Darwinia by Robert Charles Wilson
Title: Darwinia
Author: Robert Charles Wilson
Publisher: Tor Books
372 pages.
It's been a while. Sorry. To make up for it, here's the first of two posts about the same author, Robert Charles Wilson.
First up is Darwinia. It starts in 1912, when a bunch of strange lights is visible over the Atlantic and Europe disappears. Subsequent surveys discover that the whole of the continent has been replaced by alien wilderness; essentially, the jungle Europe would have been had the Precambrian period not ceased abruptly with the advent of God's version of the heavenly eraser: a meteor/asteroid strike.
The novel centers around Guildford Law, a relatively unremarkable American who was twelve years old when the Event occurs. He becomes a photographer who goes on an expedition into the heart of the newly-changed continent, now labeled Darwinia in recognition of its relation to the then-mysterious phenomenon of evolution.
It's sort of a Heart of Darkness kind of thing. A wild continent, braved by a group of intrepid explorers, in the center of which is discovered a big secret that changes the nature of things.
The book is pretty meticulous in describing the strangeness of the new Europe. New London is no longer a bustling, thousand-year-old city on the Thames; it is now a rugged frontier town supported by hastily-erected docks and industry, serving as the gateway to Darwinia. The occupants have hacked the town out of the strange wilderness and fought bizarre forms of life in order to establish their foothold.
Guildford himself is the central character of the novel, and he winds up playing a key role near the end of the book. As far as personality and reader engagement, he's a giant fucking zero. You get the sense that the book is more about exploring what-ifs about the transformation of Europe during this key era in world history than it is about the human element, although you do certainly get a good dose of that over the course of the book, meeting people who've lost family and friends, who have bound their destinies to this freakish place.
As the explorers strike further into the heartland, strange things begin to happen, and one of the expedition's members starts a queer fucking transformation into something else.
As it turns out, the change in Europe was effected by a bug in what is essentially a computer that uses whole universes as processors. Here's where the book gets weak; everything leading up to it is pretty fucking awesome, but then it gets into the "Hive" and the war between advanced races struggling for control, and it seems to kind of trivialize the experience of 1920s-era humans in dealing with such a cataclysmic change.
Of course, there are interesting historical sidenotes: as a result of the transformation, the World Wars never occur, the world population and economy are affected by the disappearance of millions of Europeans, and...shit. It's still fucking cool. Those damn aliens, though. Jesus.
Scale: Ramps up from the disappearance of all European civilization to a war among gods. Not shabby, really. Give it a 5.
Audacity: Impressive, indeed. 5.
Engagement: The sheer scale does capture one's imagination a bit, and creates curiosity about what kind of strange shit'll happen around the next corner. But it's all kind of impersonal. 4.
Characterization: Not the best. There are some good moments, but the final impression leaves you a bit cold. 2.
Sexiness: Not much. The idea's pretty good, and so is the execution. Still, in the end, it's kind of a prosaic book that reaches far and accomplishes it, but the grip is narrow and falls short of true wonder. Physical sex, it's pretty light. 3.
Average: 3.8. About middling-to-fair. It's a terrific read, but in the end, it's more of a book than an experience. Unless you're the jungle-hacking sort, then you'll probably get more into it.
Author: Robert Charles Wilson
Publisher: Tor Books
372 pages.
It's been a while. Sorry. To make up for it, here's the first of two posts about the same author, Robert Charles Wilson.
First up is Darwinia. It starts in 1912, when a bunch of strange lights is visible over the Atlantic and Europe disappears. Subsequent surveys discover that the whole of the continent has been replaced by alien wilderness; essentially, the jungle Europe would have been had the Precambrian period not ceased abruptly with the advent of God's version of the heavenly eraser: a meteor/asteroid strike.
The novel centers around Guildford Law, a relatively unremarkable American who was twelve years old when the Event occurs. He becomes a photographer who goes on an expedition into the heart of the newly-changed continent, now labeled Darwinia in recognition of its relation to the then-mysterious phenomenon of evolution.
It's sort of a Heart of Darkness kind of thing. A wild continent, braved by a group of intrepid explorers, in the center of which is discovered a big secret that changes the nature of things.
The book is pretty meticulous in describing the strangeness of the new Europe. New London is no longer a bustling, thousand-year-old city on the Thames; it is now a rugged frontier town supported by hastily-erected docks and industry, serving as the gateway to Darwinia. The occupants have hacked the town out of the strange wilderness and fought bizarre forms of life in order to establish their foothold.
Guildford himself is the central character of the novel, and he winds up playing a key role near the end of the book. As far as personality and reader engagement, he's a giant fucking zero. You get the sense that the book is more about exploring what-ifs about the transformation of Europe during this key era in world history than it is about the human element, although you do certainly get a good dose of that over the course of the book, meeting people who've lost family and friends, who have bound their destinies to this freakish place.
As the explorers strike further into the heartland, strange things begin to happen, and one of the expedition's members starts a queer fucking transformation into something else.
As it turns out, the change in Europe was effected by a bug in what is essentially a computer that uses whole universes as processors. Here's where the book gets weak; everything leading up to it is pretty fucking awesome, but then it gets into the "Hive" and the war between advanced races struggling for control, and it seems to kind of trivialize the experience of 1920s-era humans in dealing with such a cataclysmic change.
Of course, there are interesting historical sidenotes: as a result of the transformation, the World Wars never occur, the world population and economy are affected by the disappearance of millions of Europeans, and...shit. It's still fucking cool. Those damn aliens, though. Jesus.
Scale: Ramps up from the disappearance of all European civilization to a war among gods. Not shabby, really. Give it a 5.
Audacity: Impressive, indeed. 5.
Engagement: The sheer scale does capture one's imagination a bit, and creates curiosity about what kind of strange shit'll happen around the next corner. But it's all kind of impersonal. 4.
Characterization: Not the best. There are some good moments, but the final impression leaves you a bit cold. 2.
Sexiness: Not much. The idea's pretty good, and so is the execution. Still, in the end, it's kind of a prosaic book that reaches far and accomplishes it, but the grip is narrow and falls short of true wonder. Physical sex, it's pretty light. 3.
Average: 3.8. About middling-to-fair. It's a terrific read, but in the end, it's more of a book than an experience. Unless you're the jungle-hacking sort, then you'll probably get more into it.
posted by me at
11:13 AM
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