Weird sci-fi. An invasion, of sorts, or an infection, or an infestation. An alien life form comes to earth, joins with humanity, and brings about a new world, a utopic world, a vaguely unsettling world, a world without the great harms that define ours, a world of community and met needs and amazing new tech and near-immortality and pleasure. But of course it isn’t that simple – humans are humans even when in symbiotic relation with this new entity, and for some, satisfaction remains elusive. Trina’s wife Deeba decides to begin life again as a baby, leaving behind all memory of their life together, and Trina is devastated. Through following Trina’s journey, the novel is a strange exploration of what human beings might experience in a context not defined by the hierarchies and harms of our world, and how loss and need might still be be central. I liked it but it left me a little dissatisfied, I think mostly because I wanted more – not that the story itself felt lacking, but I wanted more of the world, more opportunity to explore it and to experience it from different angles. Which I guess would be a bit of a different book than the one the author wanted to write, so it isn’t exactly a fair thing to say, but it’s still what I wanted. Overall, pretty good.
Originally posted by Scott on Goodreads.