Salt

I've read this before. When I first read it, I then binge-read all his books. He's written some more then so I've added to my list.

It is set for the first few chapters on an interstellar ark heading to a distant planet, then the rest when they have arrived. The ark has several colonies on board, each on their own ship behind a comet that is both shield and supplies.

It tells the story of two of those, one which is hierarchical and militaristic and religious, the other anarchical, told through the eyes of the leader of the first and one who is the focus of the action from the other. It is far more political fiction than science fiction.

Their is one scene where the anarchist, who seems much more likeable, does something horrible and seems not to show remorse or even to analyse it, as he does with other things he does that he acknowledges as wrong. I'm not sure why it was included.

Otherwise and excellent book.

I read this because, after finishing The Thing Itself and finding it interesting, goodreads reviews said Salt was better. It's not. It's worse. But having given Thing 3 stars, I would then have to give Salt 2 and it's better than 2. But if I manage to read through to the end of something I feel a book deserves a 3 for that alone.

Look at me hoarding my star ratings like a citizen of Senaar! I was rooting for the Alsists all along, for despite their Cartesian isolated minds, I could groove on their hippy ways while Senaar was too much like the worst of middle America.

So it's about a clash of cultures, too bound up in their ways to have much understanding of each other. But we start with that and not much happens, really. No one grows. Maybe Rhoda, slightly. Very slightly. Even I shrunk reading it. I liked the beginning enough that I kept expecting more. I almost want to drop it down to 2 stars now as revenge.