 | |
| Author | Tade Thompson |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction; mystery novel |
| Published | 26 Oct 2021 |
| Publisher | Orbit Books |
| Pages | 400 |
| ISBN | 978-0-759-55791-8 |
Far from the Light of Heaven is a 2021 science fiction mystery novel by Tade Thompson. It was a finalist for the 2022 Philip K. Dick Award and 2022 Nommo Award for Best Novel.
Captain Michelle “Shell” Campion boards the starship Ragtime for a journey to the colony planet Bloodroot. She awakens to find that the AI captain is compromised and that 31 passengers have been murdered and dismembered. The victims include Yan Maxwell, the richest man in the solar system and owner of the mega-corporation MaxGalactix. Investigator Rasheed Fin is on Bloodroot when he receives a distress call from Campion. On Bloodroot, humans and alien Lambers share a mostly peaceful existence. Fin's most recent assignment went wrong and a high-ranking Lamber was killed. Despite being on suspension, Fin is sent into orbit discover what has transpired with Ragtime. He and Salvo, an AI companion, meet Campion.
Lawrence “Larry” Biz, Governor of Space Station Lagos, learns that the Ragtime has not landed on Bloodroot as scheduled. Larry and his half-Lamber daughter Joké take a shuttle to Ragtime. Several catastrophes occur on the ship, including the loss of life support, disruption of communication with Bloodroot, and the release of experimental animal and plant species which attack the survivors. Shell finds a man named Jeremiah Brisbane aboard the ship.
A flashback reveals how Brisbane arrived on the ship. He is a member of the Tehani, a group of miners. They have been working for MaxGalactix under terrible conditions, resulting in early death due to poisoning. The Tehani equipped Brisbane with an AI named Carmilla and sent them to assassinate Maxwell. On Ragtime, Brisbane confronted Maxwell but was unable to kill him in cold blood. Carmilla killed Maxwell and several other passengers, then disabled Ragtime. Carmilla wishes to broadcast an anti-capitalist message to other mining colonies like the Tehani. Carmilla steals a shuttle and forces Brisbane aboard. Ragtime begins to crash into Bloodroot's atmosphere, killing Larry and many sleeping passengers. Brisbane fights against Carmilla and is killed by Bloodroot soldiers. Carmilla uses Lamber technology to broadcast her message before shutting down.
In retaliation for Maxwell's death, MaxGalactix ships attack Space Station Lagos. The station severs the portal between Lagos and Earth, giving them several decades to begin a weapons program before resuming contact. Campion and Fin remain stranded on Bloodroot. Campion cannot her escape feelings of responsibility for the Ragtime disaster.
Writing for Locus, Ian Mond writes about the intersection between the Lagos solar system and MaxGalactix. The novel explores Afrofuturist ideas and "depicts a future where black folk, particularly those descended from Nigeria, are flourishing in the dark reaches of space." However, this is only possible because they "serve, or at least don’t interfere with, the interests of Yan Maxwell". [1]
In Mond's view, Maxwell is "more of a Musk than a Bezos", and his exploitation of the Tehani is the "very act of slow genocide that the plot of the novel pivots around". [1] Writing for Tor.com, Alexis Ong states that the Tehani "serve mostly as a stand-in for the multitude of oppressed indigenous communities in our current reality, as well as those that will inevitably fuel the future wave of space colonization with their bones and blood." [2]
A review by Grant Wythoff in the Los Angeles Review of Books states that Tade Thompson's novel is a re-working of the idea of space opera. According to Wythoff, space opera is "typically seen as (and often [is]) the least literary form of [science fiction]". Modern-day authors in this subgenre "are processing the consequences of having left [Earth]", especially in terms of the modern-day climate crisis. Authors like Thompson are "fully aware of the subgenre’s legacy as a literature of colonial expansion and military conquest". Thompson's use of the subgenre contrasts with an older view of space exploration that is mostly led by government programs such as NASA. The character of Yan Maxwell is the head of a private company that expands into space, which is comparable to the figures of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos; Maxwell was also inspired by the short fiction of Robert Heinlein. [3]
