Book Review: The Terraformers - Annalee Newitz

This is a fascinating story told on an almost geological timescale. It is a tantalisingly glimpse, into a much larger world. It is a story of contradiction - there's an epic universe, but we're stuck in a parochial backwater. It is full of un-human creations - yet its politics are firmly a reflection of the 2020s.

I loved the story - it's almost impossible to describe how wild it gets - but found myself continually frustrated with the po-faced nature of the characters. The protagonists are so morally-righteous that it gets a little repetitive and tiresome. That's balanced by the bonkers notions of sexually-active trains getting involved in labour organising.

There are a number of sub-plots, which tease their way in with sentences like:

They held the League’s biggest archive of intellectual property, as well as a massive stable of slaved creators whose dance moves you could get for free at one of Lefthand’s many branded nightclubs.

I found it deeply weird. Absolutely enjoyable, but perhaps a little too strident to be fun.