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Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite
The Short Winter’s Chronicles by Oleh Babanin follows Yuri Korolev, a former cosmonaut recruited for a high-stakes mission to land on and inhabit Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková in 2037. Yuri joins a diverse crew led by Commander Khalid Al-Kaabi, tasked with extracting resources, building a sustainable base inside the comet, and conducting scientific and industrial operations. The crew faces technical challenges like stabilizing the comet’s surface, managing scarce fuel, radiation, and life-support systems. Yuri takes on leadership and covert intelligence roles while collaborating with specialists like geologist John Carter, engineer Klara Weber, and biologist Priya Mehta. They work on drilling, habitat construction, robotics, and resource processing to enable long-term comet settlement and eventual expansion beyond the solar system’s habitable zones.
The Short Winter’s Chronicles by Oleh Babanin presents a detailed world with prose that balances technical description with moments of human experience, such as the inventive solutions for oxygen production and the innovative architecture suspended in the comet’s unstable ice. Babanin’s precise style conveys complicated engineering ideas comfortably, making concepts like the Brayton cycle turbines and carbon nanotube synthesis understandable even to non-tech readers like me. Character interactions, including preparations for long-duration space missions and the design of advanced spacesuits, add a layer of realism that grounds the story’s scientific elements. Scenes like the magnetic fishing contest and biological soil experiments demonstrate creative worldbuilding embedded in the narrative. Overall, the thoughtful pacing and strong attention to scientific plausibility create a rewarding and immersive read.
