The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Life

The Palomar Parodox: A SETI Mystery is the third installment in the Luper series by author Richard Rydon. In this book, scientist Luper Beauchamps emerges as the Assistant Director of the Palomar Observatory. He is also a participant in the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Program.

On February 29, 2028 an unusual signal is detected and sent to three SETI.home participants to analyze. Luper is one of the participants, so is Linus Shannon, a lecturer in Information Intelligence at UC Berkeley and the director of the SETI.home program. The third recipient of the signal is Leila Keiler, a young leukemia survivor who has a passion for the work greater than that of the experts. When Leila reaches out to Luper to share her theories about the signal, a relationship develops that leads the pair on a journey to discover intelligent extraterrestrial life.

After Luper hires Leila, her dedication to the study reveals clues to several signals that were recorded by telescopes at the Palomar Observatory. As the search for the origins of these signals progresses, the team at the Palomar Observatory reaches out to officials at the Pentagon, NASA, and the director of the SETI.home program. This results in the government becoming involved with the research which complicates things for the Palomar scientists.

This is a very detailed, heavily researched book that includes an extensive amount of history about the search for intelligent life in the universe. Rydon shares his great passion for science and space exploration by incorporating facts about documented studies of signals and theories of the existence of extra-terrestrial life into the novel.

For those who have read the other books in this series, The Oortian Summer and the Omega Wave, The Palomar Paradox will not disappoint. It is filled with graphic scientific depictions and animated discussions of intelligent life in the galaxy, what they may look like, how they may treat humans, and how they would go about contacting us. Readers new to Rydon’s work will want to explore Luper Beauchamps’ other adventures by reading the entire series.

The Palomar Paradox is thought-provoking and deeply informative science fiction that challenges readers to open their minds beyond what they believe to be true about the universe we inhabit and to truly consider the possibility that we are not alone.

Melissa Brown Levine

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