Review: Great Science Fiction short story
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 25, 2014
Breaking Point by Michael GardnerA dystopian space operaThe authors of science fiction stories often deal with problem that few of us have thought about, but are interesting to read and contemplate. In Isaac Asimov’s novels, Asimov led us down the path of entertainment while dealing with the problems of space, time, and travel. His characters encountered difficulties such as, ‘how do you control a robot that has human-like intelligence.’ These are the things upon which great science fiction stories are built.Antonio Baros, the main character in Michael Gardner's Breaking Point, has invented an engine that can propel a spaceship faster than the speed of light, but he has no idea if it will work as designed. Like all inventors and engineers, Baros is reluctant to place his ‘baby’ in the hands of someone else to test it, and thus lose control of his project and the fame that will result from its success. As it has often been pointed out, no one remembers who came in second, the person that almost won, or the guy who made the work of the space pioneers successful.To retain control of his project, Antonio pilots the prototype spaceship himself with disastrous results. Alone in space, with little hope of survival, he must come to terms with himself. This is an exciting story, and an imaginative beginning of what is to come in the forthcoming novel Rescue One.