From a review of Richard Rydon's "The Palomar Paradox: A SETI Mystery" (2011)
The year is
now 2028 and thirty-five-year old Luper has become the Assistant Director of
the Palomar Observatory. He is currently involved with the SETI project (Search
for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence). Assisting him with monitoring signals
through the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC) are
Leila Keiler and Linus Shannon. Leila is a nineteen-year-old young lady who is
recovering from leukemia. While she was going through her treatments, she acted
as a volunteer to monitor signals that might be extra-terrestrial in origin.
Her intelligence and enthusiasm earn her the opportunity to go to work for
Luper. Linus Shannon is a middle-aged man who is a faculty member in the
Information Technology Department at the prestigious UC Berkeley.
When Luper,
Linus, and Leila discover an unusual signal that appears to be originating from
outer space, they get very excited. They also realize that there are other
individuals attempting to discredit this information. This realization dampers
their excitement over the potential ramifications of their discovery, however,
it also peaks their interest and they become more determined to investigate if
the signal is real and they seek to find out why efforts are being made for a
cover up.
Once again,
Richard Rydon has created a novel that displays his enthusiasm for science and
allows him to share a fictional story in which he can both entertain and
educate the reader. Interspersed in between his mystery, he also includes
scientific information and data that relates to the scientific search for
extra-terrestrial life in our universe. For people who really enjoy science,
they will find this information a plus. For others who just want a good science
fiction type mystery, they can skip this part and just read the story. For
myself, I found that my interest was even further stimulated by this additional
information. I also really enjoyed the part of the story that took place near
that Salton Sea at the Wister Mud Pots. This location is actually near where I
live; I having been there and seen this unusual phenomena, and I really enjoyed
that Rydon incorporated the area into his story.
Review by
Paige Lovit
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