Starfarers

Starfarers, Poul Anderson, Tor Books, 1998

This near-future science fiction story begins when SETI astronomers discover "trails" among the stars, thought to be signs of an advanced civilization.

Man has started to spread out among the stars, but has yet to find any other earthlike planets, so there is great interest in exploring the trails. An advanced starship, called Envoy, is outfitted with an eclectic ten-person crew. The ship can pretty much run itself, so the humans are there for when they reach their destination. The very interesting part is that the trails were discovered in an area approximately 60,000 light years away, so over 120,000 years will pass on earth until they return (through time dilation, about 10 years will pass aboard Envoy).

As they get closer to their destination, the trails become fewer and fewer, then stop altogether, leading to speculation among the crew that the civilization either destroyed itself or, for some reason, gave up on space travel. The humans encounter an intelligent race that has, indeed, turned its back on the stars. Envoy's arrival is not totally welcome, because it leads to unwelcome interest in returning to space among some of the aliens.

This is a vivid, well done story of courage and exploration on a grand scale. It just misses the level of Anderson's Best Work, with the science getting a little overwhelming, but it is still far better than most of what is in the Science Fiction section of the local chain bookstore.