Balant: A Beginning

The greatest Sci-fi sagas ask is there anyone out there and how do they live and exist. In towards the unMaking of Heaven, Sam Smith takes us to one of these places, where humans are not necessarily the dominant species and first steps of life are emerging from wherever it desires. Balant: A Beginning is book one in a series of five. Each book is intricately linked and delves deeper into what is known as the Supreme Civilisation, until the ultimate drawing together in the finale. Balant, has Dag Olvess, Malamud Bey and Pi Pandy marooned on the very edge of the known universe. Narrator is the priggish Pi Pandy. En route from his mother's substation to university in another galaxy, the ship he was travelling upon encountered a storm of cosmic proportions. The ship about to implode, he escaped in the ship's shuttle with two other young men, Malamud Bey and Dag Olvess. They end up on the planet, Balant, where they adapt to cave life. Finding an abandoned robot they repair the shuttle, investigate the planet, discover that they share it with some primitive savages and a marine intelligence, called Nautili, who are also capable of intergalactic travel. They protect the savages from the Nautili. The savages, and Pi, are then kidnapped by slave traders. Pi escapes with the slave traders ship, collects his friends and rescues the slaves. Thus the plot. Pi is also given to pondering on the meanings of civilisation, particularly on the rule of law. But, generally, it's an updated Boys' Own adventure.