Summerland

Man, what a frustrating book. I mean, every little ingredient for a true masterpiece is there, it's just missing.....something. There are beautiful moments of language, some of the action sequences are pretty thrilling, and the characters are MOSTLY developed and feel real, though not entirely.

This book is Rajaniemi's follow up to his Sci-Fi trilogy “The Quantum Thief”. It has been critically-acclaimed, though I have not read it. This makes me think the book is a misfire of sorts as he clears his mind for his next great writing project.

My main issue with this book is probably with the world that's built here–or rather the one he ATTEMPTS to build here. There is so much to the sci-fi/fantasy elements to this world and Rajaniemi just does not do a good job at creating it in our minds. Major parts of the way this world works is only presented to us when the plot needs it. So you can't help but think he just makes stuff up to solve a plot problem and creates the rules as he goes along. There's not coherent sense that's ever achieved as to the basic rules, rhythms, and regularities of this world. I still have no idea what's going in this universe or how it works.

This problem is so bad that in the final climactic battle, this story that has been filled with interested dynamics between only humans and ghosts suddenly has a character turning into a tentacled, bug-like creature to vanquish the foes. I mean, really? You spend hundred of pages telling a story of humans in this world and the next and throw in some sort of mutation/monster thing in the next to the last chapter? If this were a feature of this universe, surely there'd be common knowledge of this phenomena and people trying to take advantage of it.

Another smaller example: the last few paragraphs have the protagonists getting into this world's version of an airplane to travel somewhere. The plane sounds interesting and how it works sounds fascinating, and it's integrally connected with the building around which so much of this story has revolved. And yet we've never heard of the existence of these things, the way they work, their history or anything. They're just plopped into the story in the next to the last paragraph. Then, THE END.

Outside of that, the female hero feels a little thin as a character. Just your generic middle-aged strong woman trying to make it in the world and prove her mettle. So when she makes mistakes, tries to make things right, has hard choices to make, I didn't really find myself caring. Very little of the plot seems to unspool logically from the points that preceded it. It all just feels a little arbitrary and forced.

And yet, you can't help but see the beauty and imagination of what's here. It's a whole alternative history in between the World Wars and that choice alone makes the setting so utterly fascinating and interesting. The mix of old and new gives a freshness to the futurism dominating a lot of such books in the genre nowadays. It's a fairly fun read, though for those of you not looking for too much depth and just want some fun, the incoherence of the world building and how much you have to read and re-read whole sections just to figure out what the hell is going and can take away from that. And for those of you fantasy nerds that obsess over world-building, I can just hear how you would tear this book apart.

So perhaps this is a beach read that will make your mind work a little harder than it wants, for both good and bad reasons.

Pros: fleshed-out characters, interesting world, fast paced

Cons: pay close attention or you'll get lost quickly, some aspects not explained well

Pay very close attention to the first few chapters of the book as you're dumped into the action with no background information beyond what you can gleam from conversations. Once you've got a feel for the players, the world, and the stakes, sit back and enjoy the fast paced ride.

The story is told through mostly alternating chapters from the points of view of Rachel White and Peter Bloom. Note that their timelines don't match up right away (his story starts a few days after hers). I was impressed at the amount of background detail you eventually learn about the pair, and how that makes you care about them, even while they're making choices that are hard to sympathize with. I especially liked the difficult relationship Rachel has with her husband. It was great seeing a married woman as a protagonist that took into account the prejudices she faced as well as the sacrifices she made to reach her position.

The worldbuilding is well done and takes into consideration how the discovery of a literal afterlife affects the living. Summerland itself is a little hard to picture (understandably as it's got a 4th dimension that isn't time) but adheres to a particular set of rules. I would have liked more information on how the ectotanks and flyers worked, because they sounded terrifyingly awesome.

This is a unique spy thriller that's worth picking up.