Yuri Eden is one of dozens of criminals being landed on the surface of Proxima C, a planet orbiting one of our nearest stellar neighbors, and an important outpost of UN colonial expansion meant to counter the ambitions of the Chinese. The new colonists are dropped in small groups, isolated from one another, and are expected to find a way to be self-supporting as their jailors head back to Earth. Meanwhile on Mercury, amazing discoveries have been made. Kernels that hold limitless amounts of energy are found beneath the planet's surface, and control of this energy source will cause instability among the solar system's superpowers. VERDICT The latest from award-winning Baxter ("Xeelee Sequence" series) is satisfying, big-scale sf that shows us that even in the far future or on an alien world all the best and worst of humanity would remain. He creates an intriguing new life- form and seeds enough mysteries to provide fodder for several sequels. (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

So, Yuri might be a little slow on the uptake. It takes him longer, probably, than it should to figure out he's not on Earth at all, but rather on an interstellar spaceship bound for a new planet orbiting Proxima Centauri. But give the guy a break: he did just wake up from cryo sleep, and he never volunteered to be a colonist, so there's no reason for him to think that's what's going on. As it turns out, practically no one on the ship volunteered to be a colonist: it's a shipful of mismatched personalities heading off to an unknown world because the UN is determined to settle it before the Chinese do. This novel is a wonderful exercise in (literal) world building, as Baxter plunks his hapless colonists down on a raw new world and challenges them to build a society while they keep from getting killed, or from killing each other. It's a novel full of startling discoveries and secrets (including, perhaps most mind-bending, a new way of traveling between worlds). Another winner from this consistently intriguing SF writer.--Pitt, David Copyright 2014 Booklist