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A well-executed but somewhat standard science fiction novella on the old trope of “person from seemingly magical/primitive society gets exiled from it, discovers it’s actually a terraforming project gone wrong.” (This isn’t spoilery – readers will pick up on the overall premise, if not the exact details, way before the protagonist does.)
It’s an enjoyable read but there’s nothing really special here other than some nice flourishes involving Tchaikovsky’s favorite thing, bugs. The ancient technology is executed via bugs, the plot revolves around marking people as outcasts in a way that I think was inspired by how ants can tell that another ant is from a different colony, and there are some fucking creepy descriptions of the native bug life. Contains some unsettling body horror in addition to bugs, bugs, and more bugs.
Though this is short and so seemingly a good gateway drug, it doesn't really show off Tchaikovsky's strengths. Unless someone has a different shorter work they'd suggest, I'd start with one of his full-length novels instead.
It’s an enjoyable read but there’s nothing really special here other than some nice flourishes involving Tchaikovsky’s favorite thing, bugs. The ancient technology is executed via bugs, the plot revolves around marking people as outcasts in a way that I think was inspired by how ants can tell that another ant is from a different colony, and there are some fucking creepy descriptions of the native bug life. Contains some unsettling body horror in addition to bugs, bugs, and more bugs.
Though this is short and so seemingly a good gateway drug, it doesn't really show off Tchaikovsky's strengths. Unless someone has a different shorter work they'd suggest, I'd start with one of his full-length novels instead.