The Experiment by Cristian A. Solari is a début science fiction story about a galactic alien observer named Geb Saar who champions a fledgling race growing in a cosmos-sized petri dish.
Geb, a member of the super-intelligent Universe Confederation, agrees to transform his alien appearance so he may enter the restricted area of space called “The Experiment” and study firsthand the Preintelloids inside. These creatures surprise Geb. The Preintelloids have promise, but need more time for evolution to weed out their selfish natures.
Inside The Experiment, Iana the Space Program Director and her staff have secretly built a spaceship called Spora that has hyper drive. For the first time, Iana’s race can pierce the puzzling barrier surrounding their solar system. Perhaps they can confirm that they are not alone in the universe. Politics swirl, and Iana and her team launch Spora before the bureaucrats cut their funding.
The Spora crew does indeed find life on a far planet. The Universe Confederation is aghast at their presumptuousness. Geb’s people debate oh, so intelligently, and decide to end The Experiment as a failure. Geb disagrees. He begins a non-violent battle to change the Preintelloids, and his people’s intellectual bias, before all is lost.
The Experiment does a dandy job with world building. Instead of dwelling on technology’s swell gizmos in this science fiction world, the story immerses us in the cerebral dialogue of Geb’s people. The story is a wonderful example of showing, not telling, the reader about the Universe Confederation’s intelligence. The many characters were well-defined, had distinct voices, and varying concerns. The science made sense. The plot had enough twists to keep Lita reading to the end.
Solari’s story is a recommended read. If you dive in, be ready to work a bit to unravel its cleverness. Unusual, but precise terms from Geb’s people fill The Experiment. Some readers may not enjoy learning the vocabulary. But for those who stick around, expect rich rewards. The Experiment is a thoughtful treatise on politics, the universal struggle to become a better person, and humanitarianism from aliens.