Book reviews by Mobilism's Book Review team
Mar 28th, 2021, 10:24 pm
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Title: Seveneves
Author: Neal Stephenson
Published: 2015
Genre: Fiction > Science Fiction > Hard SF
Rating: ★★★½

Purchase: Amazon
Mobilism: Mobilism

Rarely is a disaster novel written with the kind of flair and attention to detail as this offering by Neal Stephenson. Stranger still is how a narrative on the near extinction of the human race after a mysterious apocalyptic event can be leavened with the kind of optimism and hope that Stephenson manages to radiate with this book. Seveneves is a multidisciplinary narrative full of grand ideas that lies firmly in the 'hard SF' end of science-fiction's spectrum and is, quite simply, a disaster novel of epic proportions.

What’s particularly gratifying about the story is the conveyance of humanity’s grit and gumption—that the species can bounce back from the direst of circumstances notwithstanding those individuals who would continue to pursue their own interests (an almost hardwired propensity) to the detriment of all, even in this most precarious of situations imaginable.

"The moon blew up without warning and for no apparent reason," is the opening line of the novel, balancing a tone somewhere between deadpan and cool swagger. Thereafter, Stephenson narrates the effects of this catastrophic event on the global and personal mindset, including how the world grapples with the ramifications of the inexorable disaster to come. The novel is divided into three sections, and the first two-thirds are spent detailing a very relatable near-future scenario where the human race is credited with a short two year grace period to prepare for the impending "Hard Rain", a cavalcade of shattered rocks from Earth’s former satellite that will bombard the world, burn the skies, and kill seven billion people.

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                  The International Space Station ("Izzy" in the novel), attached to the asteroid Amalthea.
                                     Image by Weta Workshop.


This is a novel in which Stephenson most definitely ramps up his technical exposition, more so than in his previous works of fiction. Yet, it all feels very apposite, since it would be difficult to take seriously the plan that’s enacted to circumvent the total annihilation of the species without the framework that Stephenson provides. These details end up enhancing dramatic tension by highlighting the enormous difficulty of various situations, including the daunting tasks that must be accomplished, plus the minute margins of error and time constraints that are at play. They also provide rational explanations for choices, events and circumstances in the narrative. Stephenson is one of the few authors who can write exposition well, where almost every digression is instructive and often thrilling; e.g. those long sections describing the expedition to retrieve an ice comet safely to the ISS are both detail-oriented and action-packed. For readers who enjoy his obsessive attention to detail and sheer enthusiasm on any subject that takes his fancy, these expository passages are a delight for their edification and for being wryly written with sprinklings of his customary, dry humour. And luckily for those generally averse to such exposition, what's convenient is that these sections are written such that they can be skimmed (perhaps even skipped) without sacrificing on plot.

However, all this does not imply a total lack of characterisation. While characterisation has never been his particular forte, Stephenson nonetheless presents strong, non-caricatured, polymath individuals, each with their various idiosyncrasies, and the majority of them women. And while characters in Seveneves are certainly distinct, the author presents them more in an aggregate capacity, where the different personality types have various implications in the kinds of social interactions that play out. This becomes more obvious and very important in the latter section of the narrative, where even the palindromic nature of the title takes on added meaning.

Despite his exposition-heavy narrative style, Stephenson really is a consummate storyteller. Some of his most powerful and thrilling passages describe those series of events set in motion by individuals who prioritise their own personal goals and ambitions, even as Earth dies. The sheer gall of characters who equate their own aspirations through political gambits with the good of all leads to a conclusion nearly as catastrophic as the species extinction-level event that is underway. Such sections are made all the more powerful for abstaining from unnecessary melodrama and pathos. Whilst there is a strong element of humanity and heroism (and narcissism) in character depictions, it is told from an unsentimental and ruthlessly honest standpoint, making the narrative unexpectedly harrowing and all the more hopeful for the ordeal endured.

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                The Eye, a tethered construct that moves around the O'Neill Cylinders making up the orbital ring.
                                     Image by Weta Workshop.


