Kim Miller
Astronauts on the moon discover the body of a dead astronaut, but his space suit is different and none of their people are missing. Investigation shows the frozen and mummified corpse to be 50,000 years old. What follows is a cold case investigation as scientists from many fields try to unravel the story of the dead man, who they name Charlie.
Character development and plot are secondary to the investigatory process here, and much of the book is taken up with discussions and conjecture as people suggest various theories and possibilities. Over time more is revealed as they learn to understand printed manuals from Charlie's backpack. They identify a calendar, mathematical formulae, diary notes. But who he is and how he came to be on the moon remains a mystery.
Other explorations change their understanding of the moon's surface structure, and another discovery on one of the moons of Jupiter opens up a whole new area of investigation.
It becomes a bit like an Agatha Christie revelation towards the end as the lead scientist puts together all the clues. The only possibility that holds everything together blows his mind as the history of the solar system and the whole of human evolution is called into question.
Astronauts on the moon discover the body of a dead astronaut, but his space suit is different and none of their people are missing. Investigation shows the frozen and mummified corpse to be 50,000 years old. What follows is a cold case investigation as scientists from many fields try to unravel the story of the dead man, who they name Charlie.
Character development and plot are secondary to the investigatory process here, and much of the book is taken up with discussions and conjecture as people suggest various theories and possibilities. Over time more is revealed as they learn to understand printed manuals from Charlie's backpack. They identify a calendar, mathematical formulae, diary notes. But who he is and how he came to be on the moon remains a mystery.
Other explorations change their understanding of the moon's surface structure, and another discovery on one of the moons of Jupiter opens up a whole new area of investigation.
It becomes a bit like an Agatha Christie revelation towards the end as the lead scientist puts together all the clues. The only possibility that holds everything together blows his mind as the history of the solar system and the whole of human evolution is called into question.