Half-Built Garden

Joerg reviewed A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys

Gets in its own way

3 stars

This was a hard rating to find. In its best moments, this book is brilliant and deeply moving and cute and funny. But unfortunately, it is for the most part idea driven, and while a lot of those ideas are good and important to be in SciFi, they also make most of the narrative very tedious and wooden. I was still going for 4 stars, but then realized my biggest qualm: People place Emrys as the new LeGuin, but she most emphatically is not. LeGuin presented her ideas and then immediately let the story break them and show what could go wrong. And though Emry's idea of eco-anarchist communities moderated by clever technology is fantastic, she puts it on a pedestal and breaks narrative integrity to keep it squeaky clean. Also, the glorification of religious nonsense is almost grotesque in comparison to the embrace of diversity and standing up to …

This was a hard rating to find. In its best moments, this book is brilliant and deeply moving and cute and funny. But unfortunately, it is for the most part idea driven, and while a lot of those ideas are good and important to be in SciFi, they also make most of the narrative very tedious and wooden. I was still going for 4 stars, but then realized my biggest qualm: People place Emrys as the new LeGuin, but she most emphatically is not. LeGuin presented her ideas and then immediately let the story break them and show what could go wrong. And though Emry's idea of eco-anarchist communities moderated by clever technology is fantastic, she puts it on a pedestal and breaks narrative integrity to keep it squeaky clean. Also, the glorification of religious nonsense is almost grotesque in comparison to the embrace of diversity and standing up to power and control the rest of the book presents.

Zivan reviewed A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys

A Half-Built Garden is the most Fediversial novel I've read.

4 stars

A Half-Built Garden is the most Fediversial novel I've read.

The anarchists have won. The corporations and nation states have been sidelined. Most of the world is under the control of egalitarian communities that use an alternative network to achieve consensus and work to rehabilitate the climate change ravaged earth.

This is very much a slice of life novel in the vain of Becky Chambers, centered around a communal lgbtqia+ household. But as opposed to most slice of life novels there is a major crisis, and it falls upon this community to save the day.

Aliens have made first contact and they insist that the only way for technological species to survive is to leave their biospheres behind and build Dyson Swarms.

As their way of life comes under threat from without and within, Will the dandelion network survive? Will the power of decisions through discussion …

A Half-Built Garden is the most Fediversial novel I've read.

The anarchists have won. The corporations and nation states have been sidelined. Most of the world is under the control of egalitarian communities that use an alternative network to achieve consensus and work to rehabilitate the climate change ravaged earth.

This is very much a slice of life novel in the vain of Becky Chambers, centered around a communal lgbtqia+ household. But as opposed to most slice of life novels there is a major crisis, and it falls upon this community to save the day.

Aliens have made first contact and they insist that the only way for technological species to survive is to leave their biospheres behind and build Dyson Swarms.

As their way of life comes under threat from without and within, Will the dandelion network survive? Will the power of decisions through discussion and consensus overcome manipulation and coercion.

A special aspect of the aliens is the importance they place on the place of children in society.

PS:

I didn't expect this novel to be so Jewish, what a delight.

penwing reads (they/them) reviewed Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys

Great!

5 stars

A book about communicating, consensus building, gender and all sorts of fun stuff...

Funny and light hearted while being deep cannot recommend this highly enough

nogoodnik reviewed A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys

4.9/5

5 stars

I’ve heard people call Ruthanna Emrys is an inheritor of Le Guin’s legacy, but Octavia Butler is all over this book; a kinder future than Parable of the Sower, with (usually) kinder aliens than Xenogenesis. Speaks to my anarchist heartstrings. Only 4/5 and not 5 because I found the corporate society immersion-breaking-ly gimmicky, but besides that a beautiful, rich, hopeful picture of the future.

Martin reviewed A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys

None

5 stars

Another standout from this year. I got to enjoy it a second time as my wife wanted to talk about it while reading it. (At my recommendation, but I only picked it up because of Annalee Newitz.)

joeyh reviewed A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys

unfinished so far

3 stars

A lot to like here, but I have stalled out partway through twice now. Will probably not finish it.

WardenRed reviewed A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys

None

4 stars

They speak our language so well, but how do we know we’re really understanding each other?

