This is what they call an "ambitious novel". It
portrays a non-human alien race as the only characters. Their planet is in a
star system traveling through the galaxy - causing them to experience passage
through dust clouds, radiation, meteors, etc. The book is a series of episodes in
their civilization's history from something analogous to our Bronze Age to the
first space flight. (This may make it sound rather epic, but the book is under
300 pages.) It shows how superstition and myth try to explain the world, and
how science struggles to break the hold of superstition. (But also shows how
science works under faulty assumptions until it discovers other facts.) Their
civilization builds up; then is knocked down on occasions by a small ice age, a
huge meteor strike or a period of infertility followed by explosive population;
and then civilization builds up again. At times conditions favor societies
living on fleets of sea animals used as ships, at other times conditions favor
life on land. Their technology is mostly based on plants and animals bred for
certain functions. Ongoing references to
aspects of their non-human anatomy and biology prevent us from slipping back
into thinking of them as human. But they're not incomprehensibly alien - their
non-human-ness doesn't prevent the reader from following the story.
This book will probably bring
very different reactions depending on reader preferences. As much as I can say
about it (as above), somehow it didn’t captivate me. Perhaps, this is in part
because most of the book takes place in low-tech, pre-industrial societies. Perhaps,
there were too many disasters hampering the rise of civilization. Perhaps, it
nevertheless didn’t acquire a good pace. Perhaps, there’s no rational
explanation. All I can say is it had a lot of potential, but – for me – it didn’t
reach the potential. The average rating of the book at goodreads.com is 3.66
out of 5. Clearly, most people didn’t think it was bad, but they also didn’t
consider it extraordinary.
The book consists of a series
of novelette-like sections. Each portrays a different age in the history of
this alien culture - conveyed through a story of certain characters involved in
significant events of that age. The events shaping these ages are often
influenced by the movement of their star system through the galaxy. For
instance, passing through an interstellar dust cloud impacts their climate (an
ice age), a period of radiation affects their fertility.
As the story begins, there
are people who study the sky and the stars. The scientifically inclined ones understand
that over time stars that are visible at night have changed their relative positions. There
are widespread myths and superstitions about the stars. The
superstitious people often deny that the stars change. Times are getting
tougher, so the superstitious forces are on the rise in many places. Seeking
knowledge and others who wish to truly learn, Jing journeys north. In the far
north where few people have ventured, some have established a settlement in an
area made habitable by hot springs. The religious forces are somewhat subdued
by the ruler. Progress is made in star charting and lenses, until the first
disaster brings an end to the settlement. A few manage to flee across the sea
and take some knowledge with them.
Progress followed by crisis
and relocation occurs in following ages as well. Jing’s name is carried down
through the ages among scientists…