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Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽'s Reviews > Elder Race
Elder Race
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On sale now! 4+ stars for this great fantasy/SF mashup.
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” - Arthur C. Clarke.
This short novel is about the intersection between highly advanced technology and a society that views it as magic, along with the linguistic difficulties that prevent the local society's people from understanding the difference even when the anthropologist who's been studying them for years tries to explain it. Also it's about a quest to destroy a Lovecraftian demon/monstrous entity of some unfamiliar kind, and juggling non-interference rules (Prime Directive, anyone?) with less technologically advanced societies (and where those rules maybe should be tossed out the window). And emotional problems, and friendship. And did I mention the fascinating linguistic aspects?
Adrian Tchaikovsky is such a brilliant, versatile author - I never know what he's going to come up with next, but I know it'll be good. And I love these short stand-alone novels and novellas that he's been writing lately.
Full review to come (I'm working on it...). Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” - Arthur C. Clarke.
This short novel is about the intersection between highly advanced technology and a society that views it as magic, along with the linguistic difficulties that prevent the local society's people from understanding the difference even when the anthropologist who's been studying them for years tries to explain it. Also it's about a quest to destroy a Lovecraftian demon/monstrous entity of some unfamiliar kind, and juggling non-interference rules (Prime Directive, anyone?) with less technologically advanced societies (and where those rules maybe should be tossed out the window). And emotional problems, and friendship. And did I mention the fascinating linguistic aspects?
Adrian Tchaikovsky is such a brilliant, versatile author - I never know what he's going to come up with next, but I know it'll be good. And I love these short stand-alone novels and novellas that he's been writing lately.
Full review to come (I'm working on it...). Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!
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Reading Progress
September 22, 2021
–
Started Reading
September 22, 2021
– Shelved
September 22, 2021
– Shelved as:
to-read
September 23, 2021
– Shelved as:
science-fiction
September 23, 2021
– Shelved as:
netgalley
September 23, 2021
–
Finished Reading
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Dylan
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rated it 2 stars
Sep 23, 2021 03:24PM
Glad to see you enjoyed this. I have it preordered, really looking forward to it
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Dylan wrote: "Glad to see you enjoyed this. I have it preordered, really looking forward to it"I pretty much want to read everything Tchaikovsky writes. He almost never disappoints me.
That is a lot of multisyllabic words you must have learned for this brief description; phew! I am glad Star Trek created easy, memorable expressions for things like non-interference: we can simply call it "the prime directive". Or do I know these things because I am a Trekkie, to your fantasy fandom? :) The cover of "Elder Race" makes me want to read it, even if the rules and new worlds to learn seem daunting.
Just requested this one from NetGalley — but Tordotcom tends to deny my requests speedily, so we’ll see.
Nataliya wrote: "Just requested this one from NetGalley — but Tordotcom tends to deny my requests speedily, so we’ll see."Crossing my fingers for you!
Great review, Tadiana! Glad you enjoyed it!
Guess you'll get back to mine later. I can imagine comments with more meat on them take longer to answer. Well, I can't visit many friends on slow internet and put heart into it when I do. :)
C. (friends, please call me by name) wrote: "Guess you'll get back to mine later. I can imagine comments with more meat on them take longer to answer. Well, I can't visit many friends on slow internet and put heart into it when I do. :)"It was actually purely an oversight on my part, so please don't be offended. I saw there were new comments on this thread but only noticed the last one from Nataliya. Life is just so busy for me right now that I'm having issues staying on top of it all (and probably failing as often as not).
Adrian Tchaikovsky is an excellent author, mostly fantasy but with some SF mixed in, and this story manages to be a great mix of both. Even though it's technically SF it has a very strong flavor of fantasy with it. BTW my favorite work of his is a novel from a few years ago, Guns of the Dawn, which has a Regency era streak to it that I found highly appealing.
Very understandable and good to know, my friend. I didn't know if I was encountering something experienced from other people: not knowing what to do with someone who says something profound. ;> I get busy myself from October to January.I never could be that person who drops off a standard "terrific review". Even in yearbooks, where most people dash off "have a great year"; I had to find something original to say to every person. I hope I made you laugh with Star Trek lingo that was so much easier than how your complex novel put the prime directive concept; hehe. And to commiserate that I myself love a little science fiction at least onscreen and fantasy. Yes, they often blend so that I can hardly tell where the line is. :)
You know, when I wrote this review I was trying to remember Star Trek’s Prime Directive phrase but it just wasn’t coming to mind. But that’s exactly what the “sorcerer” (anthropologist) is struggling with in this book. So thanks for the reminder!
Tell the sorcerer I say that a little help with baby steps is okay. :) I say the same about those crews constantly filming wildlife to highlight their struggle. There is a difference between lending a hand to a fellow creature in trouble since you are there, from spoiling their independence; sheesh!
I’m very excited about this one. Got it comfily sitting in my Kindle app, waiting for a buddy read. I still don’t get how Tchaikovsky can write as fast as he does; every time I blink there seems to be a new book by him out.
Yes, he goes on my "author superstars" list along with Brandon Sanderson and Patricia Briggs. The ones who manage to write an eyebrow-raising amount of books while still keeping the overall quality high.Heh, I just was trying to find his website and saw in his Wikipedia entry that his actual last name is Czajkowski. Born and lives in Great Britain, though.
I might have to steal that Clarke quote for my review… 😏 I only just started and just „saw“ the elder for the first time. Not bad…
It's a very famous quote in SF. :) I love what Tchaikovsky did with that idea here.
Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ wrote: "Heh, I just was trying to find his website and saw in his Wikipedia entry that his actual last name is Czajkowski. Born and lives in Great Britain, though."I read somewhere that he tried publishing his works in Polish translation using his actual name spelling, but that was shut down by the publishers. I guess he’s a brand now…
Read it and loved it. It spits in the face of Prime Directive — and for a good reason. Sometimes one cannot be just an observer.
Nataliya wrote: "Read it and loved it. It spits in the face of Prime Directive — and for a good reason. Sometimes one cannot be just an observer."I think there’s a really interesting philosophical discussion that could be had about the Prime Directive. When should it be followed, and when shouldn’t it? I think several factors could come into play.
It’s like watching a Discovery channel documentary about animals and seeing an animal dying of hunger — and I yell at TV to just throw them food, non-interference be damned. Multiple factors play into evolution and survival and development; who’s to say that supposed observers are not a part of it?
Good point! It drives me nuts when animals in a documentary could easily be saved by the crew and aren’t, as far as we know. I’m always hoping that the crew does something after they turn off the cameras.
