Book Review: Planetfall by Emma Newman
Beautifully tragic, but marred by a rushed ending.
I came to find Planetfall through a recommendation from the Writing Excuses Podcast (Season 11 - Episode 29).
This is a very different kind of science fiction novel. Definitely not hard SciFi, it taps into something a little more human than most others (though it is very dependant on detailed description of the technologies present in the world they inhabit).
Even though it has forty chapters in total, end-to-end Planetfall feels more like a long-form short story, rather than a novel.
Emma keeps tensions building throughout the events, heightening the anxiety felt by the primary character Renata. Allowing her to slip into hysteria as the pressure of keeping secrets from the members of the colony she inhabits, while the burden of guilt plays with her emotional, and mental well being.
I applaud Emma at being one of the few writers I've recently read who truly understands the benefit of the chapter hook, leaving you just breathless enough to want to turn the page and indeed dive into the following chapter.
I am pleased that Emma Newman has written this novel from Ren's point of view, the emotional and mental states are well conveyed, adding to the tension, though I wonder if it would have been as stronger novel had we had the chance to see the colony, and indeed God's City, from the viewpoints of Mack, or Kay, or perhaps even Sung-soo.
The pseudo-religious overtones in Planetfall stand out frequently, not being religious myself I found it to be non-confrontational, adding catalyst to allow the books events to unfold. I feel that it wasn't an entirely necessary inclusion, and seemed to serve little more than a justified distraction where an equally different, or stronger idea could have taken its place.
Which is perhaps why I'm a little disappointed with the ending, it all just feels too rushed. The threads that are woven together so well in the beginning unravel at its end, with many loose ends left hanging. Sung-Soo becomes a stereotypical ulterior aggressor with banal motives. Mack is emasculated by the events of colony secrets becoming public where he shrinks into the background, strange for a character who began stalwart and resolute. Kay is conveniently lost between a line of dialog and an obscure reference.
Even the final journey that Ren makes into God's City is punctuated by a few disappointing events, exposition taking place where narrative and plot should have been instead.
All in all, Planetfall is an enjoyable novel, albeit with a frustrating ending.
