan Falls. It’s an exciting time for me. But a writer I’ve recently discovered, thanks to following Powell’s Twitter account, is American author J. Dianne Dotson. Heliopause is the first book in her Questrison Saga quartet. It’s set mainly on a space station, so you know I was all over it like a bad suit.

Forster works on the research space station Mandira, near the outermost limit of our solar system, known as the Heliopause, that part of the solar system which is exposed to particles and ions of deep space (thanks, Google). He pals around with Gibbons and Efron, and together they the station operational and each other sane. Forster reminisces over his lost love Auna, but struggles on anyway. At the beginning of the book, he sees lights where lights should not occur. It’s not a hallucination because others see them, too. It’s a transmission of sorts, in Morse Code of all things, as discovered by Gibbons’ AI assistant Veronica. There is a sense of excitement on Mandira, as one of their colleagues, Captain Spears, is on the way with a ship-load of much-needed replenishments and goodies. However, when contact is lost with Spears’ ship, and Forster and Efron realise that the mysterious transmission may be behind it, they come up with a plan to locate the source. The station’s matriarch, Meredith, suspects the transmission may be the key to locating her daughter Ariel, a telepath who went missing on a mission many years back.

Heliopause is classic Golden Age science fiction, taking me back to Star Trek in all its glory and, of course Babylon 5. It’s closer to B5 because of the looming presence of forces deep outside the Border Wall that spell certain doom and devastation to Mandira and ultimately humanity. One of Forster’s friends, Efron, knows more than he lets on, and he urges Forster to use his own latent telepathic powers to aid the mission and save Ariel. And that, dear reader, is only the start of the book. What happens from then on is a rip-roaring read that had me gasping at some of the plot twists. J. Dianne Dotson self-published Heliopause and did a wonderful job at keeping the different plot strands together. As it is the first book of four, some questions will be answered, but many more will be left dangling. And that’s as it should be. By the end of the book, certain characters will have met their destiny and we may or may not see them again in future books. But others will remain, and their story will continue. I will read the next book, Ephemeris, with glee and purpose. I loved this book and I’m so happy I found out about it.