Writing for The Guardian, Lisa Tuttle called the novel "probably the best science fiction novel of the year", writing that it is "like the Tardis, larger inside than out, with a range of ideas, characters and fascinating future settings". [4] A review for Tor.com stated that the novel "offers refreshing perspectives on both terrestrial and space colonialism, the impact of multiculturalism and Blackness in a realm historically dominated by white capitalism." [2]
A review in Kirkus called the novel "gripping and bloody as a beating heart but with a strong need for follow up". The novel commented that the plot initially reads as a locked room mystery in the style of Agatha Christie, but that the author does not give the reader enough clues to solve the mystery. Instead, he reveals most of the answers halfway through the novel, creating a "genuinely exciting race against time". The review also notes that the novel is "considerably less drenched in the hallucinatory than Thompson's Wormwood Trilogy ", but that the supernatural elements at the end of the novel leave it open-ended for the possibility of a sequel. [5] Author Amal El-Mohtar wrote that the "short, choppy chapters are both methodical and kaleidoscopic". She felt that the style is "sometimes disorienting and sometimes curt" but that "I’ll keep my fingers crossed for any of the several potential sequel hooks ". [6]
A review in Lightspeed Magazine praised Thompson's ability to combine elements from various different genres and found Shell's voice to be gripping, but criticized the reveal of the killer as "spoon-fed". [7] Ian Mond of Locus stated "I loved Thompson’s characters and the hectic plot ricocheting from one revelation to the next". Despite this, Mond found the prose to be too expository and felt that the "screech-to-a-halt-ending gives the book an unfinished feel." [1]
The novel was a finalist for the 2022 Philip K. Dick Award [8] and the 2022 Nommo Award for Best Novel. [9]
The Ditmar Award is Australia's oldest and best-known science fiction, fantasy and horror award, presented annually since 1969, usually at the Australian "Natcon". The historical nominations and results of the Award follow.
Tansy Rayner Roberts is an Australian fantasy writer. Her short stories have been published in a variety of genre magazines, including Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine and Aurealis. She also writes crime fiction as Livia Day.
Jason Nahrung is an Australian horror author and journalist who lives in Melbourne with his partner Kirstyn McDermott. Nahrung has previously written for The Courier-Mail newspaper in Queensland, with a special interest in speculative fiction and horror-related topics. He was co-winner the 2005 William Atheling Jnr award for Criticism or Review. His first novel, The Darkness Within, was published in June 2007 by Hachette Livre in Australia. Nahrung has also published some horror and speculative fiction short stories.
The William Atheling Jr. Award for Criticism or Review are a Special Category under the Ditmar Awards. "The Athelings", as they are known for short, are awarded for excellence in science fiction and speculative criticism, and were named for the pseudonym used by James Blish for his critical writing.
Blackass is a novel by Nigerian author A. Igoni Barrett. It was released in the United Kingdom and Nigeria in 2015, and 2016 in the United States. It received mixed reviews.
Neon Yang, formerly JY Yang, is a Singaporean writer of English-language speculative fiction best known for the Tensorate series of novellas published by Tor.com, which have been finalists for the Hugo Award, Locus Award, Nebula Award, World Fantasy Award, Lambda Literary Award, British Fantasy Award, and Kitschie Award. The first novella in the series, The Black Tides of Heaven, was named one of the 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time by Time Magazine. Their debut novel, The Genesis of Misery, the first book in The Nullvoid Chronicles, was published in 2022 by Tor Books, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, received a nomination for the 2022 Goodreads Choice Award for Science Fiction, and was a Finalist for the 2023 Locus Award for Best First Novel and 2023 Compton Crook Award.
Tade Thompson FRSL is a British-born Nigerian psychiatrist and writer best known for his science fiction novel series Rosewater.
AnnaLinden Weller, better known under her pen name Arkady Martine, is an American author of science fiction literature. Her first novels A Memory Called Empire (2019) and A Desolation Called Peace (2021), which form the Teixcalaan series, each won the Hugo Award for Best Novel.
