C.A. Higgins
Lightless

C.A. Higgins is a young sci-fi literature author. Born in the US and educated in physics, she engages in various interests including classical languages and theater. She began writing science fiction almost by chance, stemming from reflections she had during a physics lesson on the laws of thermodynamics. It is precisely from the concept of entropy that her first novel, published in 2015 and titled 'Lightless,' evolved, the first of a trilogy that constitutes a true space opera.

As a boy, I was one of the worst possible students, but I was particularly brilliant in mathematics and physics. A brilliance that I neither knew how nor could cultivate over the years for various reasons. Consequently, to try to explain the concept of entropy, a concept that as such is closely connected to the laws of thermodynamics, in an accessible manner, I simply resorted to the definitions reported by the author at the head of some chapters of the novel, which I consider sufficient for proceeding with an exposition of the contents of the work.

Here they are: a. If two systems are in thermal equilibrium with another system, then they are also in equilibrium with each other. b. The amount of work done in one direction is equal to the amount of heat transferred in the other, meaning the internal energy of an isolated system remains constant. Because of this, a perpetually moving machine cannot exist, and all systems have an end. c. The entropy (or chaos, or disorder) of an isolated system can never decrease. For this reason, the laws of nature are irreversible, and an increase in disorder is inevitable. d. The entropy of a system approaches a constant value as the temperature of a system approaches zero. The constants are determined by the degeneration of the basic structures of a system.

The events of 'Lightless' are entirely set in space aboard a modern spaceship named 'Ananke,' which we discover throughout the reading is an experimental ship on a mission to experiment with how to reverse entropy, and consequently reverse every possible physical process.

We are in a relatively near future where humankind has colonized the entire solar system, and to push further, the success of Ananke's experimental mission is deemed necessary. On board are Captain Domitian, supervising scientist Gagnon, and the protagonist of the events, the 'mechanic' Althea, who is deeply bonded to the spaceship by a connection we could call visceral and who dedicates all her attention to her specific work interest and the ideological contents of the mission.

But the plans of the 'system,' the interplanetary order that ordered the mission, are disrupted when two stowaways are found aboard the spaceship: computer bandit Matthew Gale and his partner, the charming Leontios 'Ivan' Ivanov, son of rebel Connor Ivanov ('the man who destroyed Saturn') and software engineer and astrophysicist Milla Ivanov.

Tracked down, the two are immediately put under lock and key, but thanks to his skills, Gale manages to escape after sabotaging Ananke's central computer. Leontios Ivanov, destined to become a 'cult' character, remains a prisoner on board, also because at this point another character intervenes, the system's counter-espionage agent Ida Stays, who is investigating an interplanetary terrorist association led by the mysterious Mallt-y-Nos and who believes Gale and Ivanov are somehow connected.

The narrative now alternates between Althea's attempts to repair the damage done by Gale, who seems to have completely disordered the ship's central computer memory, and Ida Stays' interrogations of Ivan, who turns out to be as cunning as he is incredibly charming, and whom Althea herself will somehow yield to, unable to solve the riddle, and will be persuaded to make a deal with him just to know what happened to 'her' spaceship.

The whole novel is truthfully well written and full of interesting moments that make this work a perfectly successful debut: particularly the dialogues more than the descriptive phases are the most convincing parts and those in which the entire plot is unveiled from the backstory to its conclusion. In the midst, the parallel according to the concept of entropy and the laws of thermodynamics, the principle of chaos and disorder, between the assumption of self-awareness by machines, in this case of the spaceship Ananke, which will gradually acquire its increasingly specific personality; and the same principle applied on such a large scale as the solar system and by the rebellious forces led by the mysterious Mallt-y-Nos determined to unleash chaos to overthrow a system presumed - the narrative tells us very little about it except that practically most actions and dialogues in every part of the solar system are recorded - to be oppressive and deny every principle of freedom and contradiction.