Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
I enjoyed this - especially as I started reading it in bigger chunks. The ending left me a bit unsatisfied as it seems to just end.
slow-paced
The overwhelming problem with this novel is the protagonist Peter, painfully serious, jaw droppingly middle class, and judgmental whilst at the same time apologising to his deity. Later we learn about his bad-boy background but I wonder if this back story was grafted on in a re-write to make him more believable, because it really does not fit with the contemporary non-entity we follow. The equally drab, mission base and alien planet, is no doubt meant to fit with the theme but has a hard time making it a story you want to stick with. Later we meet Tartaglione, the AWOL linguist who would have made a much better job of protagonist, I almost would like to read the prequel. The possible explanation for Peter's lack of inquisitiveness, and that of his colleagues, when it comes is consistent but does not really retrieve the story. Bea, the wife writing from home is a much better character and the slowly degrading world at home is well conceived. I spent the long first two thirds of the book waiting for her letters almost as much as Peter.
Did not know what to expect, and it was an unexpected story! More environmental and reflective than thrilling or action based. Great job building a new world and setting tone. Slow burn. Consistent. I found it really thought provoking on issues of the quality of love, human purpose, interior meaning, and the fallicies of our own self importance.
Clever, well-written, but insufficient payoff for a thoroughly bleak narrative arc.
Zonder veel voorkennis begon ik hieraan, en hop, ineens werd ik een science fiction boek ingetrokken. Hee, dat is zomaar niet de bedoeling, dat hoef ik nooit zo. Maar dit was best anders. Prettig tempo, genoeg menselijkheid in de personages, genoeg open eindjes die je zelf kan invullen (of niet) net zoals in het gewone leven, fijne schrijfstijl die het een pageturner maakt... Het deed me zo denken aan 'the poisonwood bible' van Barbara Kingsolver - iemand aan het evangeliseren maar die ten alle tijden zoveel mist van het andere volk, zoveel níet weet, zo'n grote kloof tussen de zendeling en zijn toehoorders. Met dat verschil dat hij hier wel met open armen ontvangen wordt en dat dat ook niet verandert gedurende het verhaal.
When he met Bea, Peter Leigh was a broken man. He was totally messed up with alcohol and drugs and together they managed to turn themselves around, marry and become dependable people. Their Christian faith had helped them no end, and it is that that has now offered him an opportunity that has cannot refuse. The global USIC corporation needs a pastor and missionary to work on a planet that it has discovered called Oasis. They had been a pastor there before, but he has just vanished and they need someone there fast. Their marriage has been loving and supportive, but this will be the first time of separation; not just a few hours on a plane, but light years apart on vastly different worlds. This is something that will stretch him to the very limits of his faith, love and humanity. First Bea has to get him to the airport, and she wants them to make love one more time before he departs for other worlds; there is not exactly the most romantic fumble in the car, and it leaves them both stressed. He gets on the plane not knowing if he will ever see her again.
He is processed swiftly through the corporate machine and is soon on the ship the the new planet. Disorientated by the jump, he is swiftly transferred to the surface where he in introduced to the small team of personnel there. Eager to see his new planet he ventures outside to find a warm moist atmosphere and strange vegetation. Keen to meet his congregation, he is taken to them a couple of days after. The Oasan's are friendly and speak English well, and he starts a project to build a church with them. Those that are interested in his religion he regularly speaks to call themselves Jesus Lover 1, 2 and so on. They don’t seem to have other names. He is collected to go back to the USIC base when they come to trade food for medicines every now and again, mainly to clean up, get treated and to read the messages from his wife. Her news from Earth breaks his heart as he hears about the natural disasters that have befallen various parts of the world, but his head is full of wonder and excitement for what he is doing. Can he survive this alien world, and can his long distance marriage still survive?
In lots of ways I liked this book. Faber has created a planet that is full of wonder and imaginative touches, the inhabitants are very alien in their look and metaphysical being. He has gone to the effort to create a language and an alphabet for them and the culture has echoes to ours, but is much more communal. The planet is well though through ecologically too, with the longer days and nights and the weather system being unlike anything that I have come across before. All good stuff. What I couldn’t get along with though is the plot; compared to the imaginative depths that he used to create this planet and its inhabitants, it comes across as being a thin veneer. The characters feel wooden, almost ‘Thunderbird’ style, very little depth and development as they move through the story, and there are a number of questions posed in the narrative that I didn’t think were properly answered further on in the story, and it just fizzled out a bit at the end. It was a shame really, as I had been looking forward to reading it.
He is processed swiftly through the corporate machine and is soon on the ship the the new planet. Disorientated by the jump, he is swiftly transferred to the surface where he in introduced to the small team of personnel there. Eager to see his new planet he ventures outside to find a warm moist atmosphere and strange vegetation. Keen to meet his congregation, he is taken to them a couple of days after. The Oasan's are friendly and speak English well, and he starts a project to build a church with them. Those that are interested in his religion he regularly speaks to call themselves Jesus Lover 1, 2 and so on. They don’t seem to have other names. He is collected to go back to the USIC base when they come to trade food for medicines every now and again, mainly to clean up, get treated and to read the messages from his wife. Her news from Earth breaks his heart as he hears about the natural disasters that have befallen various parts of the world, but his head is full of wonder and excitement for what he is doing. Can he survive this alien world, and can his long distance marriage still survive?
In lots of ways I liked this book. Faber has created a planet that is full of wonder and imaginative touches, the inhabitants are very alien in their look and metaphysical being. He has gone to the effort to create a language and an alphabet for them and the culture has echoes to ours, but is much more communal. The planet is well though through ecologically too, with the longer days and nights and the weather system being unlike anything that I have come across before. All good stuff. What I couldn’t get along with though is the plot; compared to the imaginative depths that he used to create this planet and its inhabitants, it comes across as being a thin veneer. The characters feel wooden, almost ‘Thunderbird’ style, very little depth and development as they move through the story, and there are a number of questions posed in the narrative that I didn’t think were properly answered further on in the story, and it just fizzled out a bit at the end. It was a shame really, as I had been looking forward to reading it.
Intriguing premise, interesting characters, but the story fell short for me. I can't quite put my finger on why.