Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
A fascinating end-of-the-world tale. A pastor, ex-junkie gets a coveted posting to Oasis, another planet with natives eager to learn of Christ. His wife is left behind on a dying world.
This book was really interesting. Yeah, great review, Phyllis. Let me try again. I've been having a hard time solidifying my thoughts on this book, perhaps because there are many ideas swirling around, much like the air on the fictional planet. While there are elements of science fiction to the novel, there are also meditative sections that were very zen, despite Peter's Christianity. This is not shoot-em-up style SF.
A few reviewers have complained about the Oasans' seemingly quick conversion. However, we are told a number of times that the number of Jesus Lovers is under 100, which is a very small percentage of the settlement. There are often small groups interested in what alien cultures have to offer, with humans the aliens this time. Peter was just beginning to crack the language barrier towards the end of the story, so whose to say what else he might have learned if he spent more time with the Oasans?
So, does anyone think that Bea was really writing the emails Peter received, or is it possible that USIC was actually writing them in an attempt to convince Peter that Earth was better left behind? The neverending stream of earthly disasters communicated via Shoot when all other current events were censored struck me as odd. True, long distance relationships don't work, but that's not the moral of this story.
So, not my best review, but I overall recommend this even if you're not typically into SF.
A few reviewers have complained about the Oasans' seemingly quick conversion. However, we are told a number of times that the number of Jesus Lovers is under 100, which is a very small percentage of the settlement. There are often small groups interested in what alien cultures have to offer, with humans the aliens this time. Peter was just beginning to crack the language barrier towards the end of the story, so whose to say what else he might have learned if he spent more time with the Oasans?
So, does anyone think that Bea was really writing the emails Peter received, or is it possible that USIC was actually writing them in an attempt to convince Peter that Earth was better left behind? The neverending stream of earthly disasters communicated via Shoot when all other current events were censored struck me as odd. True, long distance relationships don't work, but that's not the moral of this story.
So, not my best review, but I overall recommend this even if you're not typically into SF.
Reading this book was like taking a long, tedious walk for a short, muddy drink of water. A fascinating premise was quickly bogged down in unnecessary detail and entirely too much Jesus. The characters were shallow and unlikeable with little to no development after 600+ pages. It was especially disappointing, as the set up over the first hundred pages was unsettling and compelling enough to keep me reading, hoping for a worthwhile payoff that would never come.
'The Book of Strange New Things' has some rough spots. There is some bad dialogue and poorly judged prose. Readers that require a bit of science in their science fiction may find it laughable. And there is even a weirdly racist character description (you'll know what it is when you get there). But, gosh, this is an emotionally shattering novel, a profoundly moving examination of married love in a high-concept guise.
The story, which Faber tells organically and with a minimum of unnecessary exposition, is partly about married British Christian evangelicals Peter and Beatrice. Peter is a former substance addict and petty thief turned pastor, and Beatrice is a nurse. The other part of the story is a first-contact tale: an exoplanet dubbed 'Oasis' with breathable atmosphere and a humanoid population has been found, and an enigmatic corporation known as USIC has established a base on its surface. The same shadowy corporation has hired Peter - out of hundreds of candidates - as a missionary of sorts, to teach Scripture to the native 'Oasans' who are apparently head-over-heels about what they call the 'Book of Strange New Things'. But Beatrice, disappointingly, has been rejected and must stay behind.
As in all of Faber's eclectic fictions, this novel succeeds splendidly at immersing the reader in a foreign environment, bolstered by sensuous description. Oasis is a humid, flat wasteland with vapors that tickle the skin and circular rainstorms. The Oasans are feeble, hooded figures with heads that resemble a pair of 'intertwined fetuses'. Peter's only means of connection with Beatrice is a device called a Shoot that essentially allows interstellar emails, and thus much of the book consists of letters between husband and wife. It gives a touch of the 19th-century epistolary novel to the 1950s sci-fi plot.
