Slow Gods review: Deep-space sci-fi novel is delightful, profound and not to be missed

Slow Gods
Clear North, Orbit

Claire North is a successful and prolific novelist, writing under three different names, but this is their first move into classic science fiction, that is, a novel featuring spaceships. I loved the title of this book, Slow Godsand I loved the cover. All that to say, I went in with high hopes.

He begins: “My name is Mawukana na-Vdnaze and I am a very bad copy of myself. » A good start.

After that I got a bit lost for about 60 pages. It’s an epic space opera and there were so many timelines, cultures, names… That’s normal for a space opera, obviously, but I didn’t yet relate to the main character, a deep space pilot with an exceptional flying record, but a mediocre history when it comes to not murdering people. Maybe I just wasn’t in a good mood. I pushed a little. And then the hero, Maw, met a person called Gebre, and I was into it.

I’m going to move forward now: READ THIS BOOK. If you like science fiction, this is for you. It’s great. If, like me, you’re not sure at first, keep going!

Since I have room here for a few more words, I will expand on these statements. It’s been a long time since I’ve read such a purely delicious piece of science fiction. That’s not to say it’s just fun; it also manages to be both moving and profound. Oh, and it’s beautifully written.

North is superb in very detailed world-building and galaxy-building plots, but also in character and feeling. Humor too, and in the great tradition of Iain M. Banks, there are pretty artificial intelligences/drones here serving as a comic film.

Maw is an exceptional protagonist. It’s always nice, as a reader, to have no idea what your hero is capable of, but to suspect that it’s something quite dramatic. After an incident in deep space during their first mission as a pilot, Maw keeps dying…and then coming back to life. It turns out that this will happen as long as no one looks at their corpse or mourns it. It’s unlikely that Maw is still human, although most of the time they appear to be.

So back to that meeting with Gebre… Maw has agreed to pilot a ship to Adjumir, a planet that will soon be destroyed by the collapse of LK-08091881, a binary star system.

A mysterious possibly divine machine called Slow actually warned everyone that the star system was about to collapse and that the resulting shockwave would travel at the speed of light and “wipe out all life within an eighty-three light-year radius.” The problem is that the response to this warning in the affected area has been patchy at best, and when Maw lands on Adjumir in his final days, there are still people there. Billions. Everyone hopes that their number will be called in a lottery so they can escape.

This is how Maw meets Gebre Nethyu Chatithimska Bajwahra. Gebre is currently “countless”, but they are not focusing on that. They simply want to save vital objects so that future generations can discover the true history of Adjumir.

Gebre is a deeply attractive character and Maw falls very much in love with them. What could they do to protect Gebre? Or even to avenge them? Our stage is set.

I should mention that there’s also The Shine, excellent villains with bad attitudes and deadly equipment, including near-invisible city-killing “dark ships” and super soldiers.

As mentioned: read this book!

Emily also recommends…

Consider Phlebas
Iain M. Banks, Orbit

Slow Gods reminded me several times of Banks’s cultural novels, so the natural “also recommend” comes from that. Normally, for readers new to the culture, I recommend The Player of Games. But it’s also a very friendly start to the series for the new reader, as well as being the first cultural book written by Banks. It’s about a man named Horza who can shapeshift, becoming a perfect copy of everyone around him. Who would need to know more?

Emily H. Wilson is a former editor of New Scientist and the author of the Sumerian trilogy, set in ancient Mesopotamia. The latest novel in the series, Ninshubar, is available now. You can find her at emilyhwilson.com, or follow her on X @emilyhwilson and Instagram @emilyhwilson1