Planetfall

Published Jan. 1, 2015 by Ace.

View on OpenLibrary

4 stars (10 reviews)

One secret withheld to protect humanity’s future might be its undoing…

Renata Ghali believed in Lee Suh-Mi’s vision of a world far beyond Earth, calling to humanity. A planet promising to reveal the truth about our place in the cosmos, untainted by overpopulation, pollution, and war. Ren believed in that vision enough to give up everything to follow Suh-Mi into the unknown.

More than twenty-two years have passed since Ren and the rest of the faithful braved the starry abyss and established a colony at the base of an enigmatic alien structure where Suh-Mi has since resided, alone. All that time, Ren has worked hard as the colony’s 3-D printer engineer, creating the tools necessary for human survival in an alien environment, and harboring a devastating secret.

Ren continues to perpetuate the lie forming the foundation of the colony for the good of her fellow colonists, despite the personal cost. …

3 editions

Review of 'Planetfall' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

3.5/4 stars. On a re-read, the rating for this one dropped for me. I think when I read it the first time I was really starved for some SF with some decent character work that wasn't sexist or racist. :')

My favorite part is the character of Ren and her journey. She has conflict that really lives on its own, separate from the plot, so she feels fully realized. Her mental health struggle, her unlikeability, her cowardice, etc. are all a strong part of the story for me.

I also still like the ending, even though I can see how it's easily divisive. It reminds me of the weirdness of Annihilation, which is not a winner for everyone either.

Newman really tried, but I found many of the descriptions of tech and setting beyond me. I have a hard time picturing SF as authors describe it in general, so this …

avatar for kab

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Heavyboots

rated it

2 stars
avatar for jeremywc

rated it

3 stars
avatar for julienmartlet

rated it

3 stars
avatar for nano

rated it

5 stars
avatar for mellifera

rated it

4 stars
avatar for acdha

rated it

3 stars