I absolutely adore this author’s earlier lovecraftian books, so I expected to enjoy this solarpunk/first contact sci-fi, as well. But alas, the deeper I got into the book, the more I felt like I just wasn’t getting it. There were certainly some awesome aspects here! I really liked the first contact part of the story, the aliens, all the things that made them different from humans and all the subtle similarities. The whole thing with how their society treated children was so interesting. The whole discussion about them coming to rescue humanity, and how for some it was an opportunity and for others a threat. All the learning about each other and trying to explain and reconcile different philosophies. Those parts were really interesting to read about, although there was one specific development …

They speak our language so well, but how do we know we’re really understanding each other?

I absolutely adore this author’s earlier lovecraftian books, so I expected to enjoy this solarpunk/first contact sci-fi, as well. But alas, the deeper I got into the book, the more I felt like I just wasn’t getting it. There were certainly some awesome aspects here! I really liked the first contact part of the story, the aliens, all the things that made them different from humans and all the subtle similarities. The whole thing with how their society treated children was so interesting. The whole discussion about them coming to rescue humanity, and how for some it was an opportunity and for others a threat. All the learning about each other and trying to explain and reconcile different philosophies. Those parts were really interesting to read about, although there was one specific development that came sort of out of the left field for me, but whatever, I think it did its job to convey certain ideas.

But then there was also the state of the Earth, and how humanity got there, and all the different societies, and the differences between watersheds and corporations, and all the gender things, and more. And there was the pretty big cast of characters who all wanted spotlight. And the way it was all brought together—I just kept feeling like I was reading a sequel instead of a stand-alone and felt dreadfully lost. Though of course sometimes I was rescued a bit by the parts that tried to explain the context, but then I had a problem with them, too, because they didn’t seem to fit the narrative naturally. And there were parts that I wanted to linger on, like Judy’s entire family and the relationships within it. There was that one scene focused on a conflict resolution that I was really digging, except for a few small beats that felt kind of preachy. Except all the other plot threads didn’t give it much room to breathe. And there were all those domestic moments focusing on diapers and nursing and whatnot that seemed to be there specifically to showcase the family drama but instead just bogged it down.

As a whole, I feel like this is one of those high-concept stories where characters and events all exist mainly to convey specific ideas, opinions, and thoughts. Except the writing style/approach aimed to be more character-driven, and as a result, for me, the book didn’t quite succeed in either.

interlibraryprone reviewed A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys

We need more stories like these

5 stars

This book has the courage to imagine a world where we actually deal with climate change. It is heartwarming in so many ways - its optimism about humanity, the queer found family, the ability of humanity to teach aliens useful things.

The aliens and the space travel are rather fantastical - there is magic language translation, magic antigravity, magic FTL. The tech that the Watershed networks feels deeply unrealistic and facepalm-inducing on so many points.

But I forgive the book for all of its inaccurracies because of how few authors are even trying to envision a world where we deal with climate change. I know only of three books that have tried this - the other two being The Ministry for the Future, and the Lost Cause. And this is the only one that doesn't have magic cryptocurrency save the day.

When compared against Ministry for the …

This book has the courage to imagine a world where we actually deal with climate change. It is heartwarming in so many ways - its optimism about humanity, the queer found family, the ability of humanity to teach aliens useful things.

The aliens and the space travel are rather fantastical - there is magic language translation, magic antigravity, magic FTL. The tech that the Watershed networks feels deeply unrealistic and facepalm-inducing on so many points.

But I forgive the book for all of its inaccurracies because of how few authors are even trying to envision a world where we deal with climate change. I know only of three books that have tried this - the other two being The Ministry for the Future, and the Lost Cause. And this is the only one that doesn't have magic cryptocurrency save the day.

When compared against Ministry for the Future & The Lost Cause, I'd say Half-Built Garden shines the strongest - it actually has societal change that feels suitable to the task and a world that feels worth working towards.

snettie reviewed A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys

It was okay and cute

3 stars

I wanted to like this book more. And the beginning and the ending were compelling and easy to get through. I really liked the ideas about decentralized systems that was part of the world building, and how technology and nature can exist in symbiosis.

