“An Ätman Visits Planet Earth: 250 million years of evolution
An android from a distant planet arrives on Earth 250 million years ago and studies evolution till the present day - from dinosaurs to disruptive realities. After observing human mismanagement in the 20th and 21st centuries the android returns to his own planet to devise a strategy to save the earth. Androids recognize love as the key to life and plan to incorporate it in their own software.
The hero of the story is a robotic person, Horatio, who uses a remarkable new form of energy to travel from his own planet to Earth 250 million years ago. By a system of 3-D printing Horatio regenerates his body so that he is able to study the evolution till the present day.
The book has a real historical description of achievements by homo sapiens and it outlines the unfortunate side-effects that are now occurring on the planet. The nature of human culture is discussed including philosophical and religious concepts with the rise of the economy as a driving motivation.
Horatio reaches the conclusion that the effects of climate change will make Earth uninhabitable in a few years and so he returns to his planet where they devise a science fiction solution to save Earth. Furthermore the robotic species recognise that love is an essential reason for living and they propose strategies to invoke love in their own psychological make up.
This is a book written as an exciting journey through some of the key points in the history of Earth and providing a "warts and all" assessment of human beings – their achievements and their failings. The dangers facing our planet are presented in a realistic fashion.
Brown’s retelling of Earth’s history is meticulous and methodical, and there are some fascinating worldbuilding elements. On Ragnarök, dark matter and dark energy have been cultivated to produce advanced technology such as levitation and rapid ground excavation. All buildings on the alien planet are underground, which preserves its environment. When an ӓtman’s body expires, they use a 3-D printer to make another one and transfer their thought process to their new body. But, while the scrupulous history achieves its goals and these ideas are intriguing, the fictional elements of the plot lack the detail, emotional depth, and tension that would engage sci-fi readers. Insights into Horatio’s attitude about humanity are sparse, not enough to create tension or an emotional connection between the reader and the alien space traveler, and the ätmans’ physical characteristics are hinted at but never fully described, leaving readers unable to picture them clearly.
The book is more focused on scientific and historical meganarratives: when the asteroid hits and destroys the dinosaurs, Horatio asks himself, “Could survivors of the catastrophic even regenerate the abundant life that had existed before the collision? Would the large scaly creatures with long back legs and short front legs be re-established? Or could evolution take another path?” After philosophical and historical discussions, Horatio pitches to the Superior his idea about one very particular attribute that makes humanity worth saving and emulating. Readers looking for an intellectually robust romp through history followed by a philosophical debate about the nature of humanity will enjoy this unusual book.
Takeaway: This melding of history and science fiction will appeal to intellectual, philosophically inclined readers.
Great for fans of: Ernest Callenbach’s Ecotopia, Louisa Hall’s Spark.
Production grades
Cover: B-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: B-
Marketing copy: B-
