Tor, 1997, $5.99, ISBN 0-812-52484-5, 358 pages, paperback

A space station accident, a transfer to Pluto, and then a satellite accident finds not one, but two, main characters thrown together on a small ship at the edge of the solar system. Along comes a sphere of sponge and the adventure is on to explore it.

Reckoning Infinity is a cross between Fantastic Voyage and Journey to the Center of the Earth. Although not my kind of book per se, Stith's prose moves along well enough to cover the alien digestive, respiratory, circulatory, and other systems. You'd think the deep space crew would be a tad smarter in staying closer to the safe "elevator" system instead of wandering around the equivalent of antibodies or white blood cells, but then you couldn't have man-killing worms, acid reflux avalanches, and other internal perils.

All in all, a quick enough plot and moderately interesting premise make this a reasonable read.

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