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The Harvest
Do you want to live forever? the Travellers asked humanity, and only one in ten thousand said no. Their ship had been in orbit around the earth for a year, but their only communication came one night via an enigmatic dream of immortality. And the next day everything was changed. Most of the world prepared to put away their earthly lives as children put away their toys. And the few who remained fully human began to know fear.
In coastal Buchanan, Oregon, physician Matt Wheeler is one of only ten who said no to eternity. As he watches his friends, his colleagues, even his beloved daughter transform into something more—or less—than human, he finds that his concepts of life and death, good and evil, god and mortal must undergo a similar change if he is to retain his bittersweet hold on life.
Others, however, find such introspection to be self-defeating—perhaps even treasonous. If we’ve been invaded by aliens, reasons Col. John Tyler, we’ve got to fight back. Even if they are in human form. And sifting through the remnants of the United States, he finds those who agree with him.
And so, at the end of the world, it is like it was at the beginning. There are those who choose heaven, those who choose earth, and those who choose hell. And as these three groups move toward their fates, humanity finds itself on the bring of a destiny that may forever change the face of the universe itself.
In coastal Buchanan, Oregon, physician Matt Wheeler is one of only ten who said no to eternity. As he watches his friends, his colleagues, even his beloved daughter transform into something more—or less—than human, he finds that his concepts of life and death, good and evil, god and mortal must undergo a similar change if he is to retain his bittersweet hold on life.
Others, however, find such introspection to be self-defeating—perhaps even treasonous. If we’ve been invaded by aliens, reasons Col. John Tyler, we’ve got to fight back. Even if they are in human form. And sifting through the remnants of the United States, he finds those who agree with him.
And so, at the end of the world, it is like it was at the beginning. There are those who choose heaven, those who choose earth, and those who choose hell. And as these three groups move toward their fates, humanity finds itself on the bring of a destiny that may forever change the face of the universe itself.
394 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 1992
About the author
Robert Charles Wilson
84 books1,609 followersI've been writing science fiction professionally since my first novel A Hidden Place was published in 1986. My books include Darwinia, Blind Lake, and the Hugo Award-winning Spin. My newest novel is The Affinities (April 2015).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
January 31, 2024
Robert Charles Wilson ( born 1953 ), a resident of the Toronto area, must be one of my favorite writers, as I've read so much of his work. He's a hard science-fiction guy, meaning he's up on cutting-edge science and uses such ideas in his stories, but I think he's also known as a science fiction writer who can also give us great characters. We see Big Events through the eyes of his characters and can understand how they feel about things...This book, one of RCW's earlier books, is a good example. We (the people of Earth) make First Contact (finally) with aliens and each individual is offered immortality if they agree to join with the aliens. Not surprisingly, I think, the majority of humans take the aliens up on their offer. The story then concentrates on those few who want to remain on Earth and keep things running....What would you decide?
June 14, 2012
If you have ever questioned what makes us human, this book is an excellent opportunity to ask the question again. This is a thinking person's sci-fi. The "what if" is far superior to most sci-fi. The end of the book still left me wondering if the main character, and others who made the same choice, actually made the "right choice". It wasn't a clean ending. The best reads make you think. Our human perception can be quite different from person to person. The characters in the this novel certainly approach life and humanity in different ways.
Bravo for another great novel from Robert Charles Wilson!
Bravo for another great novel from Robert Charles Wilson!
March 24, 2008
I loved this book. It was awesome. It enthralled me from start to finish which was a surprise to me because no one recommended it to me. I found it on my own. What made it so good was the deep question it posed. Do you say yes to immortality without pain and suffering but it costs you your individuality? There were times that I cheered for the humans who said no but at other times I could see the suffering leave those who said yes. A very well written book.
May 7, 2017
I discovered Robert Charles Wilson via Spin and have since read many of his novels, working both forwards and backwards. He rarely disappoints and The Harvest is no exception. Bit of a slow start is my only minor gripe. If you were offered immortality would you say yes or be the one in ten thousand who says no? I reckon I would say no. Anyway, if you are a fan of Robert Charles Wilson, why haven't you read this?
