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seandelliot 's review for:
The Terraformers
by Annalee Newitz
adventurous
challenging
dark
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This year has already been a banner year, having read the best fantasy novel, now have added what may be the beset sci-fi novel to cross my path in ... well, ever? Newitz may very well leave their day job as a science writer/journalist in favor of fiction if you ask me. In their afterward Newitz expands on the thought experiment that prompted the premise of Terraformers, and thanks a huge supporting cast of experts and colleagues who helped craft the world in which the story evolves. Oh, and evolves is correct, this is no mere moment in time tale of conflict. Newitz imagines a world where, thanks to the genetic engineering, the protagonists live for centuries, if not millennia, as they must because the task of terraforming a hostile planet into one habitable by h. sapiens, as well as the many more species populating this story, takes that kind of time. Many years ago a lit professor spent a fair amount of time discussing the vagaries of extrapolative v. speculative sci-fi, and it's through this lens I have considered all the various books and movies and shows I've consumed in all the years since. Perhaps Terraformers is the best extrapolative sci-fi i've read. Perhaps The Expanse series rates as best speculative? Perhaps that line between the two cannot be strictly defined. Where really does one step beyond extrapolation into speculation? In any case, this novel is BRILLIANT! The premise initially reminded me of David Brin's Uplift series, albeit those really tend to the fantastical speculative realm, much like Star Trek and many of the intra-galactic space operas of the genre, with FTL travel being as normal as a drive on I95, and habitable plants and species occupying them being as common as finding humans living down the block. Newitz imagines a world where humans have indeed spread across the stars, but not finding anyone else there, have crafted new ways to define life, and person and create the space for them to live. The novel takes place almost entirely on the E planet of the Sask system, therefore Sask-E is the planet, colloquially called Sasky by the residents. I would not complain if Newitz returned to his universe over and over again, exploring the myriad ways the peoples of their imagination live/love/work/play across all the various worlds.