Cari Fisher reviewed Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Review of 'Elder Race' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
This was one of the most unique plots I have ever come across! I loved every minute of it.
Paperback, 198 pages
English language
Published Nov. 15, 2021 by Tordotcom.
In Adrian Tchaikovsky's Elder Race, a junior anthropologist on a distant planet must help the locals he has sworn to study to save a planet from an unbeatable foe.
Lynesse is the lowly Fourth Daughter of the queen, and always getting in the way.
But a demon is terrorizing the land, and now she’s an adult (albeit barely) and although she still gets in the way, she understands that the only way to save her people is to invoke the pact between her family and the Elder sorcerer who has inhabited the local tower for as long as her people have lived here (though none in living memory has approached it).
But Elder Nyr isn’t a sorcerer, and he is forbidden to help, for his knowledge of science tells him the threat cannot possibly be a demon.
This was one of the most unique plots I have ever come across! I loved every minute of it.
”The road to the Tower of Nyrgoth Elder is long and hard because he decreed it so, that it not be trodden lightly by fools, but only by earnest heroes when the kingdom is threatened by dire sorcery.”
Lynesse’s kingdom has problems only a sorcerer can solve. Unfortunately the sorcerer in question has been asleep for thousands of years, and Lynesse is only a fourth daughter and decidedly not someone entrusted with saving a kingdom. Nevertheless, Lynesse recognizes the danger her people are in, heads off to Nyrgoth’s tower, and manages to wake up the sleeping sorcerer that saved her kingdom so very long ago. Unfortunately the sorcerer….isn’t exactly a sorcerer.Nyrgoth (or, Nyr for short) is an anthropologist sent to a remote planet to study an emerging civilization. Initially sent with two others, his companions eventually return to their homeworld, leaving Nyr alone to stand vigil on this remote planet. …
”The road to the Tower of Nyrgoth Elder is long and hard because he decreed it so, that it not be trodden lightly by fools, but only by earnest heroes when the kingdom is threatened by dire sorcery.”
Lynesse’s kingdom has problems only a sorcerer can solve. Unfortunately the sorcerer in question has been asleep for thousands of years, and Lynesse is only a fourth daughter and decidedly not someone entrusted with saving a kingdom. Nevertheless, Lynesse recognizes the danger her people are in, heads off to Nyrgoth’s tower, and manages to wake up the sleeping sorcerer that saved her kingdom so very long ago. Unfortunately the sorcerer….isn’t exactly a sorcerer.Nyrgoth (or, Nyr for short) is an anthropologist sent to a remote planet to study an emerging civilization. Initially sent with two others, his companions eventually return to their homeworld, leaving Nyr alone to stand vigil on this remote planet. Communication eventually stops between the homeworld and Nyr, and he starts resorting to putting himself to sleep for long stretches at a time to hold out hope for contact. None comes, and Nyr becomes increasingly disillusioned and depressed at this post he’s holding. His outpost wakes him up abruptly off schedule, and Nyr is confronted with the great great great great great ancestor of someone very dear to him who has come to him with a problem only a sorcerer can solve. But…he’s an anthropologist, not a sorcerer, and how can he make her understand that?This was a really deep story for being so short. I loved that it’s essentially two different genres in one—Lynesse’s viewpoint from the medieval fantasy society, heading off to save her kingdom with a sorcerer in tow to finally prove herself to her family, and Nyr’s science fiction viewpoint, struggling to balance his duty to preserve a developing culture with his promise to be there for the kingdom of someone he met long ago. The author plays with this a lot, often showing the same conversation from the two very different viewpoints and how different (or similar) the thinking can be. Nyr’s technology automatically translates whatever he says into something the local population can understand, both in words and in meaning, so it was really interesting to me to see how things could be misinterpreted. Because it’s a novella there’s not a lot of answers or unnecessary backstory to be had. This was fine with me as I liked coming up with my own theories as to what it was that Lynesse and Nyr confront (and what it might mean for Nyr’s homeworld), but for someone else who might want concrete, definite information this one might fall flat. It’s very much a character-driven story, and while the plot itself was interesting, a ton is left up in the air at the end.Still a very engaging read for me. This was my first by Tchaikovsky, but I do plan on reading more in the future.
Absolutely blasted through this in two days.
