BookBrowse Reviews The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz

BookBrowse:

In an epic narrative spanning three generations, Annalee Newitz tells the story of the terraformed planet Sask-E and its people's ongoing struggle for their freedom and future.

Sask-E is a planet that Verdance, a major terraforming company, has big plans for. Their business is acquiring unoccupied planets and changing their environments to suit their customers' needs. Marketed as a return to humanity's heritage, Sask-E's environment is being carefully designed to imitate Earth's during the Pleistocene. Annalee Newitz's novel The Terraformers begins by introducing Destry, who was genetically engineered by Verdance to work as an Environmental Rescue Team Ranger, helping to terraform the planet and keep its environment in balance. Her life is shaken when she makes an incredible discovery—an entire city of people believed by the company to have died off centuries ago. Spider City's inhabitants are seeking to negotiate a treaty with Verdance preserving their right to self-governance and ask for Destry's help. In the process, Destry is torn between the ideals she was taught as a member of the Environmental Rescue Team and the reality that she is essentially enslaved by Verdance. A compromise is reached, though no one is entirely happy with it, and the novel continues by following Destry's child and grandchild as they and the rest of Sask-E's citizens navigate the consequences of their choices and the changing relationships between the different factions on the planet.

Newitz has created an incredible setting, bringing to life a planet developed just as much by complex power structures and competing interests as by literal terraforming. From the work of caring for huge swaths of wilderness, to the government of Spider City, to the club and gaming scenes, the reader is invited to explore a planet that is surprising both in its similarities to and differences from our own. The fascinating depth of the worldbuilding never overshadows the plot, and the beautifully written characters feel integral to the setting, shaping it just as it has shaped them. The choices they make don't just change their own lives, but are shown to profoundly alter the lives of generations to come.

The networks of relationships between characters feel just as complex and real as the world they live in. None of the various groups are uniform or monolithic. Disagreements over how to protect and provide for their people or what concessions they can afford more than once lead to significant infighting among those working for the same goal. The threats facing Spider City even cause some to argue in favor of triggering the development of plate tectonics on Sask-E—a form of geological terrorism that would harm the city's own inhabitants and allies. This intra-faction conflict extends to the antagonists as well—Verdance is not a faceless corporation but a group of distinct individuals made all the more sinister by the fact that their motivations are often mundane and familiar. The dynamics shift over time as other companies buy interests in the planet, professional ambitions develop, and personal grudges are born. The juxtaposition of office politics with the real-world consequences of their actions is chilling.

The book is structured in three parts which operate like distinct novellas with an overarching plotline. Some readers may find the novel's wide scope to be a downside, as the time skips mean that the main characters in one section cease to be a significant part of the story in the next. However, this allows for a wonderful view of how perspectives in Sask-E's societies change over time. Events that are vividly experienced in the first part are the subject of debate and resentment in the second. By the third section, these events are viewed from the distant perspective of history.

Annalee Newitz's novel explores issues that are extremely relevant today, such as colonialism and gentrification, through compelling characters and a brilliantly crafted world. Despite the wide scope, the plot is fast-paced and gripping. It is sure to be a favorite of science fiction lovers, but I think it would also make an excellent introduction to the genre for readers looking to branch out.

This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in February 2023, and has been updated for the October 2023 edition. Click here to go to this issue.