Total Eclipse by John Brunner

Total Eclipse by John Brunner is another golden oldie from my science fiction collection. I reread it recently and was surprised how well this planetary mystery withstood the test of time.

It’s 2028 and the starship Stellaris lands on Sigma Draconis III. On board are Ian Macauley, a palaeolinguist, and other scientists who are exchanging places with some of those already on the planet. Eight years previous a team landed and discovered the relics of an advanced civilization that had been extinct for one hundred thousand years. Since then successive teams have studied the remains hoping to find out what caused the alien society to die after being in existence only three thousand years.

Meanwhile on Earth, people are not happy about the money being spent on Starflight. And there are rumors that the team on Draconis is looking for weapons of destruction so they can come back and rule the world. This new landing party includes General Jose Maria Ordonez-Vico, the commander in chief of the Bolivian Military Intelligence Service. His goal is to find a reason to order the abandonment of the Draco base. The situation at home is precarious. When the Stellaris leaves this time there’s no guarantee that it will come back again, even if the general allows the investigation to proceed. The threat of being stranded on Draconis permanently hangs over the team. But no one is ready to give up and declare the mystery unsolvable. Was it a fatal virus, a war or mutation? Everyone is pinning their hopes on Ian to find the answer.

Alien archaeology is a fascinating premise and this hard sci-fi novel holds up in spite of the fact there’s little action. Even the paranoid general doesn’t provide much conflict. Most of the investigation is relayed through the characters thoughts and dialogue. It was the insurmountable mystery and Ian’s attempt to recreate an alien persona that kept me engrossed through two readings. Brunner draws some heavy handed parallels between the Draconians and humanity and the stunning climax will leave you thinking.

Publisher: Doubleday & Company, Inc.; 1st edition (May 1, 1974)

ISBN: 978-0385095983

Hardcover: Pages 187