While Peter is rousingly successful in his adventures living among the Oasans and building a modest church, the letters from Beatrice depict a rapidly deteriorating situation on Earth, full of environmental and economic disasters. The new disparity in their experiences - compounded by extreme distance - causes a schism in their relationship. The tragedies of humans seem more abstract to Peter, while Beatrice becomes more cynical and abrasive. And there are further surprises on the home front and in the USIC mission that can't be revealed here. But things fall apart.
Shortly after starting 'The Book Of Strange New Things', I learned that Faber's wife was diagnosed with terminal cancer during the writing of the novel, which Faber says will be his final work. I couldn't help letting this influence my reading of the book, but the central relationship is so convincing and strong that I imagine it would've haunted me all the same. The novel has a certain amount in common with 'The Bone Clocks' by Faber's buddy David Mitchell, a novel released at the same time that mixed Marvel Comics-like elements with a look at a bleak right-around-the-corner future on our planet. But where I found 'The Bone Clocks' strangely empty, I found Faber's book to be a beautiful, fascinating cry from the heart. I hope he's wrong about retiring.
The story, which Faber tells organically and with a minimum of unnecessary exposition, is partly about married British Christian evangelicals Peter and Beatrice. Peter is a former substance addict and petty thief turned pastor, and Beatrice is a nurse. The other part of the story is a first-contact tale: an exoplanet dubbed 'Oasis' with breathable atmosphere and a humanoid population has been found, and an enigmatic corporation known as USIC has established a base on its surface. The same shadowy corporation has hired Peter - out of hundreds of candidates - as a missionary of sorts, to teach Scripture to the native 'Oasans' who are apparently head-over-heels about what they call the 'Book of Strange New Things'. But Beatrice, disappointingly, has been rejected and must stay behind.
As in all of Faber's eclectic fictions, this novel succeeds splendidly at immersing the reader in a foreign environment, bolstered by sensuous description. Oasis is a humid, flat wasteland with vapors that tickle the skin and circular rainstorms. The Oasans are feeble, hooded figures with heads that resemble a pair of 'intertwined fetuses'. Peter's only means of connection with Beatrice is a device called a Shoot that essentially allows interstellar emails, and thus much of the book consists of letters between husband and wife. It gives a touch of the 19th-century epistolary novel to the 1950s sci-fi plot.
While Peter is rousingly successful in his adventures living among the Oasans and building a modest church, the letters from Beatrice depict a rapidly deteriorating situation on Earth, full of environmental and economic disasters. The new disparity in their experiences - compounded by extreme distance - causes a schism in their relationship. The tragedies of humans seem more abstract to Peter, while Beatrice becomes more cynical and abrasive. And there are further surprises on the home front and in the USIC mission that can't be revealed here. But things fall apart.
Shortly after starting 'The Book Of Strange New Things', I learned that Faber's wife was diagnosed with terminal cancer during the writing of the novel, which Faber says will be his final work. I couldn't help letting this influence my reading of the book, but the central relationship is so convincing and strong that I imagine it would've haunted me all the same. The novel has a certain amount in common with 'The Bone Clocks' by Faber's buddy David Mitchell, a novel released at the same time that mixed Marvel Comics-like elements with a look at a bleak right-around-the-corner future on our planet. But where I found 'The Bone Clocks' strangely empty, I found Faber's book to be a beautiful, fascinating cry from the heart. I hope he's wrong about retiring.
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”
Exactly my kind of story. Literary fiction with a dash of sci-fi elements. A profound story of love, loss, faith, and the sometimes insurmountable distances between people.
Knowing that Michel Faber wrote this while his wife was dying PAINS me.
“For all that I’ve had and seen, I am truly thankful.”
Exactly my kind of story. Literary fiction with a dash of sci-fi elements. A profound story of love, loss, faith, and the sometimes insurmountable distances between people.
Knowing that Michel Faber wrote this while his wife was dying PAINS me.
“For all that I’ve had and seen, I am truly thankful.”
booooooooooooo
the only incredible thing about this is the sheer number of words that were used to say so little.
the only incredible thing about this is the sheer number of words that were used to say so little.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
