"The Deep Edge" by R.S. Breed - Hard Science Fiction / First Contact / Ancient Artifact

[u/lshawleb]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GZLF24WQ

Free on Amazon at the time of posting:

The Deep Edge is a hard science fiction first contact novel about a deep-frontier survey ship investigating a junction cluster that should not be stable.

At the centre of the cluster is something ancient. When contact finally comes, it does not answer in words. It answers in geometry.

The story focuses on exploration under pressure, slow-burn first contact, command decisions, technical problem-solving, and the question of what happens when an old alien artifact responds to one ship differently than another.