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*rises from the depths*
I haven't been around much lately and I kinda fell off a comment-answering cliff; SORRY. In the meantime, I perhaps ill-advisedly signed up for ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fluffityfluffexchange (signups close Apr 2) because of reasons, in spite of barely having had time to look at my h/c-ex assignment. I'm sure the fandom I signed up with will be a complete shock to everyone. (I reserve the right to delete my signup if I change my mind, but I do expect to have more free time and free mental space in April ... I hope.)
In other news, I read a book for fun this week, Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, and it is *adorable*. I know some people around here don't like his books (there is no need to comment just to tell me this) and if you already hate his writing, you won't like this book because he has a very distinctive style and this book is very much in that style.
But it was exactly what I wanted: optimistic problem-solving near-future hard SF with a "working together and making friends and being our best selves" theme. I had completely mis-osmosed what it was about; I somehow thought it was about a moon or Mars colony - possibly thinking of one of his other books.
It is very much not about that.
It is about an astronaut who wakes up on a spaceship, surrounded by dead crewmates, with total amnesia and no idea why he's here, what he's supposed to do, or even what solar system he's in, so he has to piece it together from clues and then figure out how to do the thing he only vaguely knows he has to do. On top of that, he might not be alone after all.
It turns out Earth's sun is dying because it's being consumed by alien energy-absorbing microbes dubbed Astrophages, and Ryland, the protagonist, is part of a last-ditch mission to figure out what to do about it. Measurements of stars in Earth's general neighborhood suggest all of them are dimming except Tau Ceti; what's special about Tau Ceti? The upside of the microbes is that, with their ability to absorb and release vast amounts of energy, they're capable of powering a near-FTL drive, so Earth built its first-ever interstellar spaceship and his crew has been sent to Tau Ceti to find out what allows it to resist the solar microbe infestation. It quickly turns out that his isn't the only ship in the neighborhood; there is an alien ship here for the same reason, and just as curious about him as he is about it, at which point this becomes all about first contact with an alien species (on both sides).
I love alien first contact and this really leans into it all the way: weird and incompatible alien biology, lots of clever maneuvering to come up with ways to convey basic information to each other, and so forth. One thing I really liked about it was that this is one of the only SF first-contact books I've read (in fact, the only one I can think of off the top of my head) in which humans and aliens are at roughly similar - modern-day - levels of technological development; usually it's either wildly advanced aliens and modern humans, or more advanced humans and pre-modern aliens, medieval at most. But this is an alien society more or less on par with our own. As on Earth, this is the first interstellar spaceship they've ever built, made possible by the same combination of alien microbes for propulsion and desperation to stop their sun from dying that motivated Ryland's mission. They are a bit more advanced than Earth in some ways (they are extremely good at materials science and can manufacture things Ryland's never seen before), but they have no equivalent to some of Earth's tech, such as computers, and they haven't figured out non-Newtonian physics yet.
So really it's about two extremely different people from different planets pooling their collective knowledge base and working together to figure out what makes Tau Ceti's sun resistant to the microbes and how they can bring back, or send back, some part of that answer to save the planets they left behind. This book managed to make me extremely fond of a big ammonia-breathing alien spider, and it throws nonstop complications at the characters who must Science their way out of them. Very fun.
I also really liked the climax twist(s), which I can elaborate on in comments if anyone is curious.
fluffityfluffexchange (signups close Apr 2) because of reasons, in spite of barely having had time to look at my h/c-ex assignment. I'm sure the fandom I signed up with will be a complete shock to everyone. (I reserve the right to delete my signup if I change my mind, but I do expect to have more free time and free mental space in April ... I hope.)In other news, I read a book for fun this week, Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, and it is *adorable*. I know some people around here don't like his books (there is no need to comment just to tell me this) and if you already hate his writing, you won't like this book because he has a very distinctive style and this book is very much in that style.
