A brain-bending, galactic drama with an eerie soundscape, Vold Book’s Stara Detente: A Novel Set to Music by John T. Trautman is a paradox-laden parable about the incalculable meaning of time, purpose, and humanity’s place in the universe. Trim-Facet Holocorp, the most dangerous totalitarian force in history, has consolidated international power, seized control of all scientific endeavors, and imprisoned anyone who threatens them in the far edge of the asteroid belt. This story within a story – written by one such prisoner – peels back layers of time itself, recounting the tale of the cosmos before the Big Bang, and the impact of two celestial lovers on both the nature and future of reality. The accompanying music is cathedral-like at times, feeling both ominous and intimate, and doesn’t rely on the traditional tropes of sci-fi electronica; however, the author’s narration is somewhat intrusive, and the music might be better served as a parallel guide to the prose, letting the reader’s internal voice take center stage. That said, the core story is exceptionally inventive, and the writing is uniquely immersive in its use of both prose and verse. Primal, philosophical, and steeped in experimental world-building, this musically accompanied novel is a heady, multilayered thrill for anyone who revels in radical sci-fi storytelling.
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