I really loved that it wasn't a huge novel, but now I've finished it I find myself wishing it was so much longer.
I guess I need to read some more Tchaikovsky even sooner than I was already planning to.
She is a fourth daughter of royalty with no hope of advancement in station, determined to invoke the promise of aid given to her ancestor generations ago by a powerful wizard when her mother refuses to engage a demon threatening the kingdom.
He is a long-lived exo-socialogist, sent to observe these people but not interfere. He broke that directive once before, many years ago, and now another of them has shown up at his outpost door...
I've never seen a story play with Clarke's Third Law ("Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.") like this before. Each chapter alternates POV between the two main characters, so it is half science fiction and half fantasy. Sometimes the same events are told both ways. The story is interesting on its own, but told this way it also becomes a lesson on empathy and understanding.
It surprisingly also became a story about …
She is a fourth daughter of royalty with no hope of advancement in station, determined to invoke the promise of aid given to her ancestor generations ago by a powerful wizard when her mother refuses to engage a demon threatening the kingdom.
He is a long-lived exo-socialogist, sent to observe these people but not interfere. He broke that directive once before, many years ago, and now another of them has shown up at his outpost door...
I've never seen a story play with Clarke's Third Law ("Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.") like this before. Each chapter alternates POV between the two main characters, so it is half science fiction and half fantasy. Sometimes the same events are told both ways. The story is interesting on its own, but told this way it also becomes a lesson on empathy and understanding.
It surprisingly also became a story about severe depression, persevering through grief and trauma, methods of self care, and how mental anguish can appear from the POV of both those suffering and those around them.
And that will always endear this story to me.
In Tchaikovsky's "Children of Time" we saw his remarkable story of humanity's folly and brilliance as it spread across the galaxy, attempting to be it's own kind of god – succeeding in unexpected ways while also failing spectacularly. In Elder Race he shows us a shorter and more humorous version of this failure as a holdover of an advanced form of humanity loses their ability to relate to humanity's successor, but really all they want is to feel connected to others and to belong.
This was really good. It’s a tale of an adventure on a far off planet as told from two perspectives: one who sees magic and one who practices science. It is the perfect illustration of Arthur C. Clark’s third law: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
It felt a little short, I guess that means I liked it and wanted more :) Worth a read
Arthur C Clarke famously once wrote that "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic", and this story is the living embodiment of that, presenting the idea from both perspectives. I enjoyed how the book regularly switched between those perspectives, showing how conversations were perceived differently by the protagonist who controls the technology and his more primitive, magic-fearing counterpart. The struggle to communicate is one of the themes of the book.
Besides that, this is a book that also tries to deal with the concepts of loneliness and isolation, and the profound depression that can spring from this. I found it interesting that the book depicts a technological solution to these human problems, but one that is deeply flawed.
Overall, I enjoyed the book a lot. It's not action-packed, nor is it full of intrigue or plot twists; it prefers to focus instead on the thoughts and feelings of the …
Arthur C Clarke famously once wrote that "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic", and this story is the living embodiment of that, presenting the idea from both perspectives. I enjoyed how the book regularly switched between those perspectives, showing how conversations were perceived differently by the protagonist who controls the technology and his more primitive, magic-fearing counterpart. The struggle to communicate is one of the themes of the book.
Besides that, this is a book that also tries to deal with the concepts of loneliness and isolation, and the profound depression that can spring from this. I found it interesting that the book depicts a technological solution to these human problems, but one that is deeply flawed.
Overall, I enjoyed the book a lot. It's not action-packed, nor is it full of intrigue or plot twists; it prefers to focus instead on the thoughts and feelings of the two main characters. I didn't find it as gripping as some of Tchaikovsky's other work (e.g., his excellent Children Of Time series), but it was a thought-provoking and very worthwhile read nonetheless.
Stop me if you've heard this synopsis before: a young and neglected princess seeks the approval of her family and dreams of fame by enlisting the help of a mythical wizard to vanquish evil from their land.
And then you enter chapter two and realize that Tchaikovsky has put a fun twist on this common tale.
...now I'm on a fucking quest with a couple of women who don't understand things like germs or fusion power or anthropological theories of value.
I had no idea what to expect going into Elder Race. I have to give credit to the posters on r/fantasy who recommended it as one of their best reads of the year. This is a short (200 pages) story that took a trope and made it highly engaging and enjoyable.