Ray Smillie
Ray Smillie
April 21, 2016
Sorry Clarke's fans but for me this is Childhood's End done right because Wilson is a much better author (than Clarke) when he writes about human condition and feelings.
October 13, 2020
VERDICT: 3.3 stars.
REVIEW: Alien apocalypse/. Oddly 99.9% Caucasian cast. Religious-ish underpinnings. Decent mid-90s escapist SF/fantasy.
REVIEW: Alien apocalypse/. Oddly 99.9% Caucasian cast. Religious-ish underpinnings. Decent mid-90s escapist SF/fantasy.
February 6, 2017
As other reviewers have pointed out, this is a SF take on the Rapture -- the Protestant Christian end-of-the-world where the good people are taken to heaven and only a small number of people are, like the title of the right-wing book series has it, "left behind." Mysterious unseen aliens () come to Earth in a colossal spaceship and, in a single night of dreams (the coolest sequence in the book), individually invite everyone to join them and become immortal. Only 1 out of 10,000 people say no (for reasons of religion, shame, regret, mistrust, individualism, etc.). The book mostly follows the perspective of these refusers as their former friends, lovers and family, while not without compassion, gradually join a sort of hivemind, become altered by nanomachines in their blood, and eventually build their own spaceship and leave the Earth ().
As the tiny minority of not-immortals gather together and figure out how they'll keep society running once everyone else is gone, the book takes on a bit of a post-apocalyptic survivalist tone, almost like Stephen King's "The Stand." However, apart from storms battering the coastal Oregon town where the protagonists live, and a single isolated evil maniac who refused the aliens' offer (just one?), there's not much physical danger here; not much danger at all, honestly, as Robert Charles Wilson ultimately has an optimistic view of human (and alien) nature and a positive view of a transhumanist future. Once it's clear, midway through, that the aliens are both nigh-omnipotent and truly altruistic, the tension of the book slackens considerably, leading up to the dramatically unsatisfying ending in which When reading Christian Rapture books like "Left Behind" I'm always most fascinated by the psychology of the characters who refuse salvation, but aside from the one sociopath who feels like he stepped out of another novel, "The Harvest" spends surprisingly little time examining why people would refuse the aliens' offer, perhaps because the author makes their offer just so darn good. Essentially, this is a New Age book which explores the goodness and wonder of this transformation, much more than it explores the fear and doubts of those who'd refuse it; I also wish we'd gotten to see a little more at the end of An interesting read, with vaguely Stephen King-like prose waxing rhapsodic about small town life and everyday beauty, but know what you're getting into.
As the tiny minority of not-immortals gather together and figure out how they'll keep society running once everyone else is gone, the book takes on a bit of a post-apocalyptic survivalist tone, almost like Stephen King's "The Stand." However, apart from storms battering the coastal Oregon town where the protagonists live, and a single isolated evil maniac who refused the aliens' offer (just one?), there's not much physical danger here; not much danger at all, honestly, as Robert Charles Wilson ultimately has an optimistic view of human (and alien) nature and a positive view of a transhumanist future. Once it's clear, midway through, that the aliens are both nigh-omnipotent and truly altruistic, the tension of the book slackens considerably, leading up to the dramatically unsatisfying ending in which When reading Christian Rapture books like "Left Behind" I'm always most fascinated by the psychology of the characters who refuse salvation, but aside from the one sociopath who feels like he stepped out of another novel, "The Harvest" spends surprisingly little time examining why people would refuse the aliens' offer, perhaps because the author makes their offer just so darn good. Essentially, this is a New Age book which explores the goodness and wonder of this transformation, much more than it explores the fear and doubts of those who'd refuse it; I also wish we'd gotten to see a little more at the end of An interesting read, with vaguely Stephen King-like prose waxing rhapsodic about small town life and everyday beauty, but know what you're getting into.
