The Entropy of Loss by Stewart Hotston
Publisher – NewCon Press
Published – 5th April
Price – £9.99 paperback £3.99 Kindle eBook
Sarah Shannon is a scientist working at the cutting edge of black hole research. She is also a woman seeking to cope with the impending death of her wife, Rhona, the love of her life. Unable to come to terms with this inevitable loss, she has embarked on an affair with her work colleague, Akshai; and that's only the start of things getting complicated.
Something has gone wrong with Sarah and Akshai's ground-breaking simulations of black holes. When they are able to correct the errors the system abandons their simulations, instead spitting out equations as if demanding a response. When they answer, the system takes over their lab and starts to transform their equipment - forcing them to flee. They are left suspecting the impossible: First Contact.
As Sarah's employer steps in and seeks to take control, she risks losing access to her own work. Worse still, when they fled the lab she and Akshai had to leave Rhona behind, and Sarah will do whatever it takes to get her back.
The concept of communication is a common theme in science fiction from the universal translator in Star Trek; the first contact scenarios we see in Arrival or Car Sagan’s Contact. Of course, a lot of these stories are exploring what would happen if we encountered alien life for the first time but we also have an examination of the power of communication itself. Its fundamental to how we share this planet with others and when it goes wrong the results are often at a micro level personal and devastating and at global view cataclysmic. In Stewart Hotston’s excellent novella The Entropy of Loss we get a fascinating look at first and last contact delivered with sensitivity and an emotional depth that made it an excellent read.
Sarah is a scientist exploring the frontiers of information theory to develop cutting edge encryption. But in her personal life she is constantly aware her wife the artist Rhona is now approaching the end of a long terminal illness. Denial has been Sarah’s approach to this period and she has slipped into an affair with her younger colleague Akshai to attempt to divert her facing the inevitable and having an honest conversation with Rhona. But Sarah’s experiment which involved using simulated Black Holes goes haywire. The lab tech is changing into a strange organic/technical compound, and it appears someone is using this to send messages back to the scientists. Rhona asks Sarah for the chance to see this spectacle, but the encounter will have dramatic consequences for all.
This is a rather brilliant piece of storytelling and Hotston combines character, themes, and concepts to make a compelling story. Everything is told from Sarah’s point of view and while initially we see her as a hardworking scientist when we realise her betrayal we then as readers have to work out our changing view of her. In this way the way the relationship of an artist and scientist symbolises the two competing worlds the story sees. Sarah has always been the logical one and the relationship with Rhona actually was working really well because they learned from each other’s worlds and the importance of art and life was a major element in the relationship. Now Sarah has seen this life about to crumble she has hidden in an affair to attempt to replicate what she is losing and she knows its not really anywhere near what she has now. As the experiment goes wrong that we actually see Rhona has been suspecting the truth and the humanity of the story is these two women having an honest and final conversation. Did by the end I forgive Sarah for her actions – not really but I did understand why she made those choices and see she will have to now work out what to do with her life. The book divides its parts by sub-titles representing the stages of death and it is not just the loss of a life here but the relationship that I think made the story’s heart truly beat.
But the speculative element enabling this conversation is the first contact scenario and thematically I loved the balance between humanity having a first encounter and two humans having their last ever conversation. For these parts of the story Hotston allows the story to get delightfully weird with technology being turned into something organic, alive, and yet also truly alien. We get scenes of panic, attempts to destroy it and also to understand it. At the same time Hotston gently guides us through concepts of encryption, black holes and alien life which are both beautifully complex and mind-widening but never overwhelming in technobabble. It feels wonderfully plausible and seeing a lab turned into something we cannot understand is fascinating and disquieting when we realise that Rhona was in the room that was transformed. There are no magical cures in this story but there is an ability for communication which both allows Sarah and Rhona to be honest with each other while also allowing the aliens to give us their perhaps less than glowing first impressions.
The Entropy of Loss is a beautiful piece of science fiction that walks the tightrope between humanity and science to create a conversation between the two and create something that is thought-provoking and also emotionally very satisfying. I am hugely impressed with this novella and strongly recommend you go get your hands on it. It will stay with you in your memories for a long time to come.
