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A review by diesmali
The Idiot Gods by David Zindell
4.0
Premise: Is the legacy of humanity the destruction of the earth, and must they be killed before they bring it about? That is the question Arjuna the orca must ask of himself and the Ocean world.
I get how some might find this book moralising, and I definitely get it's not for everyone, but I greatly enjoyed this philosophical sf. We get to follow Arjuna as he witnesses three signs of human destruction, and how he loses his ability to quenge (a sort of state of zen/love/essence of being). Then he gets captured by humans to be trained to do feats, but instead he starts to communicate with them, and learn about humanity.
For me this book is as much about language and communication as it is about a creature of higher intelligence bringing down the judgement on humanity (think Encounter at Farpoint). We delve deep into the dark side of civilization/humanity, but also get to see the beauty therein.
And then there's the whole discussion about intelligence in humans vs other creatures of the world. Very interesting.
Warmly recommended if you want to dig deeper into these issues. But there's also a really great epic story!
I get how some might find this book moralising, and I definitely get it's not for everyone, but I greatly enjoyed this philosophical sf. We get to follow Arjuna as he witnesses three signs of human destruction, and how he loses his ability to quenge (a sort of state of zen/love/essence of being). Then he gets captured by humans to be trained to do feats, but instead he starts to communicate with them, and learn about humanity.
For me this book is as much about language and communication as it is about a creature of higher intelligence bringing down the judgement on humanity (think Encounter at Farpoint). We delve deep into the dark side of civilization/humanity, but also get to see the beauty therein.
And then there's the whole discussion about intelligence in humans vs other creatures of the world. Very interesting.
Warmly recommended if you want to dig deeper into these issues. But there's also a really great epic story!