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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
I was on-board with sensor-connected ecosystems and could hang for the sentient flying moose. But I gave up at the naked mole rat collective.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
slow-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I really liked this premise, but will need to revisit this again when I'm not so stressed with the world. It was hard to follow.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
The Terraformers was just a delight to read. I love the scale of it: it starts with Destry, moves thousands of years later to her mentee Misha and Sulfur, one of the citizens of Spider City, then finished up thousands of years later with Sulfur and Misha's child. It's epic, even allowing for the fact that so many centuries into the future, people can live hundreds, even thousands, of years. The span of time allows for vast change in the landscape — both geographic and political — which allows the three parts of the book to tackle different but related issues in its three parts, called Settlers, Public Works and Gentrifiers.
The overarching question I take away from it is about personhood: who is a person? What makes a person? One of the central tenets of the book is the Great Bargain — not dissimilar to David Brin's idea of Uplift, where humanity decides to bestow 'intelligence' on other Terran lifeforms including cats, naked mole rats, and moose, you name it. I've put 'intelligence' in quote marks because it turns out that not all lifeforms are equally treated. Whistle, for example, is Destry's partner - a moose, rated as a Mount as far as intelligence goes. Because he was created as a Mount, he has a limiter in his brain that means he can only talk in one-syllable words (unless they're part of a proper noun). He can think all the complex thoughts he wants, all the long words he wants...but he can only speak in one-syllable words and because he can only speak in words of one syllable, he's deemed to be less intelligent. One of the most heartbreaking moments, for me, was when Whistle was injured and one of his last words before going into surgery was a multisyllabic name — a proper noun, so he could say it. His partner Destry, who is human, misunderstands: she thinks Whistle is talking about myths and stories (the name belongs to a character from a mythologised history of rebellion and uprising). She thinks he likes the story — but he's saying it as rebellion against the limiters that stop him from talking like that all the time.
It's not just animals, either: bots are people, there are hybrids between organic and robotic — and there are different strains of hominins as well. In fact, that's one of the plot points at the start, when Destry and other rangers discover a secretive colony of Archaeans (basically Neatherthal-ish, but modified to live in an Archaean-era atmosphere and begin the process of terraforming the planet. They were supposed to have died out, but there they are. And I mentioned that the third part of the book has Sulfur and Misha's child at its heart...Misha is H. Sapiens, Sulfur is Archaean, so both hominin. You naturally expect Scrubjay to be hominin as well, but...no.
Oh, and everyone — person, Mount, Blessed, everyone — is owned by the corporation and can legally be murdered if they make too much trouble. Only it's not really murder, it's just the company disposing of assets.
So, big question number one in Terraformers: who is a person, what makes a person a person instead of an animal? If a cow can be a person, what about unaltered cows? Are they people, even just in potential?
Question number two: how are we governed, or how do we govern ourselves? The Terraformers is a very sharp critique of capitalism. Vast chunks of the planet are owned by one corporation as theme parks, holiday destinations, for H.Sapiens. The corporation has pretty firm ideas on who those cities are for — it's not for the people who are non H.Sapiens (though they are perfectly welcome to serve H.Sapiens of course).
Good luck finding a home to rent, though.
Number three theme is less a question than a celebration of the effectiveness of self-created family and collective action, and it's those aspect that really bring the optimism and warmth to The Terraformers. There is conflict — but ultimately it is collective action and thinking long-term and widely that save the day.
So. Epic scale, consideration of some massive questions...but still Newitz has written a novel full of warmth and love and optimism. I've had this one in Mount To-Be-Read since it came out; I wish I'd gotten to it sooner.
The first part of this book grabbed me, but the resolutions to the conflict in the second half of the book frequently felt pat or contrived. I love the idea of exploring what happens after the initial excitement of revolution wears off, but the execution in THE TERRAFORMERS didn't quite live up to the promise of the premise.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Too much tell, too little show. Lots of ideas and world building, not enough story. All tension is quickly and easily resolved.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Slavery
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I really love this cover. It def pulled me to the book and I’m glad it did. This is a story told in three parts, over time, about an alien planet that’s being terraformed/colonized. It was such an interesting perspective on nature and community. It also has really fascinating characters, including both talking animals and sentient transportation. I loved my time with this world and these characters, more and more as I read on. Something I admire about this book is the way that the scope is pretty big but we also get drawn into the very individual lives that play a part in it. This book also has a lot of hope and that’s always nice to feel when reading about the future.
hopeful
inspiring
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:
Complicated
A stunning exploration of a possible future for humanity, and what it means to be human.
Started on e-book, then switched to the audiobook about halfway through, and WOW the production is excellent! The sound design really helped immerse me in the environment and different types of people represented among the characters. I like how Newitz didn't shy away from the darker aspects, but overall, the tone was still hopeful. I wish she'd explored some more of the morally grey decisions and spread them throughout the cast of characters so it didn't feel quite so utopian, but overall I was drawn in by the characters, world building, and politics of Sask-E and its inhabitants.