Balant is the first of the 5 book series 'Towards the unMaking of Heaven'. Dag Olvess, Malamud Bey and Pi Pandy find themselves marooned on the very edge of the known universe. Narrator is Pi Pandy. En route from his mother’s substation to university in another galaxy, the ship he was travelling upon encounters a storm of cosmic proportions. The ship about to implode, he escapes 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 the 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 sets off to rescue 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 is an updated Boys’ Own adventure.

Review of Balant by Geoff Nelder

I can never tire of visiting alien planets, their populations, and wondering if they are doing me good or evil. While many contemporary science fiction hides from planetary exploration and delve instead into quantum introspection, Smith delights us with this tale of discovery and survival. Yet for those intent on intellectual contemplation there are opportunities to engage with Pi when he approaches each conundrum with delightful logic and consequence prediction. As Smith declares, this is a Boys Own adventure – perhaps too literally as I believe the lack of a female main character disenfranchises many female readers. I know a young woman is a protagonist in Happiness, the next in the series, so women readers stay on course!

The adventure is told through the eyes of Pi Pandy, who’s had a sheltered life but made to grow up real fast surviving the jibes of his two friends, insect bites, space criminals, savages, and a series of mechanical breakdowns he is clever enough to repair. This is more than hard scifi, Pi has to learn quickly the wiles of a spectrum of humanity. He has integrity in bucketfuls but wise enough to develop discretion then use his knowledge at the right time – not just for his own survival but for friends and other needy people.

The wide scale of ideas, space and human emotions, even though for young adult takes this novel into a Robert Heinlein-for-teens sub-genre. Sam’s poetry background shines through the exquisite narrative. A page turner fit for any imaginative young adult’s bookshelf.