(January
2017)
Space
opera of a sort, despite the fact very little of it takes place in space. Marge
Taishan is an anthropologist charged with investigating the planet Jeep.
Unknown generations ago it was settled by humans, whose society has long since
reverted to pre-industrial modes. An attempt at recolonization failed once it was
discovered that he planet harbours a virus which kills all men (and a good
proportion of women), leaving the planet isolated and the survivors
quarantined.
This
won the Tiptree Award in 1993, and you can see why: it's a knotty, considered
story exceedingly well told. Marge is the PoV character for most of it, with
occasional switches to Hannah Danner, the field-promoted leader of the ill-fated
recolonization mission. As Marge heads out into the world to experience various
travails and epiphanies, Danner remains in her compound and is slowly divested of
her certainties regarding the universe and her and her comrades places in it.
Marge's journey (literal and figurative) is clearly the heart of the book, but I really liked Danner. Her presence is one of the main things that elevates this above the usual quest narrative, not least because the changes she undergoes to her conception of self are in many ways more drastic than Marge's. On top of that, she's sensible. I’ve previously spoken of my impatience with flawed characters who make plot-forwarding shitty decisions due to a single easily identifiable character flaw, usually a form of headstrong stubbornness which is frequently indistinguishable from flat-out stupidity. Danner, however, is that rarest of literary beasts: a reasonable person who makes reasonable decisions. When she does make poor ones (because of course she does) it’s more often than not because she simply doesn’t have enough information, rather than from any more obviously mandated personal weaknesses. It's amazing, and slightly scary [obligatory current affairs reference goes here], just how rare a commodity rationality can be.
Marge's journey (literal and figurative) is clearly the heart of the book, but I really liked Danner. Her presence is one of the main things that elevates this above the usual quest narrative, not least because the changes she undergoes to her conception of self are in many ways more drastic than Marge's. On top of that, she's sensible. I’ve previously spoken of my impatience with flawed characters who make plot-forwarding shitty decisions due to a single easily identifiable character flaw, usually a form of headstrong stubbornness which is frequently indistinguishable from flat-out stupidity. Danner, however, is that rarest of literary beasts: a reasonable person who makes reasonable decisions. When she does make poor ones (because of course she does) it’s more often than not because she simply doesn’t have enough information, rather than from any more obviously mandated personal weaknesses. It's amazing, and slightly scary [obligatory current affairs reference goes here], just how rare a commodity rationality can be.
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