Solar Express

In Solar Express L. E. Modesitt, Jr. tells a story set in 2114.  The Earth, beset by global warming, is divided into three political blocks roughly corresponding to North America, India, and China and the political wrangling among these blocks forms the backdrop and the between chapter spicing of the book.  The principal storyline follows the discovery of what is at first thought to be a comet but later is realized to be an alien artifact by an astronomer working out of an observatory on the far side of the moon.  She has been corresponding with the pilot who brought her up to the observatory and that man, coincidentally, is the pilot sent to intercept and investigate the object before it reaches perihelion.  The story alternates between her point of view, as she continues her investigation of a particular solar phenomenon, deals with a bureaucracy that proves that nothing is any better 100 years up the time line, and keeps up her correspondence with the pilot, and his point of view as he tries to investigate something that is truly alien while dealing with the competing interests of the other political blocks.

The book is quite interesting though I did find its pace a bit slow.  Recommended for those with a taste for SF that don’t require an action packed story line.