Arc of the Universe

Carrie Davenport is a law professor recruited to help design the government for a colony on Mars. Project Mars is the concept of the flamboyant billionaire Beauregard Ball, who plans to send 100 select citizens to build a sustainable development on the fourth planet from the sun. Carrie works with a few of her students to plot out a governing document for the nascent community, but she has growing reservations about the project’s future impact. Carrie brings her ideas to a committee where she is constantly being undermined by a more conservative colleague, and the project itself suffers from a dearth of diversity.

The frustrations of Carrie’s professional life soon become entangled with her personal life, as Carrie is the subject of profiling and police brutality while on a date. The sting of the assault and arrest quickly dissolved into shame as the footage of her ordeal went viral. Despite Carrie being blameless, her employers at the University urge her to give a dispassionate response and not belabor the issue. Carrie comes from a family that wasn’t afraid to speak truth to power, but Carrie is uncomfortable with being the focus of an activist movement.

The pivot towards advocacy for Carrie begins after she hits an emotional rock bottom. A victory she felt she had achieved for Project Mars in terms of equality might merely serve as a smokescreen for corrupt activities, while others believe she isn’t doing enough for diversity. An inspiring pep talk from her father helps Carrie regain her mindset and find a new way forward in her work. Carrie throws herself into outlining a government that will be representative of all people and will mark a new beginning in a new world.

Arc of the Universe is an intriguing book that credibly explores how humanity can put its best foot forward in colonizing Mars and outer space. Carrie Davenport is a charismatic woman of high intellect who faces a weighty task in writing a blueprint for a prospective government. At first, Carrie is reticent in her meetings with her fellow committee members about the underrepresentation of diverse personalities on the initial Mars mission. Yet as the story progresses, Carrie finds her voice and questions the mission and its goals. In a world where space exploration has become the bailiwick of billionaires, the mistakes made on Earth should be considered while planning to live on other planets. Author Nikki Alexander has written an illuminating novel that will make the reader reflect on themes of social justice, space exploration, and moral courage.