May 12, 2015
Sometimes a book will sit on my shelf for a long time before I get around to reading it. (Books on my shelf are generally books I haven't read.) I read Wilson's A Bridge of Years in 1996, and though I can't remember much about it now, at the time I really liked it, enough so that I picked up The Harvest when I saw a copy. That was probably close to 20 years ago. This is a nicely written sci-fi book which concentrates more on the human element and human interaction than the sci-fi elements, which really set up the story and then serve more as the backdrop to what's going on with the characters. And it's an intriguing set-up: a giant alien spacecraft arrives in earth orbit, but doesn't communicate with humans as it sits up there for a year. Then in one long extended night, everyone dreams essentially the same dream in which they are offered immortality although it means giving up being human. Only about one in 10,000 turn down the aliens' offer, and the novel, of course, tells the story of a group of those who do just that. It's a story that would make for a good TV series, although some of the technology (cassette Walkmans, VCRs) is dated to the early '90s. There are a number of separate stories that get tied together, although not until well into the novel, and most of the characters are pretty interesting. I thought that the ending came a little too quickly (after 430 pages building up) and that ending left things a little too open-ended, but overall I found this a good read, and an author worth keeping an eye out for.
Read
March 28, 2009It's so rare to find a science fiction author that concentrates as much (or more) on his characters than on the science. Wilson is one of the best I've ever read at this.
This story of the slow shutting down of society after a welcome invasion by alien visitors, and the emotional scars this leaves on the few who choose to stay behind, is as heartbreaking as it is compelling. Wilson is extremely good at asking hard questions and positing believable answers.
This book is one of the best reads I've experienced in a while. The similarities to Stephen King's "The Stand" are unavoidable, but Wilson is so original and memorable, and this book earns an important place in the best of the "last man on Earth" subset of science fiction.
This story of the slow shutting down of society after a welcome invasion by alien visitors, and the emotional scars this leaves on the few who choose to stay behind, is as heartbreaking as it is compelling. Wilson is extremely good at asking hard questions and positing believable answers.
This book is one of the best reads I've experienced in a while. The similarities to Stephen King's "The Stand" are unavoidable, but Wilson is so original and memorable, and this book earns an important place in the best of the "last man on Earth" subset of science fiction.
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December 5, 2020In a sentence: An unusual mix of (sort of) alien contact and (sort of) post-apocalyptic fiction.
A huge alien artifact orbits Earth for a year without communicating or invading. Then every human goes to sleep for 1.5 days as a result of (sort of) nanobots in everyone's bodies. Individually, each person has a "dream" in which the aliens explain their organic origins, how they made their planet uninhabitable, and their transformation into mostly virtual beings in their artifact's computer (and occasionally in physical form.) Each human is asked if he/she would like to become immortal via such a transformation. 99.99% of humans say yes, and those individuals begin a process of change from their human form. The few who declined the transformation have the nanobots leave their bodies.
The bulk of the book is the "post-apocalyptic" story focusing on the 0.01% ("mortals.") It's through this story that we learn most of the above. At first, the mortals feel the immortals, who are still walking around looking as they did before, aren't "human" and mortals are uncomfortable about them. Over time, the immortals disappear, leaving only a "skin" (like a cocoon after the moth has emerged.) The mortals become a small number, scattered among empty buildings. A major story thread centers on a group of 10 in Oregon. Unlike many post-apocalyptic stories, there are no zombies, biker gangs or similar dangers (although there is a mentally ill former army officer.) And electricity and plumbing continues to work.
At the end, a huge new artifact blasts off from Earth with the ex-human immortals, and many of the mortals are traveling to locations where significant numbers can work together to maintain societies.
There's more character development than in many SF novels.
A huge alien artifact orbits Earth for a year without communicating or invading. Then every human goes to sleep for 1.5 days as a result of (sort of) nanobots in everyone's bodies. Individually, each person has a "dream" in which the aliens explain their organic origins, how they made their planet uninhabitable, and their transformation into mostly virtual beings in their artifact's computer (and occasionally in physical form.) Each human is asked if he/she would like to become immortal via such a transformation. 99.99% of humans say yes, and those individuals begin a process of change from their human form. The few who declined the transformation have the nanobots leave their bodies.
The bulk of the book is the "post-apocalyptic" story focusing on the 0.01% ("mortals.") It's through this story that we learn most of the above. At first, the mortals feel the immortals, who are still walking around looking as they did before, aren't "human" and mortals are uncomfortable about them. Over time, the immortals disappear, leaving only a "skin" (like a cocoon after the moth has emerged.) The mortals become a small number, scattered among empty buildings. A major story thread centers on a group of 10 in Oregon. Unlike many post-apocalyptic stories, there are no zombies, biker gangs or similar dangers (although there is a mentally ill former army officer.) And electricity and plumbing continues to work.
