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A review by amandadevoursbooks
A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
This is an interesting book. It's a first contact novel. In 2080, nation states have less power, dandelion networks maintain governance units that work on reclaiming watersheds. Corporations have been confined to artificial islands with strict rules of engagement. When aliens arrive in Maine, our protagonist and her wife and baby are the first to meet the aliens, and it throws all three groups in conflict to meet the aliens.
This book has a lot going on. The aliens are truly alien and are, in fact, two alien species that live symbiotically. They believe firmly that sentient speices cannot live on a planet and must live in the stars. They want earth to become the third symbiotes.
The dandelion networks use facilitation, human-centered design, and algorithms to make decisions. Post contact, their network goes down, and they think that the corporations are behind it. The Dandelion networks made first contact and in charge of the relationship with the first ship.
Can they figure out how to collaborate as a species with the aliens? Can they navigate the cultural issues across humanity and with the aliens?
All of this is set around a future where humans are not bound by the gender-binary, each group has different gender norms, and the aliens only trust and want to talk to mothers. The complexity was interesting, and it gave a lot of paths for me, as a reader, to follow. It will not be for everyone. Additionaly, some readers complained about how much the child rearing among the aliens and humans were discussed. I found it refreshing how much child care, nursing, nappies, and night feedings played into the story.
The voice of each character felt very similar, particularly between the initial aliens and the family unit they meet. I think this may have been a choice to employ the characters as a unified Greek chorus, but it was monotonous. I also found the main characters insistence on staying on earth and denying others experiencing hunger immediate safety short-sighted and frankly selfish.
The ending was fairly simple given the complexity of the rest of the book. The addition of the alien to the couple's family sex included made sense but felt forced. This book though did raise lots of interesting questions, and I will be thinking about it for a long time.
This book has a lot going on. The aliens are truly alien and are, in fact, two alien species that live symbiotically. They believe firmly that sentient speices cannot live on a planet and must live in the stars. They want earth to become the third symbiotes.
The dandelion networks use facilitation, human-centered design, and algorithms to make decisions. Post contact, their network goes down, and they think that the corporations are behind it. The Dandelion networks made first contact and in charge of the relationship with the first ship.
Can they figure out how to collaborate as a species with the aliens? Can they navigate the cultural issues across humanity and with the aliens?
All of this is set around a future where humans are not bound by the gender-binary, each group has different gender norms, and the aliens only trust and want to talk to mothers. The complexity was interesting, and it gave a lot of paths for me, as a reader, to follow. It will not be for everyone. Additionaly, some readers complained about how much the child rearing among the aliens and humans were discussed. I found it refreshing how much child care, nursing, nappies, and night feedings played into the story.
The voice of each character felt very similar, particularly between the initial aliens and the family unit they meet. I think this may have been a choice to employ the characters as a unified Greek chorus, but it was monotonous. I also found the main characters insistence on staying on earth and denying others experiencing hunger immediate safety short-sighted and frankly selfish.
The ending was fairly simple given the complexity of the rest of the book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Colonisation, and Classism