I am unfamiliar with Tchaikovsky's work and found this a great way to take notice of his …
Stop me if you've heard this synopsis before: a young and neglected princess seeks the approval of her family and dreams of fame by enlisting the help of a mythical wizard to vanquish evil from their land.
And then you enter chapter two and realize that Tchaikovsky has put a fun twist on this common tale.
...now I'm on a fucking quest with a couple of women who don't understand things like germs or fusion power or anthropological theories of value.
I had no idea what to expect going into Elder Race. I have to give credit to the posters on r/fantasy who recommended it as one of their best reads of the year. This is a short (200 pages) story that took a trope and made it highly engaging and enjoyable.
I am unfamiliar with Tchaikovsky's work and found this a great way to take notice of his talents as an author. Other reviews on Goodreads reference other authors or novels, most of which I haven't read, so I can't comment on how similar it is to Book A or like Author B.
It's not as though the whole business of depression is a zero-sum game, after all. But for now I can function again, and bleed-over should be minimal.
After coming off The Lost Metal by Sanderson and commenting on the surprising amount of emotional trauma and depression there is another portion served up in Elder Race for good measure.
The book was short and while it would have been enjoyable if the length was doubled, this was a quick hit that didn't deviate from the plot. The characters (both in the POV chapters and supporting) were mysterious with just enough insight to understand their experiences and motives.
I did not find this novel engaging or very interesting. Sorry.
Like one of those Trek stories where an observer had to break the prime directive, because being human means you can't be an impartial bystander. Clad in a story that is smaller, but of like quality to the Children of time books.
A fast, fun, rewarding read.
This kept me reading from the first page to the last. What's happening isn't at all a puzzle, unlike some other books that use the same general concept (some of which I now want to go back and re-read). The way the high-tech protagonist's depression was dealt with was fascinating to me, and not one I've seen before; and having clinical depression myself, I found it plausible and relatable. And the relationship(s) between the high-tech protagonist and the indigenes who see him as a wizard were done well, feeling genuine on both sides.
Very recommended!
I think this is the first time I tag a book as both fantasy and science fiction. For me both are completely separate genres, however in this case Tchaikosvky makes a good blend of both, depending on who is the character that is presented. Clearly the idea of this book comes from Clarke's dictum "A sufficiently advance technology is undistinguishable from magic". That phrase is the base of this book. Special attention is deserved for the inner struggle of Nyr, in terms of his own depression and solitude.
This book was definitely a nice surprise, especially since I wasn't amused by Children of Time.
This short novel is a fun cross between science fiction - junior anthropologist Nyr who is the only remaining member of a research expedition to observe a long-ago established and then lost colony - and a fairy tale fantasy - fourth-eldest princess Lynnesse sets off on a quest to win the help of the mythical wizard in order to save the land. The story is told from both viewpoints, so we alternately see Nyr as a depressed, despairing, second-class anthropologist and an incomprehensible, immortal, powerful wizard of legend; and the world they are on and the monsters they battle alternately as the stuff of fairy tales and the stuff of science. Even the language they use to communicate translates unexactly, so Nyr has literally no way to describe himself that doesn't translate into Lyn's language as "magician" or "sorceror" even though he is trying to say "scientist" or "academic" or …
This short novel is a fun cross between science fiction - junior anthropologist Nyr who is the only remaining member of a research expedition to observe a long-ago established and then lost colony - and a fairy tale fantasy - fourth-eldest princess Lynnesse sets off on a quest to win the help of the mythical wizard in order to save the land. The story is told from both viewpoints, so we alternately see Nyr as a depressed, despairing, second-class anthropologist and an incomprehensible, immortal, powerful wizard of legend; and the world they are on and the monsters they battle alternately as the stuff of fairy tales and the stuff of science. Even the language they use to communicate translates unexactly, so Nyr has literally no way to describe himself that doesn't translate into Lyn's language as "magician" or "sorceror" even though he is trying to say "scientist" or "academic" or similar.
The whole thing is a fun, very readable exploration of Clarke's Law that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. It was a quick read and I could easily have read more, but I enjoyed it.
The story overall isn't all that great, but the contrasting worldview of the two POV characters gives it something special.