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A review by bfls
The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz
Did not finish book. Stopped at 70%.
This book is actually made up of 3 loosely (as far as I could tell) connected novellas. Each is set in the same world, but several hundreds years apart. I gave up after the first chapter of the 3rd section.
While I agree with the messages in this book (Unbridled capitalism is bad. Racism is bad.) The way these were told didn't work for me. It did't seem like there was a single, overarching plot thread. Instead, I felt like there were 3 standalone stories telling me the same thing. Perhaps if I had persisted to the end I would have felt differently, but I just didn't care to keep going.
Also, I had a lot of questions about how the world worked. People were grown in vats and decanted as adults, with an entire childhood's worth of education. Sexual reproduction and childhood are no more. How does that work? Also, while people could be killed, nobody aged and died. For a story all about sustainable ecosystems that raises all sorts of questions.
In addition, some breeds of animals have had their intelligence increased (the Great Bargain) so they now count as people. One consequence of this is that all people (regardless of species apparently) are vegan. Even obligate carnivores like cats. How do you have a sustainable ecosystem without any predator species?
Who choose which animals to made into people and why were some species chosen and not others? The big bad guy, Verdance, is all about profit but it wasn't clear why they created some intelligent animals. The main character is the first section, Destry, has an intelligent companion who also functions as her means of transport and haulage. OK, that makes sense. But Whistle was a moose. Why a moose and not a horse? A sentence or two explaining perhaps that moose are hardier and better suited to the terrain than a horse could have been an idea.
I finally gave up in the 3rd section as it featured an intelligent cat. Now, I'm a card-carrying crazy cat lady but what possible profit motive is there in making an intelligent cat? This cat is also described as having a backpack with all its belongings which it takes off and on. I'm looking at my fat, overfed cat and I can't imagine it being able to carry any amount of items. Even if it was the size of a mountain lion, how would it pack anything? They don't have opposable thumbs!
While I agree with the messages in this book (Unbridled capitalism is bad. Racism is bad.) The way these were told didn't work for me. It did't seem like there was a single, overarching plot thread. Instead, I felt like there were 3 standalone stories telling me the same thing. Perhaps if I had persisted to the end I would have felt differently, but I just didn't care to keep going.
Also, I had a lot of questions about how the world worked. People were grown in vats and decanted as adults, with an entire childhood's worth of education. Sexual reproduction and childhood are no more. How does that work? Also, while people could be killed, nobody aged and died. For a story all about sustainable ecosystems that raises all sorts of questions.
In addition, some breeds of animals have had their intelligence increased (the Great Bargain) so they now count as people. One consequence of this is that all people (regardless of species apparently) are vegan. Even obligate carnivores like cats. How do you have a sustainable ecosystem without any predator species?
Who choose which animals to made into people and why were some species chosen and not others? The big bad guy, Verdance, is all about profit but it wasn't clear why they created some intelligent animals. The main character is the first section, Destry, has an intelligent companion who also functions as her means of transport and haulage. OK, that makes sense. But Whistle was a moose. Why a moose and not a horse? A sentence or two explaining perhaps that moose are hardier and better suited to the terrain than a horse could have been an idea.
I finally gave up in the 3rd section as it featured an intelligent cat. Now, I'm a card-carrying crazy cat lady but what possible profit motive is there in making an intelligent cat? This cat is also described as having a backpack with all its belongings which it takes off and on. I'm looking at my fat, overfed cat and I can't imagine it being able to carry any amount of items. Even if it was the size of a mountain lion, how would it pack anything? They don't have opposable thumbs!