Flux (1993) by Stephen Baxter rides a current of incredible ideas and possibilities. Baxter expands the Xeelee mythos and humanity’s place in it. Flux is littered with awe inspiring technologies that hint at something even greater. The story puts the reader off balance and keeps them there until the very end.

The glitches in the star’s magnetic field are becoming more frequent. With her tribe nearly extinct, Dura leads a small group on a disasterous hunt. Now Dura and her brother, Farr, must take the severely injured Adda to Parz City to find treatment.

Once at Parz City Dura and Farr must sell their labour in order to pay for Adda’s care. Dura returns upflux as farm worker. She sets her mind to her work until another glitch hits the star. This time, however, Dura and the other survivors know how it happened. A Xeelee machine is causing the deadly glitches.

Dura returns to Parz City to aid in the plan to save the star. They must build a ship to go deep into the heart of the neutron star to find the Colonists. Only with their legendary technology can there be any hope of fighting off the Xeelee and save the star from destruction.

Flux is an outstanding achievement in imagination and world building. From the opening Baxter plunges the reader into unfamiliar territory. Set within the confines of a neutron star Flux is already off the charts in world building creativity.

The idea that humans, however altered, can live within the deadly forces within a neutron star is immense. Yet that is only the outward face of much more subtle ideas. It raises a question. Specifically why would humans need to live in a neutron star?

This is the question that drives the plot. The question is buried at first so events seem rather straightforward. As the question rises to the surface events become of greater importance. Ultimately, the question has consequences beyond the confines of the neutron star.

Although Baxter’s characters are interesting yet they don’t inspire much sympathy. It is difficult to form a connection with them. Even though they face incredible difficulties their plights feel remote and detached. This stems from the complete alienness of *Flux*’s world and its problems. This is case where Baxter’s creativity works agianst the story. The world is too unique to appreciate efficiently.

Beyond main story there is a secondary story taking place in the background. The story of the Xeelee. Where other authors might give the audience direct knowledge of the Xeelee, Baxter offers only hints and rumour. The Xeelee are seen through the eyes of characters whose knowledge of the Xeelee is almost conjecture. The Xeelee dominance of the universe is clear. However, it is left up to the reader to decide how to envision it.

Even so, the powers in play in Flux are beyond easy imagining. There is an unknowable plan at work and the glimpses we get hint at something so powerful that even the Xeelee are afraid. On that sort of scale humans are not even a consideration.

Flux is full of high concepts and near impossibilities. As great as these are Flux is a bit of a disappointment. The plot plods along and the characters are adequet but the story doesn’t get moving until near the end. The ending, while not exactly exciting, is illuminating.

It’s not possible to give Flux a great recommendation. It’s not a story to introduce readers to Baxter or the Xeelee sequence. Yet, even for fans of the Xeelee sequence Flux is easy to skip for other stories. Despite its flaws, for pure imagination Flux offers more than a dozen other stories combined. In this respect Baxter is a master.