That said, perhaps I wasn't a fan of the writing style? There was a family drama in the center of the story, but I did not find those conflicts to add a lot of meaningful tension to the overall story.

I wanted to like this book more. And the beginning and the ending were compelling and easy to get through. I really liked the ideas about decentralized systems that was part of the world building, and how technology and nature can exist in symbiosis.

That said, perhaps I wasn't a fan of the writing style? There was a family drama in the center of the story, but I did not find those conflicts to add a lot of meaningful tension to the overall story.

booktalk with kikir reviewed A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys

not a review, how to wyrms

No rating

I have not not read, but I realize I don't want to post about every book I read. It feels stressful to me. So I want to use wyrms for posting here and then about books I want to share thoughts about

nix reviewed A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys

Review of 'A Half-Built Garden' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Really excellent SciFi, described by the author as "diaperpunk" but I'd argue also in the vein of solarpunk. I have some issues with the central premise seemingly involving a forced conflict (where no side sems to entertain a compromise until the end). But it's thoughtful and unique and makes you think in the ways good SciFi does, and therefore still well worth the read.

el dang reviewed A Half-Built Garden

Very interesting book, which I don't read as optimistic at all

No rating

Content warning Major plot and worldbuilding spoilers

We read this for #SFFBookClub, and it started some very interesting discussions. I think I liked it, but don't even know how to give it a star rating.

I keep seeing it described as "hopepunk" or "optimistic", and that was not my reaction at all. The setting is a world in which some people have managed to reorient their lives into a watershed-based somewhat anarchist model of living within planetary resources. But... but... but...

First but: there's no sense that the damage has been restored. A pivotal moment in the story is a hurricane hitting the US East Coast at Passover - in other words climate destruction far worse than we've endured so far in the real world.

Second but: it's strongly implied that much of the world's population hasn't joined the revolution. Nation states are still important (the narrator denies this, but there seems to be a lot of implication that she's flattering her faction), corporations have been exiled to artificial islands in the high seas but remain the sole suppliers of a lot of technology.

Third and biggest but: a lot of what drives the tension of the story is the narrator's inability to see things from anyone else's perspective, to the point that the people in the other factions only really seem human when we catch glimpses from outside the narrator's eye.

Having said all that: all of these things felt very plausible to me! In the face of it, aliens show up. And the aliens are in some ways a very hopeful story: two radically different civilisations that have built some sort of hybrid culture, and now become ardent students of human culture, on a mission to save us from the destruction of our ecosystem. Fourth but: as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that it really wasn't an equal marriage between those two, and their attitude to humanity is extremely paternalistic.

Much of the drama is about the human factions jockeying for position as the aliens basically decide what they're going to do with us. I appreciated how much of the power struggle plays out by means of disrupting communication, but it drove me nuts how much humans and aliens alike treated this as a contest to come to a single decision for all of humanity. I felt the obvious solution of "those who want to go with the aliens, go, those who want to stay, stay" was staring me in the face for chapter after chapter and never even seemed to be acknowledged as a possibility.

In the end I think I did like this book, but it left me feeling really down. Not an optimistic tale at all, but a deeply, deeply pessimistic one about our collective failures to see each other, and how much harder that failure makes it to deal with the mess we've got ourselves into.

Julie R reviewed A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys

Hopeful and immersive

5 stars

Highly recommend. Felt like Le Guin. I loved everything about this--to the point that I don't even know how to say it except thrusting it into your reading hands. It's just wonderful. I'm going to buy it and make a yearly re-read along with The Dispossessed.

Catship reviewed A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys

It's so so good

5 stars

I love the conflicts, I love the characters, I love the playfulness of super big questions, I love how it's hopeful in ways that feel doable, I love the dating, I love the family stuff, I love the perpetually annoyed folks, there's just a lot about this that I like.

Will reviewed A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys

Great Concepts; Poor Story

3 stars

I am torn on this book. The author has so many wonderful ideas and the book is completely worth reading for that alone. On the other side though, I feel she did not do a very good job of building a story to showcase those ideas. At times it felt like the ideas were running the entire narrative, causing characters to behave oddly out of pattern just to move the story on to the next idea. Reading this often felt like a grind to get to the end, but I kept turning pages because the concepts were so engaging.