At the end, a huge new artifact blasts off from Earth with the ex-human immortals, and many of the mortals are traveling to locations where significant numbers can work together to maintain societies.
There's more character development than in many SF novels.
September 1, 2012
I'm not quite sure how I feel about this book. As I said in an earlier update, it reminded my in some ways of Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis trilogy (specifically the first book, Dawn) - the basic premise of aliens coming to a dying Earth and transforming humans into something different, as a way of saving us. Also some hints of Stephen King's The Stand - isolated pockets of humanity making contact via ham radio, foraging for needed supplies, even (in a superficial way) the presence of a psychic bond between all of these very different individuals, bringing them to work together/share things they never would have before the triggering event. (On further reflection - also somewhat reminiscent of Greg Bear's The Forge of God.)
Beyond that - I don't know, it just seemed sort of incomplete; like there should have been MORE to the story. I liked the examination of different motivations for declining the aliens' offer of immortality, but thought Wilson could have done more with that.
Beyond that - I don't know, it just seemed sort of incomplete; like there should have been MORE to the story. I liked the examination of different motivations for declining the aliens' offer of immortality, but thought Wilson could have done more with that.
March 21, 2008
Je suis définitivement conquise par Wilson ! Le thème de l’immortalité est ici formidablement traité. Les humains ont le choix de rester mortel ou de devenir éternel. Chacun se retrouve face à un dilemme qui les confrontent à eux-mêmes, à ce qu’ils sont vraiment. Ceux qui ont dit non à la vie éternelle estiment ainsi conserver leur Humanité, et considèrent que les “contactés” ne sont plus humains. Ceux qui ont refusé ont tous de bonnes raisons, l’incompréhension, la peur de l’inconnu et du changement, le refus de ce qu’ils sont vraiment, leur vécu… Une histoire magnifique.
August 26, 2009
I thought after reading Spin that I would check out another of Wilson's works. Harvest seem the highest rated here on goodreads, so I put that on my to-read list. I read about 100 pages before deciding this book was a waste of my time. The plot moves glacially, with many seemingly unrelated threads that I'm guessing all came together by the end of the book, duh. The characters are extremely unsympathetic. Oh, and then there are the aliens. Actually, at the point I stopped reading I knew almost less about the aliens than I had at the start.
April 20, 2020
Classic science fiction with a large dose of moral philosophy.
April 15, 2016
Aliens visit the Earth, but at first they're silent, visible in the sky but not engaging. Until finally, in mass dream, they speak to everybody at once with an incredible offer. They will give functional immortality to everyone who wants it. As well as other benefits. The only catch is... once death is no longer a concern to you, or anyone else, you can't help but change your outlook, your priorities... you, in essence. And maybe that means you're no longer going to be what you presently consider human. Still, most people accept the offer. The novel follows a few of the small minority that refuse it, who are left unaffected, except that they're in a world full of people who said "yes." Could this all be a sinister ploy by the aliens and those who accepted the offer are enslaved and need rescuing? And, even if it's not... is it that much better?
This type of book is pretty much Robert Charles Wilson's specialty. A big event that can't help but change the world, and yet the focus is on the personal, how individual, rather normal people react to it, often helpless to change the course of events. In this case, it's also somewhat reminiscent of Childhood's End, although different enough that I wouldn't even call it a homage much less a ripoff (although I also wouldn't be terribly surprised if someone told me the author was inspired by the classic work to try this). It's just that a few similar ideas are explored, but with a more modern perspective. Modern to us, but for Wilson, it's one of his older, earlier pieces... and to an extent, it shows. Not that it's bad, but it's less... deft. The characters don't ring quite as true as some of his later work, some lean a little towards stock (but with interesting twists), and the plotting has a few more rough spots.