But it was exactly what I wanted: optimistic problem-solving near-future hard SF with a "working together and making friends and being our best selves" theme. I had completely mis-osmosed what it was about; I somehow thought it was about a moon or Mars colony - possibly thinking of one of his other books.
It is very much not about that.
It is about an astronaut who wakes up on a spaceship, surrounded by dead crewmates, with total amnesia and no idea why he's here, what he's supposed to do, or even what solar system he's in, so he has to piece it together from clues and then figure out how to do the thing he only vaguely knows he has to do. On top of that, he might not be alone after all.
It turns out Earth's sun is dying because it's being consumed by alien energy-absorbing microbes dubbed Astrophages, and Ryland, the protagonist, is part of a last-ditch mission to figure out what to do about it. Measurements of stars in Earth's general neighborhood suggest all of them are dimming except Tau Ceti; what's special about Tau Ceti? The upside of the microbes is that, with their ability to absorb and release vast amounts of energy, they're capable of powering a near-FTL drive, so Earth built its first-ever interstellar spaceship and his crew has been sent to Tau Ceti to find out what allows it to resist the solar microbe infestation. It quickly turns out that his isn't the only ship in the neighborhood; there is an alien ship here for the same reason, and just as curious about him as he is about it, at which point this becomes all about first contact with an alien species (on both sides).
I love alien first contact and this really leans into it all the way: weird and incompatible alien biology, lots of clever maneuvering to come up with ways to convey basic information to each other, and so forth. One thing I really liked about it was that this is one of the only SF first-contact books I've read (in fact, the only one I can think of off the top of my head) in which humans and aliens are at roughly similar - modern-day - levels of technological development; usually it's either wildly advanced aliens and modern humans, or more advanced humans and pre-modern aliens, medieval at most. But this is an alien society more or less on par with our own. As on Earth, this is the first interstellar spaceship they've ever built, made possible by the same combination of alien microbes for propulsion and desperation to stop their sun from dying that motivated Ryland's mission. They are a bit more advanced than Earth in some ways (they are extremely good at materials science and can manufacture things Ryland's never seen before), but they have no equivalent to some of Earth's tech, such as computers, and they haven't figured out non-Newtonian physics yet.
So really it's about two extremely different people from different planets pooling their collective knowledge base and working together to figure out what makes Tau Ceti's sun resistant to the microbes and how they can bring back, or send back, some part of that answer to save the planets they left behind. This book managed to make me extremely fond of a big ammonia-breathing alien spider, and it throws nonstop complications at the characters who must Science their way out of them. Very fun.
I also really liked the climax twist(s), which I can elaborate on in comments if anyone is curious.
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Also, your fluff signup is adorable and I now need the secret gifts prompt like burning, and also the only one bed annoyance prompt <333
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I can absolutely see EvS sending Biggles "mysterious" little gifts over the years (mysterious to absolutely no one, I suspect). And also Erich and Algy kicking each other all night long while everyone else just tries to sleep. :DDD
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And I think you're right generally about the rarity of equal-tech-level first contact, at least at novel length! I feel like I've seen it a little bit in shorts (although given that I did most of my reading of those in high school and I didn't keep records...), but novels, no. It's a genre I really love well-done examples of, but fell out of reading after college not out of dislike, but just because there was too much life. XD
My totally cockamamie guess is that unequal levels = obvious underdog, with the usual "oh wait the 'primitives' (whether human or alien) are more advanced than we realized/have some weird psionic thing/etc." Actually, I do recall a HILARIOUS dated sf short story example of the "not so primitive after all" "twist" trope that undoubtedly worked at the time of publication...but would probably be TOTES FAIL today. It was from the viewpoint of an alien invasion starship fleet about to invade Earth, but they decide to scout Earth first like, y'know, good? invading aliens. Since it's played as comedy/parody, IIRC they decide that the DOG who's the first creature they meet is the dominant species who orders humans around. (Although tbh this should be asshole cattens more than ogs.) That's not the part that would break immersion today.
