Knight Moves by Walter Jon Williams (book review).
The Knight’s Move Project is a search for teleportation in the future. The Knight’s Move Project originates from the chess knight, who moves in an L-shape, thereby missing out on a significant amount of space. The second richest man on Earth, Doran Falkner, is talked into taking a team and going to Amaterasu, where there is a kangaroo-like species called the lugs who teleport for no established reason. Falkner’s creation of the Falkner Generator, which produced infinite power and allowed mankind to rule the galaxy, qualifies him. Falkner didn’t actually create the Falkner Generator; instead, he worked secretly with an alien known as Snaffles. The source of their extended lifespans remains a mystery.
Despite being offered the opportunity to investigate the lugs, Falkner believes that the elusive Jay Zimmerman would make a better team leader. This is really a spoiler, but they realise he’s not, so Falkner leads the task force, and they have a deep sleep for the long journey, confident that if teleportation existed, they could return home a lot faster. The centaur on the cover is from Falkner’s early work and was left on Earth.
Much of the rest of the story is actually proper scientific conduct. Tag the lugs and hope to find those who teleport, and we are back in spoiler territory, which has an intriguing twist, putting man in his place in the universe.
You might know Walter Jon Williams from his work in the ‘Wild Cards’ books, but his own work is equally good. ‘Knight Moves’ also employs the first-person perspective, a challenging choice for a novel of this length. Williams fleshes out this reality and hits on all the problems with long life, multiple marriages, and children spread across the galaxy. Many times, the author only suggests certain aspects of this reality, but it would have been intriguing to explore more.
GF Willmetts
January 2025
(pub: TOR, 1985. 317 page paperback. Price: varies. ISBN: 0-812-51184-0)