3.5
Natural History
By Justina RobsonPublisher Description
A daring and original new novel from one of sci fi’s most provocative voices, Natural History is a stunning work of bold ideas, unforgettable characters, and epic adventure as one woman seeks to explore what may be the greatest mystery of all. . . .
“Idiosyncratic and unpredictable . . . a novelist of real vision.”—Zadie Smith, author of White Teeth
Half-human, half-machine, Voyager Isol was as beautiful as a coiled scorpion–and just as dangerous. Her claim that she’d found a distant but habitable earthlike planet was welcome news to the rest of the Forged. But it could mean the end of what was left of the humanity who’d created and once enslaved them.
It was on behalf of the “unevolved” humans that Professor Zephyr Duquesne, cultural archaeologist and historian of Earth’s lost worlds, was chosen by the Gaiasol military authority to uncover the truth about this second “earth.” And her voyage, traveling inside the body of Isol, will take her to the center of a storm exploding across a spectrum of space and time, dimension and consciousness.
On an abandoned planet, in a wrinkle of time, Isol and Zephyr will find a gift and a curse: a power so vast that once unlocked, it will change the universe forever. With civil war looming, Zephyr’s perilous journey will lead her to a past where one civilization mysteriously vanished . . . and another may soon follow.
“[Robson’s] strongest novel yet, reminiscent of Moorcock, Banks, M. John Harrison, and MacLeod . . . and should assure her position as being one of the most exciting genre writers at this present time.”—SFRevu
“Idiosyncratic and unpredictable . . . a novelist of real vision.”—Zadie Smith, author of White Teeth
Half-human, half-machine, Voyager Isol was as beautiful as a coiled scorpion–and just as dangerous. Her claim that she’d found a distant but habitable earthlike planet was welcome news to the rest of the Forged. But it could mean the end of what was left of the humanity who’d created and once enslaved them.
It was on behalf of the “unevolved” humans that Professor Zephyr Duquesne, cultural archaeologist and historian of Earth’s lost worlds, was chosen by the Gaiasol military authority to uncover the truth about this second “earth.” And her voyage, traveling inside the body of Isol, will take her to the center of a storm exploding across a spectrum of space and time, dimension and consciousness.
On an abandoned planet, in a wrinkle of time, Isol and Zephyr will find a gift and a curse: a power so vast that once unlocked, it will change the universe forever. With civil war looming, Zephyr’s perilous journey will lead her to a past where one civilization mysteriously vanished . . . and another may soon follow.
“[Robson’s] strongest novel yet, reminiscent of Moorcock, Banks, M. John Harrison, and MacLeod . . . and should assure her position as being one of the most exciting genre writers at this present time.”—SFRevu
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3.5
AJ Malaika
Created 3 months agoShare
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“Truly remarkably effortless world building, this is a more thought provide care king study of identity and the future of human evolution than a mystery about new worlds and alien races, despite the overall mystery being pretty clear for the start the descriptive writing hooks you into wanting to understand more of how this world works and the various ways one defines a human in this age of cyborgs and synthetic humans that size of and shape of spaceships. All the terminology felt well thought out too and made the world easy to navigate whilst only giving in-depth lore explanations when it was nesscmecary, sometimes long after an aspect has been introducing. Curious ending, recommend to fans of philosophy/phycological sci Fi stories”
Multi-layered charactersBeautifully writtenDescriptive writingSuspensefulImmersive settingThought-provoking
Evan Jensen
Created almost 8 years agoShare
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Mark Gerrits
Created over 13 years agoShare
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