The Murders of Molly Southbourne is a 2017 horror novella by Nigerian-British writer Tade Thompson. The plot covers the life of Molly Southbourne, who is afflicted by a mysterious condition. Every time she bleeds, a doppelgänger will grow from her blood and attempt to kill her. The novel has two sequels: The Survival of Molly Southbourne (2019) and The Legacy of Molly Southbourne (2022).
Suyi Davies Okungbowa is a Nigerian fantasy, science fiction and speculative writer and academic. He is the author of various novels, including The Nameless Republic epic fantasy trilogy, beginning with Son of the Storm. His debut was the godpunk fantasy novel, David Mogo, Godhunter. He has also written works for younger readers under the author name Suyi Davies, including Minecraft: The Haven Trials. His work is heavily influenced by the histories and cultures of West Africa and Nigeria, and discusses themes of identity, challenging difference and finding home. WIRED referred to him as "one of the most promising new voices coterie of African SFF writers." He is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Ottawa.
Tochi Onyebuchi is an American science fiction and fantasy writer and former civil rights lawyer. His novella, Riot Baby, received an Alex Award from the American Library Association and the World Fantasy Award in 2021. He is known for incorporating civil rights and Afrofuturism into his stories and novels.
The Nommo Awards are literary awards presented by The African Speculative Fiction Society. The awards recognize works of speculative fiction by Africans, defined as "science fiction, fantasy, stories of magic and traditional belief, alternative histories, horror and strange stuff that might not fit in anywhere else."
Africanfuturism is a cultural aesthetic and philosophy of science that centers on the fusion of African culture, history, mythology, point of view, with technology based in Africa and not limiting to the diaspora. It was coined by Nigerian American writer Nnedi Okorafor in 2019 in a blog post as a single word. Nnedi Okorafor defines Africanfuturism as a sub-category of science fiction that is "directly rooted in African culture, history, mythology and point-of-view..and...does not privilege or center the West," is centered with optimistic "visions in the future," and is written by "people of African descent" while rooted in the African continent. As such its center is African, often does extend upon the continent of Africa, and includes the Black diaspora, including fantasy that is set in the future, making a narrative "more science fiction than fantasy" and typically has mystical elements. It is different from Afrofuturism, which focuses mainly on the African diaspora, particularly the United States. Works of Africanfuturism include science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, horror and magic realism.
Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki or Ekpeki Oghenechovwe Donald is a Nigerian speculative fiction writer, editor and publisher who is the first African-born Black author to win a Nebula Award. He's also received a World Fantasy Award, British Fantasy Award, Otherwise Award, and two Nommo Awards along with being a multi-time finalist for a number of other honors including the Hugo Award.
Rosewater is a 2016 science fiction novel by Nigerian-British writer Tade Thompson. In Rosewater, Nigerian agent Kaaro uses his psychic powers to investigate a mysterious alien dome and deaths linked to it. It was followed by two sequels: The Rosewater Insurrection and The Rosewater Redemption which were published in 2019 simultaneously. The novel won the inaugural Nommo Award as well as the 2019 Arthur C. Clarke Award.
Wole Talabi is a Nigerian author of speculative fiction and editor. The Scientific American described him as an author who "...blends transhumanism and the Turing test".
Vigil is a 2016 urban fantasy novel by Angela Slatter. It is the first novel in the Verity Fassbinder series.
The Rosewater Insurrection is a 2019 science fiction novel by Tade Thompson. It is the second book in the Wormwood Trilogy. It follows 2016's Rosewater and was followed by The Rosewater Redemption, also published in 2019.
The Rosewater Redemption is a 2019 science fiction novel by Tade Thompson. It is the final book in the Wormwood trilogy, preceded by Rosewater (2016) and The Rosewater Insurrection (2019). It was a finalist for the 2020 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is a 2022 novel by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. It is loosely based on The Island of Doctor Moreau, an 1896 novel by H.G. Wells. The novel received critical acclaim, with reviewers particularly praising its exploration of feminism and colonialism. The novel received nominations for the 2023 Hugo Award for Best Novel and 2023 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.