Dropnauts by J. Scott Coatsworth

Dropnauts by J. Scott Coatsworth

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The year 2282.

Over a century has passed since the Crash and the end of human civilization on Earth. There were no victors in the Last War. As far as they know, humanity's sole survivors, some 12,000+ souls, are living on the Moon. The colony of Redemption (formerly Moon Base Alpha) has created something of an egalitarian society, one which accepts the diversity of humanity, and strives to live up to the Redemption Creed: "I will not take another life's. I will not take what is not mine. I will not violate another. I will not lie. I will help build a better world" (385). More and more lunar quakes spell trouble. It's time to go home. The first two ships are dropping to Earth, with crews of dropnauts, primed for any number of possibilities. Or so they think. One ship is destroyed, with all aboard, the other shot out of the sky as it comes down for a landing. It seems the old world is not devoid of human life after all. Someone had to fire those missiles, right? Or a lot of booby-traps were left behind...

Complications ensue.

J. Scott Coatsworth has created a richly detailed and believable dystopian future, yet one with the promise of utopian solutions. The main characters, the four dropnauts on the Zhenyi, the craft shot out of the sky, are diverse indeed: a disabled individual, a gay man, a transgender woman, and a bisexual man. Back home on Luna, the Return project is shepherded by a sentient AI, Sam. These people are not, however labels or symbols. Rai Ramirez, for example, is a man who is gay, and a botanist, and a man who spent a good part of his childhood in a creche, a friend, a lover, among other things. Rather, here Coatsworth is exploring the possibilities of what it means to be a human, humans who are flawed and imperfect and engaging, annoying and lovable, as we all are,. The AIs are equally diverse, and are also people in their own right. I found myself cheering for them all, human and AI.

The diverse cultures that survived and evolved after the Crash are a testament to Coatsworth's skill as a world-builder. These cultures include the lunar attempt at an egalitarian society, to a matriarchal society living underground on Earth, and not willing to forgive men for past crimes. The details of each are varied, well-crafted, and believable, on the Moon and on the Earth, a post-Crash world of ecological catastrophe and global war.

Dropnauts is both a dystopian and a utopian novel, and a novel about what it means to be human, and how, when things are at their worst, sometimes we are our best. We can redeem ourselves, repair out mistakes. As author Lee Hunt says, the novel is "Fast, optimistic and entertaining. Coatsworth's Dropnauts shows that forgiveness may the best fuel for redemption" (back cover). This is a novel of hope.

According to the review in Publisher's Weekly, "Redemption, perseverance, and identity ... Readers will enjoy the diverse cast and high-tech adventure" (front cover). This reader sure did. A real page turner.

Recommended.




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