Five hundred years in the future, humankind has disappeared. But that's because the Erta, a human-like species created by human scientists to fix Earth's multitude of problems, determined that the only way to return the planet to environmental stability was to wipe out the species and start over. After so many years, their job is finally done, and the Erta are unsure whether they want to reintroduce a species that previously decimated the environment. The solution is an experiment: data-driven atmospheric scientist Ima will raise a single human child to see if it's worth it to resurrect the species. But as she takes on child-rearing, Ima learns that there's more to raising a child than providing food and shelter, and there's more to the Erta's story than she ever realized.
I'll admit that there's something hilarious in the idea of a non-human raising a human child, particularly in the beginning of the book (One exchange between Ima and her sister when the child is a week old: "Just because you have successfully engineered a human infant, does not mean you have succeeded." "I know I must care for it, keep it alive. But the hard part is over, I am certain.") But the book isn't hilarious throughout. Instead, it's thoughtful and evokes plenty of introspection about the role of nature versus nurture, the purpose of the arts and religion, and even the goal of a species. I was very intrigued by this one, much more so than I thought I would be.
No comments:
Post a Comment