cover image The Disestablishment of Paradise

The Disestablishment of Paradise

Phillip Mann. Gollancz (Trafalgar Sq., dist.), $15.95 trade paper (368p) ISBN 978-0-575-13263-4

Richly textured and warmly resonant, this saga of relationships between humans and aliens is presented through multiple viewpoints that give readers room to both experience exciting action and ponder its consequences. Dr. Hera Melhuish is stationed on the planet Paradise, examining its rejection of plants and animals from Earth. She’s outraged when authorities shut down her project and recall her team of experts, citing increasing danger from the inhospitable planet, and she decides to stay behind and continue her work alone. She is joined by Mack, a construction worker who’d labored to remove traces of humanity from the world; he’s both attracted to Hera and drawn by Paradise’s psychic energy. Willing to see what Paradise truly is, beyond their preconceptions, the two experience peril, wonder, and love. Their direct experiences are put into perspective by a writer’s musings as she tries to turn Hera and Mack’s story into a popular narrative, and made more real by jottings from Paradise’s settlers and scientists. This novel, Mann’s first in 15 years, manages to be simultaneously exciting, romantic, and contemplative—quite a remarkable performance. (Aug.)