And so here we are, at the end and the beginning of a journey started a few years ago with Noumenon. Now, I had reviewed a few books prior to reading that delightful novel, but Noumenon may have been the book that really sold me on continuing to read and review new books. It is a special book in my heart, and my affection for the series only grew with Noumenon Infinity. Marina J. Lostetter seemed to have a special touch for writing humanity into the big question of “why are we here?” While she never provides an answer, her ability to explore the question through vignettes over centuries and millennia is astounding. If you’re wondering, does the third book encapsulate the things I mentioned in my previous adulations of Lostetter’s work? Of course it does, and it does so much more, making me reflect on why they feel even more important in the world of today. Noumenon Ultra is a near perfect capstone to the trilogy, offering deeper and more personal ruminations on our place in the universe with the perfect blend of scientific anomalies and personal struggles with them.

Ultra starts where Infinity leaves off, which, as readers of the series know, means absolutely nothing. I don’t want to get into too much detail, as it would inevitably spoil the other books, but needless to say humanity in all its forms are spread across the stars in search of ancient super structures and unlocking their secrets. After the considered “success” of the original Noumenon mission, there are still questions about the nature of the machines that are being found, constructed and activated by human hands. Characters from previous novels make their return along with new ones, with ever more distinct lives and even more questions.

First off, I absolutely adored this book. Second, there is one thing readers might be turned off by, but if you’ve liked the books to this point, it will be a non-issue. This is a slow burn meditation on what it means to be sentient without purpose in the universe. Lostetter’s prose sometimes feels like it meanders, following the thought patterns of the character as they tell their story. It’s easy to get lost in, and it might be off putting to those who are looking for something a little more concise. But again, I think this is true of all her work and fits nicely with the themes she explores. It also never gets overly bogged down; the story is broken into nicely sized vignettes that can be read on their own or in succession. So now those are out of the way, I feel I can gush a little more.

One of the things I praised previously about Lostetter was her ability to write characters and imbue them with significance even though they usually only exist for a chapter. I feel she has only gotten better at this, as each character still feels distinct, with their own issues, but they all feel even more tied together. There is a prevailing sense of loneliness in each character that once you see it, it’s impossible not to notice. Every one of them has their unique problem from the child who physically ages exponentially slower than they do mentally, to the clone of a long dead man who lives life back and forth over and over again never dying, while losing his memories of previous lives. This loneliness, while all-encompassing, never felt insurmountable. This is where Lostetter succeeds in her storytelling. While the big things in the background are shifting into place, these unknown scientific marvels being pieced back together for unknown purposes, these people are living their absurd lives, finding out who they are, and coping together.

What continues to perplex me about Lostetter is while she can do the smaller stories, she is also a master of mind bending scale. The size and scope of the artifacts she writes about is nearly unfathomable. The effort that the characters put into understanding and reconstructing these ancient behemoths is ludicrous. Smartly, she doesn’t spend too much time on the details of the construction process, instead focusing on their import to the character’s lives. Lostetter also takes the chance to explore design philosophy and scientific concepts with these artifact sections, providing insights to our world while presenting problems to her characters. There might be some dissonance with some of the examples, however, as they seem a little too on the nose, but it didn’t bother me too much. There is a reasonable in-universe explanation for the seemingly anachronistic analogies. Either way, Lostetter made me think about these concepts in new ways in and outside the book.

On its own, Noumenon Ultra stands tall, but it does require the shoulders of its predecessors. If you haven’t picked up Noumenon and you’re looking for a fresh and exciting dive into time- and universe-spanning science fiction, I highly recommend this series. Noumenon Ultra serves as a fantastic finish, pushing the boundaries of the previous novels, while adding new insight without overshadowing them. Lostetter shows a lot of growth book to book, digging deeper and finding more empathetic and meaningful ways to engage with science than previously explored. Lostetter feels more determined than ever to explore the connections between humanity and science, exploring the benefits as well as the consequences. There is so much more I could say about this series, especially Ultra. However, if there is one word that sums up this series, it’s human. Lostetter wonderfully captures the human experience in all its absurdities, trivialities, and grandiosity, never forgetting the importance of an individual’s ability to affect the universe at large.

Rating: Noumenon Ultra – 9.0/10
-Alex

If you’re looking for an epic hard sci-fi series that will make your brain hurt (in a good way), look no further.

If you haven’t read Noumenon or Noumenon Infinity, you really need to read those first. If not, spoilers ahead.

The author continues this book in the same format as the first two, interspersing POVs from both convoys 7 and 12 characters along with POVs from I.C.C. (the AI) and post-humans (technically convoy 7).

Between the hardcore science and some gender pronouns, (the alien who identified as a she becomes a she/they) my mind exploded a few times.

In this book, it felt like the author would have wild dreams and wake up and decide to use whatever she found within her dream to add another new CRAZY element into her storyline. What a wild ride Lostetter gave us.

To be honest, I did get lost a few times with the science and distinguishing betweeen some of the characters (especially the chapter where two they/them post humans were speaking to each other and no names were used). I did like how she ended this series. Now I’m curious as to what happens next to the immortals and what they find.

The time span of this book is eons and eons. 80,000 years goes by in just a few chapters. That’s just so mind boggling to me.

All in all, this series was an extremely interesting premise with exceptional world building and I honestly couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.

*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the advance copy!*

ICC, a lone AI originally constructed by Earth humans, awakens after eons to find beings wandering its halls. As ICC slowly comes back to full power it tries to figure out where the beings came from. The world it sits on is still too young to have intelligent life of it's own. Which leaves the questions of who these creatures are and how did they get there. And do the humans know they are there?

While this is the third book of this series, and I hadn't read the first two, I was still able to follow the story. And what a story it is! If you enjoy science fiction and elaborate world building this book is for you. I do suggest reading the first two books. While I wasn't completely lost there were a few gaps. I was so impressed by the way this book is written and was so into the story that I didn't care. I will be hunting down the first two books so I can get the full experience!

This book was overall a masterpiece & lovely addition to the prior novels. The world building was a bit dense, and it’s definitely not one I would recommend for Sci Fi beginners.. but overall, very well done.

Now that I've finished this book, I can admire that it was nearly as carefully planned as the megastructures that the trilogy's ancient Petratheem civilization seeded through the galaxy. Every major trope of "hard" or galaxy-spanning science fiction makes an appearance in "Noumenon Ultra" and the first two books in this series, but it doesn't feel scattered or haphazard. Rather, the work is anchored by the author's clear passion and emotional investment in the themes she is exploring. Lostetter asks whether we would have any ability to connect with alien intelligences and lands on a loud "yes." That "yes" also extends to understanding and affirming the diversity within our own human species, in the here and now. This is an optimistic, sturdily-plotted trilogy that I really enjoyed.