The real issue with the novel arrives in its last third. Not because it's somehow weaker than the previous two sections in its descriptive or intellectual capacity, but because of the proliferation of new themes and suggested plot lines.

In actual fact, the last third is Neal Stephenson at his speculative best, painting imagery of technological marvels with the pointillist skill and precision akin to what Seurat displayed in "A Sunday Afternoon…" (1886), where each disparate description unifies into a cohesive whole the monumental efforts expended by a civilisation re-flowered from a millennia-long drought. The explanation of genetically diverse races and the concomitant political divisions that line up directly with the relationships of the original survivors are fascinating in the extreme. Stephenson plays skilfully between examining the characters' genetic inheritance and their conscious affirmation of cultural identity based on their own version of a 'book', this being an archive of video recordings depicting the lives, relationships and decisions of those original denizens of humanity's Cloud Ark Project that permeates all aspects of their culture.

However, these last three hundred pages are hardly adequate to examine the new narrative on which Stephenson embarks, on what is essentially a different novel altogether. In one sense, it's a shame to leave the original cast behind, but the long-term and rather profound consequences that play out really seem to be the novel’s raison d'être. At the same time, there is less of an emotional investment with these new characters, likely because they are not suffering the same level of drama and stress from apocalyptic events the original cast experienced.

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                    The Cradle of the Space Hook, a device that lowers and lifts humans into space.
                                     Image by Weta Workshop.


While on one level, this final section does work as a coda to the first two-thirds, the amount of material introduced (and the complexity hinted at) is worthy of another doorstopper-sized novel and leaves the reader wanting more. It's much too long to serve merely as a coda, yet not long enough to satisfactorily explore the repercussions of the events played out in earlier sections.

One particular blemish that has tarred some of Stephenson's novels from reaching even greater heights is his predilection for rather abrupt dénouements, as in this case with Seveneves' brisk ending which is reminiscent of some of his pre-Anathem fiction. If Stephenson had ended at the two-thirds mark, Seveneves might have been a perfect near-future techno-thriller, although the truly audacious speculation of the work would have been excised. This is one case where it would have behoved his editor to insist on another two hundred pages, both to attempt a more than perfunctory account of some of the new threads presented so late in the game and to execute a smoother end. Instead, the novel ceases with the abrupt and unceremonious termination of a conversation, where even more new ideas are introduced. Or, Stephenson could have made this section more effective by reserving it for a whole new sequel. Luckily (or unluckily), long-time fans are inured to this pattern to varying degrees.

Despite these faults (niggling though minor in the grand scheme of the narrative), one of Stephenson's greatest strengths is how much he does get right that these inconveniences do not adversely affect the totality of the work. And despite also its heavy, expository nature, Seveneves is a novel brimming with bold ideas, thrilling situations, and a speculative ingenuity that truly awes. Whilst the level of humour is a bit more subdued compared to some of his other novels, he still manages a droll tone and blithely inserts observations tinged with irony and perspicacity, seemingly without conscious effort. Readers new to Stephenson or unfamiliar with the extremes hard SF's expository nature can take could find this particular title heavy going and might consider starting with earlier efforts—his tongue-in-cheek cyberpunk satire, Snow Crash; or his nanotech-infused, near-future throwback to Victorian-era social modes, The Diamond Age—even though Seveneves is still a rather straightforward and accessible read compared, say, to his philosophically-inclined, high-concept masterpiece, Anathem. Readers with a penchant for detail, a love of gadgets and mega-structures, and an interest in various concepts and branches of science such as astronomy, orbital mechanics, robotics and swarming behaviour, epigenetics and heterozygosity, more orbital mechanics, asteroid mining, various anthropological topics, and even more orbital mechanics will find themselves enthralled.
Mar 28th, 2021, 10:24 pm
Apr 16th, 2021, 7:03 am
It's been a while since I read it, but I remember enjoying it, though I also though it was too short. But my reasoning was that he had three solutions to the problem of the race surviving but focused mostly on the space based solution and less on the other two, especially the underwater one and that was the least believable to me, but that might have been because he didn't give a good enough explanation of it.
Apr 16th, 2021, 7:03 am