Two issues in particular stood out to me for the negative. One, there was a fairly obvious question that never seemed to be brought up, or even occur to any of the characters. It does eventually get answered, but it's far too late and feels contrived to provide a surprise to the reader, but not a fair one. I kept waiting and waiting for somebody to bring it up because it would have been one of my first questions and I can't believe it took that long to find out. The other problem is that there seemed to be too much uniformity in how the people who accepted the offer of immortality act. There is some mention of people taking slightly different paths, but just considering the natural variation of human personality, you'd think, given the abilities they have, there would be many more approaches taken. Maybe most people acting similarly allows for a certain creepiness to set into the story, but given the premises it didn't ring true. Even the basic count of how many people refused seemed unlikely to me... I could certainly believe a large majority, but I could see a significant minority refusing for some of the many reasons given by others.
Still, on the whole, I enjoyed the book. Wilson may not have shown himself as capable as he has in other works, but it was still interesting and worth a read. And he avoided several pitfalls that I think others might have fallen into and created a story that was far more conventional and much less interesting. The biggest sin is that I think that if he wrote from the same premise today, I think it might be a great book instead of merely good.
This type of book is pretty much Robert Charles Wilson's specialty. A big event that can't help but change the world, and yet the focus is on the personal, how individual, rather normal people react to it, often helpless to change the course of events. In this case, it's also somewhat reminiscent of Childhood's End, although different enough that I wouldn't even call it a homage much less a ripoff (although I also wouldn't be terribly surprised if someone told me the author was inspired by the classic work to try this). It's just that a few similar ideas are explored, but with a more modern perspective. Modern to us, but for Wilson, it's one of his older, earlier pieces... and to an extent, it shows. Not that it's bad, but it's less... deft. The characters don't ring quite as true as some of his later work, some lean a little towards stock (but with interesting twists), and the plotting has a few more rough spots.
Two issues in particular stood out to me for the negative. One, there was a fairly obvious question that never seemed to be brought up, or even occur to any of the characters. It does eventually get answered, but it's far too late and feels contrived to provide a surprise to the reader, but not a fair one. I kept waiting and waiting for somebody to bring it up because it would have been one of my first questions and I can't believe it took that long to find out. The other problem is that there seemed to be too much uniformity in how the people who accepted the offer of immortality act. There is some mention of people taking slightly different paths, but just considering the natural variation of human personality, you'd think, given the abilities they have, there would be many more approaches taken. Maybe most people acting similarly allows for a certain creepiness to set into the story, but given the premises it didn't ring true. Even the basic count of how many people refused seemed unlikely to me... I could certainly believe a large majority, but I could see a significant minority refusing for some of the many reasons given by others.
Still, on the whole, I enjoyed the book. Wilson may not have shown himself as capable as he has in other works, but it was still interesting and worth a read. And he avoided several pitfalls that I think others might have fallen into and created a story that was far more conventional and much less interesting. The biggest sin is that I think that if he wrote from the same premise today, I think it might be a great book instead of merely good.
January 17, 2018
Mini review stands. Wilson's got plot and pacing on lock, and puts just enough science into the backend of his end of the world to make the whole thing, if not plausible, at least workable. It's not his best work (this was written in 94 - he was just getting started!) and though there's a little bit of dated, cringeworthy language ("Oriental" referencing a culture, not a rug, the lack of any female primary protagonists), it's actually pretty un-blatantly cringeworthy.
Actual plot summary: it's sort of Ingress-y. First contact is made. Do you choose to trust the aliens and accept their promise of eternal life, or is death what makes us human? After the choice is made, what happens to those who transition, and those who stay behind? Shocker, it's a world builder.
If you can track it down, I read it in a day. But Wilson's one of my favourite authors - his cadence always feels like something I can burrow in to.
Actual plot summary: it's sort of Ingress-y. First contact is made. Do you choose to trust the aliens and accept their promise of eternal life, or is death what makes us human? After the choice is made, what happens to those who transition, and those who stay behind? Shocker, it's a world builder.
If you can track it down, I read it in a day. But Wilson's one of my favourite authors - his cadence always feels like something I can burrow in to.
