Summerland

I will admit that I'm generally not one to read espionage novels. I chose this book because I am a fan of both science fiction and the author's other works. This is an alternate history where elements of Valvepunk are the basis for a spy story set just after the first world war. Just to keep the reader on their toes, Rajaniemi has created a world where the afterlife is real and the departed are in regular contact, via various devices and methods, with the living. Furthermore, the British empire extends into the afterlife; enter Summerland. The Soviets also have a firm presence in the afterlife and British agent Rachel White believes she has a lead on a Soviet mole. I found this novel entertaining, mostly original and interesting enough to get me to the last page. My main criticism is that there were occasions when I thought the characters, their reactions to events and to each other were slightly stereotypical of a 1920's London and, oh so very British. That being said and having read other works by this author, I would consider this the most accessible of his works and a fun read.

Summerland has a fantastic setting! London after World War I with access to the afterlife recently discovered. England has already colonized it (what else would you expect of them) but the Russians have built a God so there is a cold war and tensions in Spain. The afterlife is four-dimensional with mysteries surrounding us in both of the new directions. Oh and all the characters are spies.

It's so imaginative! I love this setting. Comparatively, [b:The Quantum Thief|7562764|The Quantum Thief (Jean le Flambeur, #1)|Hannu Rajaniemi|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327950631s/7562764.jpg|9886333] had a very constrained setting. The Quantum Thief is hard sci-fi, respecting physical laws and filled with extrapolations from existing technologies. Summerland has no such constrains. Anything goes here!

How is it then that The Quantum Thief is so colorful while Summerland feels relatively bland? In The Quantum Thief a digitized human mind is smuggled in the crystal lattice of a chocolate sculpture. It's poetry!

At the same time Summerland seems even intentionally bland. People in the afterlife use public transportation and elevators. They go to work every day. You could remove all the fantastic elements and the plot would work the same!

The most obvious quirk of the afterlife is that someone can die and get there, right? But nobody dies in the entire book! Some people die but they don't appear in the afterlife. There are other quirks that you would expect to make a difference. Like ghosts can go through walls and cannot be followed, right? All these are countered through various means. That's interesting from a world-building perspective, but means that all the fantastic elements make no difference to the plot. You would also think you cannot die once you've died, right? Well, here you can. Ghosts can be killed and there's no second afterlife. There's really no practical difference between the living and dead characters in this book, which is super weird.

So how did I like it other than that? I liked it fine! The main character is very well developed. Between the male author and the male reader it's hard to say with any authority, but she was life-like to me and the story seemed to touch on gender issues thoughtfully. I don't know about you, but I try not to dwell on thoughts about death. But this book is an entertaining way to visit some otherwise grim thoughts. And even if I wish it had more impact on the story, the world-building is genius. I can imagine a lot of super cool stories in this setting!