We Read Science Fiction

When I find an author I like I tend to binge and read their whole backlog of novels in short order. For Wilson I started with The Chronoliths (a 4/5), then progressed to Spin (my #9 and a 5/5), Axis (3/5) and now Darwinia. In this novel all of 1915 Europe is replaced by savage jungle with alien lifeforms overnight. The world recoils as families are torn apart and people lose their countries, heritage and self. Now what? Wilson spins an interesting story about alternative history, gods, war and the nature of our universe and our existence.

Summary: Darwinia is a convoluted tale that is at times hard to follow, but still very compelling. I enjoyed the read, but it wasn’t as good as I’ve recently come to expect from Wilson. It’s worthwhile, but only a 3/5 by my reckoning. Check out his other books first.

This novel has been on my shelf for a few months now. It came with the Amazon.com order I placed to get Axis the day after finishing Spin. So, after my binge on John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War series I came back to Wilson to finish off this book a few days ago.

I’m not much of a history buff, but this alternative history story didn’t need much real history beyond an understanding of the basic premise behind the World Wars. It quickly veered off the track (that I was expecting it to take) into a story about a war between gods to control the fate of the history of the universe. I was expecting a story about the fallout on our civilization after a seeming miracle (the substitution of the European content with a wild, savage and sentience-free version), but got a story very reminiscent of American Gods by Neil Gaiman (4/5), but without the awesome mythology.

Worthwhile, with lots of neat ideas, good characters and good storytelling. However, I’m left hoping he’ll write the story I thought I was getting.

What did YOU think of this book? Your comments are the heart of this blog, not my rambling :)