July 22, 2014
This is one of my all-time favorite books of all time. It's the book that I discovered Robert Charles Wilson with and I have an actual paperback copy of this book that I got much later. I've re-read it a few times. I just loved the whole premise of a race coming to earth and offering humanity the choice to evolve. It is really a bittersweet tale with great characterization. How does one let go of ones humanity to move forward? Can everyone move forward? It's a social commentary on change.
March 5, 2009
The last humans on Earth come to terms with the others leaving; perhaps it's the realistically drawn characters, the pathos of Summer coming to an end, or meditations on mortality amongst the banal, but something really hooked me.
June 10, 2024
lol i got this thinking it was a different book. part way through I realized it wasn't a horror like i thought. oop them library sales where ppl move stuff around.
Not terrible but I got it thinking it was a different book I was looking at. so it suffered from feeling jipped
Not terrible but I got it thinking it was a different book I was looking at. so it suffered from feeling jipped
March 27, 2018
The book was very interesting and surprising. Also very different from other sci-fi books that I had read. One of a kind. The idea of human is explained and questioned in this book so well, I start to question myself. It's a book one should definitely read.
October 19, 2016
Totally irrestible premise. Excellent, easily digestible writing. Woefully unsatisfying conclusion.
Filed under "great idea that didn't go anywhere."
Filed under "great idea that didn't go anywhere."
May 19, 2021
I've read many of Robert Charles Wilson's books, but this one may be the best--certainly, it kept me engaged and guessing throughout. As is typical of Wilson, an inexplicable phenomenon (in this case the arrival of an alien ship that offers all of humanity immortality--at the cost of their corporeal lives) throws the lives of the protagonist(s) into disarray. The focus in on a handful of the humans who reject the offer (about one in 10,000 did so, the novel tells us) as they have to cope first with watching everyone else literally disappear (often leaving emptied skins behind, a nicely macabre touch), then with the increasing changes to the world brought about by the activities of the artefact (e.g. increased storms) and ultimately--and unsurprisingly--with their own human propensity to fight with each other. This had something of a Stephen King vibe to me, possibly because I am currently also reading The Stand, which has some vague similarities (e.g. a handful of humans trying to figure out how to cope in a radically transformed world). Wilson mostly avoids the expected paths and cliches here, notably by presenting and then foreclosing on the notion of a resistance to the alien activity. Human agency against the alien activities is represented as futile; this is not a story of plucky human ingenuity overcoming the superior force and technology of a much more advanced race (not that such stories are not also fun). Instead, it uses the conceit to ask questions about why humans would choose not to die--or, more importantly, in the case of the focal characters, to choose inevitable death over probably immortality in what we are told is essentially a virtual paradise. I don't think Wilson quite sticks the landing, but that may reflect my own preference for pessimism over optimism. Regardless, this is well-written, thought-provoking, and absorbing SF. Recommended.
July 13, 2017
Wilson takes an unique approach to contact in The Harvest, although the title is somewhat of a clue. The initial third is laden with suspense as the characters are developed and this is achieved with a modicum of science. In fact it's the lack of any knowledge which makes it unnerving. Once it starts to pick up pace it shrugs off the suspense and tries to offer credible action and develops a more scientific approach. Whilst it tries to not to play its cards it fails to juggle all of these approaches and loses its way. The characters become unfocused and the story meanders. It's interesting enough to create a desire to see it through, however the latter half is poor in comparison to the moody and tense first half. The Harvest is an interesting and unusual piece of science fiction, refusing to use familiar alien contact plot lines and that bravery should be noted.
November 7, 2019
A subdued story about an Earth-changing event and those that chose not to accept the gift of eternal life offered by a benevolent alien force. It was enjoyable to read a novel by a talented writer who isn't well known but produced an intriguing story with a premise that I'm fond of.
"The Harvest" doesn't fall far from the tree of Arthur C. Clarke's "Childhood's End". I like "Childhood's End" more because it doesn't get as detailed about the characters. In "The Harvest", the characters converse...a LOT. It reminded me of the way Stephen King sometimes over-explains his cast. Come to think of it, this is a bit like "The Stand" in that there is a small group of people trying to survive an invading force. Granted, it's not a virus like Captain Trips, but it alters everything about humanity.
