Against Infinity by Gregory Benford
"Against Infinity" is a coming-of-age science fiction narrative set on Ganymede, a Jovian moon, and is inspired by William Faulkner's novella "The Bear." The story unfolds in Sidon, a frontier settlement grappling with the enigmatic alien artifact known as the Aleph, which disrupts human efforts to terraform the moon. The protagonist, Manuel López, encounters the Aleph at the age of thirteen and embarks on a journey of discovery alongside Matt Bohles, an aging pioneer. Their shared experiences lead them to hunt the Aleph, which remains a persistent mystery, ultimately requiring the assistance of a unique hybrid creature named Eagle to contain it.
As Manuel matures and transitions to life in the city of Hiruko, he uncovers the harsh economic realities underpinning space exploration, contrasting the idealism often associated with such endeavors. Following the death of his father, Manuel returns to find Sidon transformed into a thriving community, but the Aleph continues to haunt the collective memory of the settlers. The narrative culminates in a moonquake that threatens the new civilization, reminding the inhabitants of the ever-present power of nature and the wilderness they sought to tame. Overall, "Against Infinity" explores themes of growth, the complexities of human ambition, and the mysteries of existence amidst the backdrop of alien encounters and technological challenges.
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Against Infinity
First published: 1983 (sections previously appeared in Amazing Science Fiction, February and April, 1983)
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Science fiction—extrapolatory
Time of work: The twenty-first century
Locale: Jupiter’s moon Ganymede and Earth
The Plot
Closely modeled on William Faulkner’s 1942 novella “The Bear,” Against Infinity is a coming-of-age story developed in six parts. The story begins in Sidon, a frontier settlement on the Jovian moon Ganymede. The settlement has been plagued by a mysterious and elusive alien artifact called the Aleph. Its random burrowings throughout the interior of the moon threaten human efforts to terraform the moon and tame the wilderness.
Manuel López, the son of the settlement’s commanding officer, first sees the Aleph when he is thirteen years old and encounters it repeatedly over the next several years. He comes under the tutelage of an aging pioneer named Matt Bohles, whose own coming-of-age story was the subject of Gregory Benford’s 1975 novel Jupiter Project. The two of them continue over the years to join periodic hunts for the Aleph. Not until Matt and Manuel are joined by a mechanically enhanced, part-human, part-animal “hound” named Eagle, however, are they able to immobilize the mysterious artifact.
Years later, after Manuel has moved from Sidon to the city of Hiruko, he learns that the entire project of space exploration is driven not so much by idealism as by brute economic necessity, to sustain an economy that must forever expand to survive. Learning of the death of his estranged father, Manuel returns to Sidon, where he finds the wilderness replaced by a thriving community of domes. An atmosphere is developing on Ganymede, there is talk of the mechanized animals forming a new underclass in society, and the Aleph has been reduced to an object of scientific study. The Aleph itself remains a mystery, however, forever rebuilding itself at the atomic level. Moreover, the Aleph seems to contain memories of all it has encountered and all who challenged it. At the novel’s conclusion, a catastrophic moonquake brought on by the stresses of terraforming nearly destroys the settlement and reasserts the primacy of the wilderness.