The part that would break immersion today is when the aliens realize that the humans have COLOR TELEVISION (IIRC not yet invented at the time of the story's publication?). The aliens have FTL! They have world-destroying weapons on their starships! But they still have black-and-white TV. Anyway, it's the SHOCK HORRORS THE PRIMITIVES HAVE COLOR TV that causes the aliens to flee in a cold sweat.
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I think you already see where this is going.
Anyway, Friend Crab learns about (a) Jesus Christ's resurrection and (b) the whole "this is my body" (?) thing and screw transsubstantiation, EATING OTHER FRIEND CRABS = TOTES OKAYYYY!!! Christian Human is EXTREMELY not okay about this.
I LAUGHED SO HARD. I seem to remember SO MUCH SCREAMING in the letters column about this one. XD
I have always thought that Bud Sparhawk must have been cackling about Blish's A Case of Conscience AND Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land as he wrote this, neither of which I ever read (never found the former) but dear God I read enough sf litcrit in those days that I got spoiled to hell and gone for both.
ETA: Given that Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow was also published in 1996, I tend to doubt they influenced each other, but who knows? Actually, I really want to read that one because it sounds like A TRIP.
ETA #2: I did not know that Russell also appears to have written: a Western, a murder mystery, a historical thriller, and more? Hot damn.
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Some of Cherryh's Alliance-Union books have at least the same vibe, like the hani and humans in the Chanur books are probably at a roughly similar level of development (they've just recently started going to space too, IIRC); it's just that both are pretty far advanced compared to our modern world.
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I loved The Martian and I really enjoyed Project Hail Mary - not quite as much as The Martian, but still a lot. All the stuff in the present timeline with meeting the alien and figuring out how to communicate and problem-solving together - I loved all of that. I found the flashback sequences a bit less compelling, and I've re-read the book a couple of times more or less skipping them. I have this theory about Andy Weir that he just cannot write nasty characters, even when he's trying to. Everyone in his books is basically a decent person doing their best. I feel like with Ryland he set out to write a selfish character who goes through a character arc to become selfless, and didn't quite manage it because he couldn't bring himself to write a version of the main character in the flashbacks who's not just as likeable and sympathetic as the future version of that guy.
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Oh, that makes a lot of sense as a theory, yeah! Because yeah, I'm totally on board with a "selfish asshole to selfless hero" redemption arc, and I liked the twist about how Ryland got on the mission - but I didn't really feel like past!Ryland felt any different from present!Ryland until he refuses to go on the mission, apparently out of nowhere. I think you're right that Weir just couldn't bring himself to write an unlikeable version of Ryland, so the arc doesn't really land (though I did love him getting a do-over for his suicide mission choice and making the selfless decision this time).
I also found the flashbacks much less compelling than the present-day scenes, and in fact couldn't figure out why they kept going into flashbacks beyond the first few, until the reveal on Ryland. But the present-day plot thread is absolutely riveting!
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I found a YA writer called Eric Walters and have very much enjoyed his 'The Rule of Three' series (four books), set in world where computers just stop working one day, with chaos and breakdown of society following. YA isn't everyone's thing, and I didn't think it was mine, but that series was enjoyable, as was his book 'Safe As Houses' (about the terrible flooding in Toronto in 1954).
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Oh yeah the other thing I really enjoyed was the second-hand satisfaction of having the Extreme Crisis get necessary projects through - political will, capital funding, all that. ;_; what a nice fantasy.
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*shocked face*
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No previous glancing mention of this book across my awareness had suggested it as this kind of story, which sounds great.
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(This story is interlaced with a flashback arc that is significantly less fun in various ways, but the parts I loved more than made up for it.)
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That sounds like a what's not to love!
(This story is interlaced with a flashback arc that is significantly less fun in various ways, but the parts I loved more than made up for it.)
Is it less fun in that it interferes with the rest of the novel, or just the kind of backstory that is less interesting than where everyone is now?
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A little of both. It does have relevant character information, and some of it's interesting, but it's clunky and plodding and probably the worst of the author's characterization.