Gaea: Beyond the Son, by P. D. Gilson, is the launch novel for Helios Publishing.

When the Gaea-02 returns from her first mission in deep space, the crew discovers that the volatile situation on earth has escalated. Earth's factions are at war, leaving the Gaea-02 no option but to head for the planet that Earth plans to colonize. But one crew member has left a son back on Earth. And Doyle won't give up until he finds a way back home.

Gaea: Beyond the Son is an exciting tale of heart-pounding action and suspense, and read like a gripping, scifi film. But the characterization doesn't suffer for it. Short backstories for several of the crew members, give insight and depth to the characters, and help to engage the reader. Even the antagonists were multi-dimensional.

This novel was impossible to put down. With the feel of military scifi and the heart of a space opera, this debut novel has made the list of my favorites for the year. This was more than an impressive new release for a brand-new small press. Helios has set a high standard with a fantastic story and beautiful cover art. ( )

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P.D. Gilson's Gaea: Beyond the Son takes place in a not-too-distant future, after we've run dangerously short of potable water on Earth. There's a technology called D-salt that can make large amounts of wastewater completely drinkable, but the catch-22 is that it takes vast amounts of clean water to make D-salt in the first place. That's where the distant planet comes in--the idea is to set up D-salt production facilities there, and ship the D-salt back home. Unfortunately for Doyle Gage, the shakedown and test flight of the Gaea technology ends up becoming a flight to that distant planet when war intervenes.

Even though the crew sleeps through the decades of their long flight, the war hasn't magically ended by the time they get to their destination. They're the enemy now, on an alien world where simple survival would be difficult enough.

The setup provides us with a great science-based adventure novel crossed with a military/war novel. The two sides are given enough due that they aren't reduced to stereotype. The characters have their quirks, flaws, and so on, largely giving them appropriate depth.

Unfortunately, despite that depth, I could never shake the feeling that the characters were held at arm's length. I could watch and even sympathize with the tragedies that shook them, but I couldn't feel the heart-wrenching of empathy that I feel when I'm really pulled into a character's suffering or joy. Gaea definitely succeeded in the realm of page-turning action-adventure--I constantly wanted to know what happened next--but the character emotions were somehow distant. I can't help thinking that while this was definitely a good and enjoyable story, if it had had that additional empathy, it would have been positively stunning.

View full review at ErrantDreams. ( )