Edge of Oblivion by Kirk Weddell
Publisher – Troubador Publishing
Published - Out Now
Price – £11.55 paperback £4.99 ebook
After witnessing Earth’s destruction, a lone scientist and his quantum AI are hurled 24 hours into the past and become humanity’s last hope of preventing extinction.
Brilliant computer scientist Mitch Daniels has created Amie, the world’s first true quantum artificial intelligence, intended to transform human knowledge. Instead, the pair are confined aboard the Sentinel, a classified space station where Mitch is the sole human presence, tasked with automating the United States’ first orbital defence system. But before Amie’s integration is complete, Earth suddenly implodes in an impossible catastrophe that fractures the timeline and hurls the Sentinel 24 hours into the past.
Mitch wakes to a new reality, but Space Command dismisses his warnings and brands him a delusional threat. Isolated and alone with Amie, his only ally, he must determine what destroys Earth—and stop it—before Space Command terminates them, or the countdown to extinction reaches zero.
As time collapses toward disaster, humanity’s fate rests not in weapons but in understanding the nature of intelligence, consciousness, and why the universe may remain silent.
This weekend I’m going to finish looking at the Best Novel recommendations for the British Science Fiction Awards/ If we consider what we mean by science fiction one theme is what can science potentially offer us. There is a long history of stories where a problem needs a creative solution. It is a rich area to show us possibilities and the power of rational thinking. For me its very much the comfort zone of science fiction and a danger is its such a well-trodden path then you can’t help thinking I’ve been here before sometimes. In Kirk Weddell’s science fiction novel Edge of Oblivion, I found a soulless story that did not really offer me anything new or for that matter entertaining.
Mitch Daniels is crashing to Earth. The space station Sentinel explodes above him and below the Earth itself is tearing itself apart. He then awakes on board the sentinel with just the company of his AI invention Amie for company. Stuck in space awaiting a rescue mission from earth he is stuck but increasingly feeling something is not right.
I think an experienced reader and watch of science fiction movies (and I’ll include Groundhog Day in this as I do not feel that generous to this book) will soon recognise in just a few chapters what the plot is about and what the answer may be. We zip though the amazing but emotionally wounded by his wife’s death i.e. he is unshaven, Mitch Daneil’s life as we watch him become a genius, sweet talk the love of his life in a few hours of meeting and now deals with the pain he suffers. I really did feel like I’d walked through to books from the 1990s. Popular science theory is dropped in exposition and clearly will link to the plot. The story we are told is based on a film script and indeed there is the strong feel of a film novelisation to the book. The chapters feel like scenes that were filmed but ultimately a script with decent acting, production values, SFX and music can elevate even a basic script and unfortunately this book lacked all of those benefits. It’s a shame as there are many good film and tv novelisations that know you can use a book to enhance your watching with background, inner character work and powerful writing. This sadly decided not to deliver any of that.
Ultimately my issue with Edge of Oblivion is that for a book with the destruction of the Earth it felt ultimately underwhelming. No new ideas and bland execution with just an extra helping of cheese. Not for me and not one I can recommend and I’m a bit puzzled how this was on the shortlist.
