A review by pran
The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez

adventurous hopeful 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

5.0

Beautiful, read about found family in a far future space opera setting.

I love the slow start to the story as it gave me a chance to get situated in the world, so I could understand the context of the story. The plot built momentum nicely in my opinion and I could barely put it down.

I could see Jimenez's passion for sci-fi, and also how the story was so rooted in reality in its criticism of capitalism.

One of my favourite aspects of the book was its discussion of the cost of human progress. If even one child is harmed (in reality, many more than just one are harmed) does that make human progress worth it?
The 'progress' in question in The Vanished Birds is basically teleportation and it feels so trivial in the context of the suffering it causes Ahro and the cre w of The Debby.

This theme of the book really reminded me of the short story by Ursula Le Guin, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas.

I think this highlights how we never hear the story from the point of view of the people who had to make the most sacrifices. Also, the idea of cultural dilation and colonialism were discussed in such an interesting way. It reminded me of Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis series. Corporate greed and capitalism can have a massive impact on generations to come and often it is brought about by small groups of people in hidden meetings.
This is exemplified in the planets tradings with Allied space, where what starts as straightforward buying, and selling, ends up in the planet producing only one product and relying on Allied space for everything its inhabitants actually need to live. I
t is the elected leaders that make these decisions on behalf of their people, but the impact of some of these decisions is irreversible.

Linguistically Jimenez is such a talented writer, but I particularly liked the metaphor of
Ahro being on the island and his connections to Nia through the flute as little fires, and his hope/consciousness as The Kind One. It felt like a perfectly fantastical way to depict separation from family and the visceral pain that comes with it.