Edit (at the top for visibility): If you liked this or would like to read something like this, you can't go wrong with [b:To Be Taught, If Fortunate|43190272|To Be Taught, If Fortunate|Becky Chambers|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1552530326l/43190272.SY75.jpg|67034571].

This is a book of two narratives. One of them, the "space" story, has much for the reader to enjoy. Amnesiac locked room mysteries? Good. A very clever protagonist, leveraging his vast scientific knowledge to remain alive under extreme circumstances? Sign me up. An alien friend? Now we're talking. It's fun, it moves fast, and it made me care. Definitely worth a read.

Then there's the second narrative. The "earth" story. It is bad. It strikes me as the vision of someone wanting to imagine what would happen if those pesky "politics" and "economics" and "project managers" stepped to the side and let science do its job. It's more fantastical and delusional than anything that happens in the "space" portions of the book. All governmental bodies pretty much start cooperating and direct all resources towards a common goal in response to a group of scientists warning of impending environmental disaster, then step to the side and hand them a bunch of literal get out of jail cards. I'd accept it as a "here's what we should be doing about global warming!" message if its handling of that topic wasn't obfuscated and confusing. There's the main character explaining how the fictional disaster is so much worse than global warming, and then there's a climate scientist weeping as he detonates nukes under the ice caps to warm the earth. It is bad. The characters are bad. The dialog is bad. The scenes regarding international relations, politics, or anything other than science are out of a Michael Bay movie. Every time the narrative shifted perspective my eyes rolled out of my head in anticipation of what the next "earth" bit would bring.

I enjoyed the ending. You'll never hear me say anything bad about a good alien friend.