"The Harvest" doesn't fall far from the tree of Arthur C. Clarke's "Childhood's End". I like "Childhood's End" more because it doesn't get as detailed about the characters. In "The Harvest", the characters converse...a LOT. It reminded me of the way Stephen King sometimes over-explains his cast. Come to think of it, this is a bit like "The Stand" in that there is a small group of people trying to survive an invading force. Granted, it's not a virus like Captain Trips, but it alters everything about humanity.
May 20, 2023
I'm surprised this book isn't more well-known. I'd never have noticed it except for having seen it on a friend's read list. It reminded me a lot of Stephen King's The Stand, that concept of an uncertain future that roils the entire world. … Who will persist through force of will or faith and who will fail for whatever reason? Ragtag band of survivors, eclectic assortment of people thrown together, etc. It feels a little dated, but the characters are believable.
August 26, 2024
Грустная книга о человеческой природе. С плохими людьми и хорошими губчатыми инопланетянами. В описании все верно, но ощущение, будто в финале какой-то швах, а там нет его.
Относительно темы смерти, то все очень просто: даже если отказаться от предложения инопланетян жить вечно, все равно захочешь существовать, когда до смерти останется несколько шагов.
Плюсик за попытку выписать женских персонажей, но при этом минус за их шаблонность. Лучше всех, как ни странно, президент, но его ужасно мало.
Идея с перестройкой тела благодаря инопланетному вмешательству очень интересная, и я бы наверное про этих людей с большим интересом прочла, чем про обычных. И тем не менее, где-то с сотой страницы не могла оторваться: Уилсон ставит своих героев перед разными моральными дилеммами и не сказать чтоб все идеально проходили испытание.
Классный сериал бы получился.
Относительно темы смерти, то все очень просто: даже если отказаться от предложения инопланетян жить вечно, все равно захочешь существовать, когда до смерти останется несколько шагов.
Плюсик за попытку выписать женских персонажей, но при этом минус за их шаблонность. Лучше всех, как ни странно, президент, но его ужасно мало.
Идея с перестройкой тела благодаря инопланетному вмешательству очень интересная, и я бы наверное про этих людей с большим интересом прочла, чем про обычных. И тем не менее, где-то с сотой страницы не могла оторваться: Уилсон ставит своих героев перед разными моральными дилеммами и не сказать чтоб все идеально проходили испытание.
Классный сериал бы получился.
February 21, 2021
(3.5) stars, if I could. To me the story is a stance on dystopia that Earth has become - or moral sufferings of human kind - maybe both. It’s not Sci-fi, in my opinion, but it uses “aliens” as contrast, which is interesting. Lots of long, descriptive thoughts full of beautiful adjectives. This book is not a burner, but also isn’t a page counter...somewhere in-between. Leaves you with some solid thoughts and introspection to twist around. The pacing is even but a bit slow. The characters are thin in some places, but the main characters are developed nicely. Something I wish I would’ve saved for a cabin getaway read, in front of a fire.
July 25, 2020
This read sort of like a Stephen King novel. Unusual things happen and push characters to their extremes. All of the characters are boring small town types and they don't really develop. You get a backstory as to who they are and why they are they way they are, and then a sci-fi rapture happens and they are pretty much the same.
I enjoyed reading the book, but because there was no focus on science or character development nothing about it really stuck with me after the fact.
I enjoyed reading the book, but because there was no focus on science or character development nothing about it really stuck with me after the fact.
January 10, 2022
I couldn't stop reading this! I loved the concept and although there were a few parts I wasn't as big a fan of, I couldn't put it down.
I didn't really understand what happened to Rosa or why the butterfly concept was introduced so late in the book. I'd have liked some more background to that and what their purpose was.
However each of the characters were so well written and their own reasoning behind their choice is what made the story so interesting.
I didn't really understand what happened to Rosa or why the butterfly concept was introduced so late in the book. I'd have liked some more background to that and what their purpose was.
However each of the characters were so well written and their own reasoning behind their choice is what made the story so interesting.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 12, 2021
So weird to see the early draft that definitely informed the much better “Spin.” This has a weird Stephen King quality to it, where the men are boring stereotypes and the women are props. So much of the book is wasted on tracking a poorly fleshed out nutso character. Not bad but definitely not memorable.
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