Solar Sail Spacecraft to Saturn

This is a Leonberger blog, but I also post about other topics including book reviews of books that I love and want to promote. With this post I would like to promote an exciting and imaginative science fiction book called The Solar Sea by David Lee Summers.

Strange new particles are detected that seem to be coming from Titan the largest moon of the planet Saturn. Whales change their songs in curious ways. As a result, a major space expedition to Saturn is launched. At the center of this book is a spaceship called Aristarchus named after an ancient Greek astronomer named Aristarchus who presented the first known model that placed the Sun at the center of the known universe with the Earth revolving around it.

I can add that the fact that Earth orbited the sun did not become common knowledge until much later because of Copernicus and Galileo Galilei. However, they were not the first to suggest it. On the other hand, the fact that earth was roundish or near spherical has been common knowledge for thousands of years, at least among educated people. About 2,300 years ago, Eratosthenes a Greek philosopher calculated the circumference of Earth and got very close. This history is explored in this blog post.

Below is an overview of the two formats of The Solar Sea

I should mention that even though this book (second edition) was released on Amazon in 2018 the story was completed by the author in 2004.

  • Paperback –  Hadrosaur Press (March 16, 2018), ISBN-10 : 1885093845, ISBN-13 : 978-1885093844, 206 pages, Item Weight : 9.6 ounces, dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.52 x 8.5 inches, it cost $12.95 on US Amazon. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.
  • Kindle – Publisher : Hadrosaur Production (March 21, 2018), ASIN : B07BHFS2WV, 208 pages. It is currently $3.99 on Amazon.com. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.
The front cover features Saturn with its rings, a man in a space suit and humpback whales.
Front cover of The Solar Sea by David Lee Summers. Click on the image to go to the Amazon page for the paperback version of the book.

Amazon’s Description of The Solar Sea

Whales around the world changed their songs the day scientists announced the discovery of powerful new particles around Saturn’s largest moon which could solve Earth’s energy needs. The Quinn Corporation rushes to build a solar sail space craft to unlock the secrets of these strange new particles. They gather the best and brightest to pilot the ship: Jonathan Jefferson, an aging astronaut known as the last man on Mars; Natalie Freeman, a distinguished Navy captain; Myra Lee, a biologist who believes the whales are communicating with Saturn; and John O’Connell, the technician who first discovered the particles. Charting the course is the mysterious Pilot who seems determined to keep secrets from the rest of the crew. Together they make a grand tour of the solar system and discover not only wonders but dangers beyond their imagination.

This is my Amazon review of The Solar Sea

Fun and Easy Hard Science Fiction

Solar Sea is a fast paced and imaginative hard science fiction story. Strange things are happening. Whale songs are changing into what seems to be binary code. Something strange is going on nearby Saturn’s moon Titan, and weird particles are discovered. Earth is facing an energy crisis that might be solved by the discovery of the new particles. A manned flight using a solar wind powered spaceship called Aristarchus is launched toward Saturn. The spaceship was named after Aristarchus an ancient Greek astronomer who presented the first known model that placed the Sun at the center of the known universe with the Earth revolving around it.

The author, an astronomer, clearly liked to keep the story both imaginative and scientifically plausible. He included drawings of the spaceship and explained how it worked. Despite being hard science fiction, the book is easy and lighthearted reading. Above all it is filled with adventure, mystery, and it is fast paced and captivating. Several plot elements and perhaps plot twists reminded me of my favorite film Interstellar, but this book was written in 2004 a decade before Interstellar. However, the story itself is quite different from Interstellar, and it features some quite surprising but fun plot twists.

The character development is well done but not overdone, and the sometimes-tense interactions between the characters are realistic and interesting. Some of the characters have some big secrets that they are hiding and seeing how this develops adds to the mysteries. I also loved the good feeling of the ending. This is a fun, creative and unique science fiction story that I highly recommend.

An overview of the book as well as a recommendation for the book, both written on a blue background.
Back cover of The Solar Sea by David Lee Summers. Click on the image to go to the Amazon page for the Kindle version of the book.

About the Author of The Solar Sea

David Lee Summers is an author, editor and astronomer living somewhere between the western and final frontiers in Southern New Mexico. He is the author of twelve novels. His short stories and poems have appeared in numerous magazines including Cemetery Dance, Realms of Fantasy, Star*Line, and The Santa Clara Review.

David also edited Tales of the Talisman Magazine for ten years. When he’s not writing, he operates telescopes at Kitt Peak National Observatory.

Click here to visit the author’s website

Click here to visit his blog

Click here to visit my blog post review for another book by David Lee Summers

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Author: thomasstigwikman

My name is Thomas Wikman. I am a software/robotics engineer with a background in physics. I am currently retired. I took early retirement. I am a dog lover, and especially a Leonberger lover, a home brewer, craft beer enthusiast, I’m learning French, and I am an avid reader. I live in Dallas, Texas, but I am originally from Sweden. I am married to Claudia, and we have three children. I have two blogs. The first feature the crazy adventures of our Leonberger Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle as well as information on Leonbergers. The second blog, superfactful, feature information and facts I think are very interesting. With this blog I would like to create a list of facts that are accepted as true among the experts of the field and yet disputed amongst the public or highly surprising. These facts are special and in lieu of a better word I call them super-facts.

34 thoughts on “Solar Sail Spacecraft to Saturn”

  1. Great review, Thomas, and for this book plus your 2024 review of another, you’ve made the case for reading the novels written by David Lee Summers. I like authors who can break down but don’t dumb down the hard science supporting their books. Thanks for bringing this writer to my attention!

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    1. Thank you so much Grant. That is exactly right. David Lee Summers is an author who can break down but not dumb down the hard science supporting his books. It certainly helps that he is both an Astronomer and an experienced author and editor.

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      1. What I learned then–20 years ago–was that the solar sails had to be huge. Not as daunting as it sounds as they could be unfurled in space, but daunting. I guess that’s part of the reason they’ve never been considered.

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        1. Yes you are right. The solar sail in this book had a diameter of 10 miles. It makes crossing the asteroid belt a little riskier but not by much, and the sail could be repaired if needed. It was a good way of getting a large crew (20+ people) all the way to Saturn in a couple of years.

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      1. I bet I will love that. In college, I did a research paper on the intelligence of cetaceans and was planning to major in biology till trigonometry changed my mind. (Psychology required less math and less “hard” science.) I ordered the book for my kindle. 🙂

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