L’isola vivente

On 6 June 2002, at 04:28, an object from space, classified as a meteorite, was recorded by Earth observers. The object passed through the Earth’s atmosphere, flew over the eastern Mediterranean in an area between Crete and Libya, and sank into the sea at coordinates 34° north latitude and 21° east longitude, at a depth of over 2,569 metres, releasing energy equal to 26 kilotons. The cosmological event, which was entirely natural, as on average ten such events occur each year in the Earth’s atmosphere, was forgotten after initial media interest due to its proximity to an area of intense political turmoil. For some time, only scientific records remained in the appropriate archives of astronomical events, as documentation in the annals of cosmological observations. At that time, no one could have imagined that this was not a normal meteorite but a spacecraft that had travelled for millions, perhaps billions, of years to reach Earth with a specific purpose.

Synopsis

The novel has two intrinsic meanings. The first is philosophical and raises the question of the emergence of consciousness in intelligent living beings of all species, origins, and provenances. The second proposes the resolution of conflicts between and within species.

A mysterious meteorite crashes into the Eastern Mediterranean, giving birth to a primordial organic entity, equipped with an extremely powerful neural apparatus. It takes the form of a living island, capable of distorting space and time at will, and which can present itself as a place of extreme beauty or immense terror.

The cosmic entity has acquired an unimaginable amount of energy, which it has acquired by seizing the minds of humans, their knowledge, and their most intense emotions—derived from memories, love, fear, and joy.

The entity’s goals are the conquest and destruction of the Earth, to spread throughout the multiverse, and to achieve absolute dominion.

A group of seven young researchers in various disciplines are kidnapped by the monster and taken to the living island to suffer the same fate as other abductees, stripped of their minds and destroyed in their bodies.

Five of the seven surviving children endure unspeakable suffering before being annihilated.

But just as they are about to succumb, Sara appears and shows them the way to fight the monster, save their lives, and prevent the destruction of the Earth.

Sara had been kidnapped by the monster, had managed to save herself thanks to her knowledge and culture, and now she has managed to block the living island’s destructive designs on them by subjugating the monster with flattery and coaxing, targeting an entity devoid of a conscience and a mature personality capable of perceiving emotions and feelings, with a childlike psychology.

The boys manage to send a message to Earth, which is intercepted by the Virgo interferometer and the other two LIGOs on the planet. It appears as an anomalous gravitational wave, not related to the merging of a binary black hole system, nor to a neutron star, nor to the explosion of a supernova.

The Earth is helpless and trusts in the six boys, who become heroes, aided by the sea, which provides them with a crystal shell capable of channelling unlimited energy.

At this point, the real war begins between the boys and the living island, for the destruction of one of the two contenders.

The ending is surprising.