Origin (Baxter novel)
Manifold: Origin is a science fiction novel by British author Stephen Baxter, the third instalment in the Manifold Trilogy. As with the other books, the protagonist Reid Malenfant is put through a scenario dealing with the Fermi paradox. Each novel is an alternative scenario rather than a chronological sequel, and does not occur in the same universe. Manifold: Origin explores primate evolution to create an explanation for our lack of contact with other intelligent species.
Plot
In 2015, the Earth's Moon vanishes to be replaced by a red moon. The new moon is more massive, causing devastating effects on Earth. It is also crawling with life. Meanwhile, a mysterious glowing construct appears in the skies over the African continent. NASA astronaut, Reid Malenfant, flying over Africa in a T-38 training jet with his wife, Emma, decides to investigate. They collide with what appears to be a large floating wheel out of which people are falling. Ejected from the plane, Emma falls through the wheel.Emma wakes up on a strange Earth-like world that is populated by many species of Hominidae, most of which are long extinct on Earth. Unable to think of a better plan for survival, Emma and a small group of survivors who fell through the wheel join a group of "Runners", who, after an initial confrontation resulting in the death of one of the survivors, allow them to tag along. Back on Earth, Malenfant campaigns to get a mission launched to the red moon, feeling in his heart that Emma is up there. He is ultimately successful, and, along with a Japanese scientist named Nemoto, takes off in a hastily put-together rescue mission.
Emma and the Runners encounter other species, including a group of violent "Elfs", the "Hams", as well as an unnamed orangutan-like species known as "Nutcracker Men". Malenfant reaches the red moon and encounters a colony of British explorers. Upon staying with them, Malenfant learns that the red moon has been hopping between universes, scooping up the native hominids through the wheel-like constructs Malenfant had encountered over Africa. The British explorers hail from a universe where the British Empire is still going strong and has become a spacefaring nation, albeit one with technologies and cultural values more akin to the early twentieth century in Malenfant's universe.
Emma encounters a race of hyper-intelligent hominids that appear gorilla-like to her. They arrived from a version of Earth that had no moon and is constantly bombarded by high winds. Like the British explorers, the gorilla-like hominids came to the red moon by choice to investigate. Malenfant and Emma are finally reunited, and a diverse party of hominids led by the hyper-intelligent gorilla-like explorers journey to the centre of the red moon and learn of the moon's creators, hypothesizing what their goals might have been.
Characters
- Emma Stoney – The central protagonist of this story and wife of Reid Malenfant
- Reid Malenfant – NASA astronaut, a protagonist across all books in the Manifold series
- Nemoto – A fiercely intelligent Japanese scientist who accompanies Malenfant to the Red Moon
- McCann – A British explorer stranded on the Red Moon
- Fire – A member of the Homo erectus, or "Runners"
- Joshua – A Neanderthal, or "Ham"
- Shadow – An Australopithecine who endures several hardships at the hands of her own kind
- Manekatapokanemahedo – The leader of a group of hyper-intelligent gorilla-like hominids