Rejoice, a Knife to the Heart

August 27, 2018
This talky novel of first contact with reluctant alien overlords enjoys overturning notions of human exceptionalism. Seeking a facilitator for human-alien interactions, aliens abduct Canadian SF author Samantha August and try, over the course of many chapters, to debate her into agreeing to be their spokesperson. Meanwhile, their invasion (euphemistically called “the Intervention”) proceeds, with swaths of wilderness suddenly off-limits to humans and violent acts stopped in their tracks. Oil companies, warlords, and abusive husbands are unable to carry on with “business as usual.” Erikson (the Malazan Book of the Fallen epic fantasy series) has fun skewering many high-profile targets such as televangelists, billionaire investors, and politicians (particularly a stubby-fingered, hotel-owning U.S. president), and also dissects many of the unquestioned beliefs of contemporary capitalism, neoliberal politics, and even Star Trek’s prime directive. In the end, he suggests, humans can only change so much. Readers who are not averse to some lengthy Socratic dialogue (“If you will allow me this brief digression”) and Erikson’s own unquestioned belief that only SF authors are smart enough to save the world will find a wealth of pointed arguments that burst many irrational bubbles.

September 15, 2018
This latest novel from the acclaimed author of the Malazan Book of the Fallen fantasy series (Gardens of the Moon?, 1999) presents a novel of "first contact without contact," in which mysterious and impenetrable force fields appear all over the globe, created by beings who remain strangely silent. The force fields preserve and protect the most precious environmental resources of Earth, and this same invisible presence prevents any act of violence between human beings. The mysterious benefactors also provide food for those displaced by their fields. As the world reels from this sudden elimination of violence and exploitation, only Canadian sf author Samantha August, mysteriously abducted shortly before the event, has any clue as to what's happening. Engaging in lengthy conversations with an alien AI tasked with overseeing this intervention, Sam watches as humanity deals in a variety of ways with this fundamental shift in their political, economic, and social existence. Erikson's accomplished and deft prose easily captures the feeling of what a truly alien encounter would be like on a global scale.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)