The Book of Strange New Things shares a premise with Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow: a religious man travels to an alien world to minister to its inhabitants. The similarity provides an added layer of suspense, given how things go bad in The Sparrow -- and in most accounts of cross-cultural contact.
Faber is not interested in the science part of his science fiction story, but he does create an intriguingly foreign world. He also captures his protagonist's uneasiness, which comes from him not being sure about his fellow humans' motivations much less the aliens'. The story raises questions about our ability to communicate in the absence of shared experience. Peter wonders how his flock understands God, and he becomes increasingly estranged from his wife who is experiencing travails back on Earth.
Faber is not interested in the science part of his science fiction story, but he does create an intriguingly foreign world. He also captures his protagonist's uneasiness, which comes from him not being sure about his fellow humans' motivations much less the aliens'. The story raises questions about our ability to communicate in the absence of shared experience. Peter wonders how his flock understands God, and he becomes increasingly estranged from his wife who is experiencing travails back on Earth.
No comments:
Post a Comment