The Auriga Project by MG Herron is the story of an archaeologist Eliana who, in an accident during its unveiling, is pulled through a translocator (teleporter) machine and ends up on a planet on the other side of the solar system. The planet is populated with primitive people whose culture bears a remarkable resemblance to ancient Mayan civilisation. While Eliana uses her training to help her learn the language and fit into this new world, her husband, the scientist who created the translocator tries to find a way to get her back.
It’s not an easy matter because the machine shouldn’t have been able to send her farther than the moon. He knows that Eliana’s ring (a black diamond made from rock from a meteorite) caused the malfunction, but he has no idea just how or why.
Meanwhile Eliana discovers that the god of the people on her planet looks suspiciously like someone from an advanced alien species, and he demands regular human sacrifices. She hopes that her husband will find her before she becomes the next sacrifice.
There are two mysteries that drive the story: who is the god and why does he need sacrifices, and back on earth, who is trying to stop her husband from finding her.
This is a well written book with a good balance between pacing and character development. Eliana is a modern intelligent and capable woman who makes the most of her situation, and her husband Amon, the other point of view character, is also likable and realistic. I found the book very hard to put down and enjoyed it so much that I bought the second one in the Translocator series immediately.
5 stars.
