ish-i-ness reviewed The Unfamiliar Garden by Benjamin Percy
Review of 'The Unfamiliar Garden' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
If you read Merlin Sheldrake’s Entangled Life and thought some of the facts he presented could be used in a really cool sci fi story with some Jeff Vandermeer overtones, I have some good news for you. Benjamin Percy was already publishing a book with exactly that premise. Although this is a sequel to The Ninth Metal it works as (what I hope is only the beginning to) its own story. The payoff of the real science as science fiction comes almost 80% into the book and could lead to many more stories set in this same universe that I really want to read. The first 80% is an almost literary exploration into grief and the emotional stress we’ve all been experiencing after the events of 2020, making this book more than just an interesting new genre of sci fi. With Ninth Metal, Percy showed he can mix all the …
If you read Merlin Sheldrake’s Entangled Life and thought some of the facts he presented could be used in a really cool sci fi story with some Jeff Vandermeer overtones, I have some good news for you. Benjamin Percy was already publishing a book with exactly that premise. Although this is a sequel to The Ninth Metal it works as (what I hope is only the beginning to) its own story. The payoff of the real science as science fiction comes almost 80% into the book and could lead to many more stories set in this same universe that I really want to read. The first 80% is an almost literary exploration into grief and the emotional stress we’ve all been experiencing after the events of 2020, making this book more than just an interesting new genre of sci fi. With Ninth Metal, Percy showed he can mix all the elements of a comic book like story - with super heroes and villains - with everything you expect from literary fiction, and he’s continued that here. I will be recommending it if I can find anyone I think will be able to appreciate both aspects.