Science fiction. Humanity has found a gate near the earth that leads to another solar system with a world inhabited by sentient life. Which they have conquered, or at least they think they have. The story is set in the English west country, which has declared itself independent and adopted a kind of isolationist and anti-tech mode of living, and on this other world. You have a woman who spent time on this other world as a sort of low-level worker distributing propaganda. She runs the titular inn in a west country village with a member of this other species, whom she loves. You also meet her brother, a village leader, and her semi-estranged son, who comes across as unwell and somewhat unsavoury and at the very least is profoundly unhappy.
This is a very strange book, and an unsettling one. It touches on the dangers of rejecting that which is different and unfamiliar, but also the dangers of venturing out with an eye towards domination. It orbits around the possibility and perhaps desirability of connection, but the inevitable fallibility and fraught character of communication across not just great differences – species, cultures – but also ostensibly much smaller differences – generational, interpersonal. Though it also suggests that ultimately difference is temporary, illusory. Not convinced I completely understood it. It does not go in happy directions, but it goes them in fascinating ways. I normally like strange books, but as much as I concede that this one is interesting and is skilfully composed, I didn’t particularly enjoy the reading experience.
Originally posted by Scott on Goodreads.