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libraryofbabble 's review for:
The Terraformers
by Annalee Newitz
The Terraformers is a delightfully inventive eco-hopepunk work with an interesting inter-generational narrative that clearly reflects an enormous amount of research into a variety of complex interacting planetary and social systems.
It was genuinely refreshing to see an author tackle often overlooked socio-environmental systems like land use, mobility, and labor, that go so frequently overlooked in science fiction. The book just flat-out fun to read, with a light and breezy writing style. Newitz also gets creative on the future of subject matter like gender and sexuality that are frequently mishandled in the genre, provides ample and meaningful queer representation, and doesn't bowdlerize any details without ever being distasteful.
However, I did find the personalities and politics of the characters to be a bit rote, which made the narrative come across a bit like a planetary version of Footloose: despite the hundreds of years and supposed major differences between characters, they were all extremely emotionally sensitive and often guileless heroes up against somewhat cartoonishly ruthless corporate colonialist foes. As a result, the morality, ethics, and politics of the story came across as somewhat simplistic. This may juar be a natural result of the work's relentless sense of optimism, which did eventually wear on me a bit, and on certain subject matter, like the ethics of creating sentient life, I feel it failed to adequately provide alternative points of view. Still, the systems described remained conceptually fresh and feasible, and hopepunk remains a sufficiently novel sub-genre that I wasn't too put off by the doggedness of its philosophy and outlook.
On the whole, an enjoyable, thoughtful, and innovative read. Recommended.
Personal rating: 3.5/5; enthusiastically rounded up to 4 stars for the clear passion of its author and their writing.
It was genuinely refreshing to see an author tackle often overlooked socio-environmental systems like land use, mobility, and labor, that go so frequently overlooked in science fiction. The book just flat-out fun to read, with a light and breezy writing style. Newitz also gets creative on the future of subject matter like gender and sexuality that are frequently mishandled in the genre, provides ample and meaningful queer representation, and doesn't bowdlerize any details without ever being distasteful.
However, I did find the personalities and politics of the characters to be a bit rote, which made the narrative come across a bit like a planetary version of Footloose: despite the hundreds of years and supposed major differences between characters, they were all extremely emotionally sensitive and often guileless heroes up against somewhat cartoonishly ruthless corporate colonialist foes. As a result, the morality, ethics, and politics of the story came across as somewhat simplistic. This may juar be a natural result of the work's relentless sense of optimism, which did eventually wear on me a bit, and on certain subject matter, like the ethics of creating sentient life, I feel it failed to adequately provide alternative points of view. Still, the systems described remained conceptually fresh and feasible, and hopepunk remains a sufficiently novel sub-genre that I wasn't too put off by the doggedness of its philosophy and outlook.
On the whole, an enjoyable, thoughtful, and innovative read. Recommended.
Personal rating: 3.5/5; enthusiastically rounded up to 4 stars for the clear passion of its author and their writing.