Blind Lake

Robert Charles Wilson

2/23/2007

Blind Lake is a government research facility studying life on another planet over 50 light years away from Earth. No one can quite explain how - the computers evolved when humans were making them smarter for telescopes to view outer space. But they work well. Blind Lake has one "subject" under constant surveillance and the researchers study its every action.

Three journalists enter the heavily guarded facility to write stories for a journal. Shortly after the final gate closes behind them all communication outside of the facility is cut off. No one can enter or exit. No communication is available out of or into Blind Lake. No one knows what has happened. The day workers cannot leave. The top executives cannot return from their conference. The facility is left in charge of a mid level manager who was only supposed to be in charge for a week.

At first no one was concerned - occasionally there could be a glitch somewhere in the system and they could be shut down for a few hours, sometimes even a few days. Although, they have to admit, they can usually get communication out. After a week the people inside Blind Lake become concerned. After a few weeks an automated truck arrives carrying food. Now they know that there are still people outside the facility alive and in control. They are under a quarantine. If only they knew why...

Blind Lake takes a number of elements and twists them together into a thought provoking novel. First there is the closed society of mostly scientists and their interactions. One woman, her daughter, and her ex-husband are main characters. He is the "temporary" head of Blind Lake who likes to control everyone and everything around him. Her daughter seems to have some neurological problems that can't be identified that give her hallucinations. The woman herself is fighting the perception that her work is less important than others' around the facility.

Second there is the observation of the creature on the other planet. It goes about its daily routine, sleeping, eating, and working in a "city". Yet it knows something is different. One day it changes its routine and heads out into the deserted areas of its planet.

Third is the closure of a federal research facility with no knowledge of why or what is happening. The work continues as the workers wonder if anyone will use the knowledge they are gaining. They don't know what has happened outside. Are they under quarantine to keep others safe from them, or to keep them safe from others?

Fourth is the evolution of the computers that are responsible for the observation programming. One day the programmers knew how it worked and gave it self repairing capabilities. Then it kept repairing itself when it appeared to be finished. When they finally turned off the equipment the computers were monitoring, then the computers, they kept functioning. They have involved into something more that people can monitor but not understand.

Despite the complex sounding elements, Blind Lake is easy to read. I chuckled to myself when I first learned about the computers. I figured Robert Charles Wilson was writing his way out of explaining hard science. But the new state of the computers is an important part of the overall story. The book keeps the reader's interest, although isn't compelling. This is hard science fiction, with a (mostly) firm base in the current known parameters of science. You should enjoy it.

You can find more about this book at .