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Knocking on Heaven's Door
On a hotter and more volatile earth in the twenty-third century, humans like Clare and Jon live in utopia, hunting and gathering in small tribal bands, engaged in daily art and ritual, reunited with old friends like the shaggy mammoth and giant ground sloth. Even better, they still have solar- powered laptops and can communicate with each other around the world. The understanding of physics has also advanced. When scientists first cloned extinct species from the Pleistocene, they discovered that many of them were telepathic—that consciousness travels in waves. For most people, animism has become the preferred religion, a panpsychism compatible with the laws of a fractal holographic universe. As Clare tells one of her students, the return to an older, Paleolithic lifestyle is “one of humanity’s greatest achievements.”
It’s too bad that utopia had to come at such a cost: a genetically engineered super-virus that wiped out most of earth’s human population. Humanity was shaken by that event, and humanity vowed to change. Now, on the 150th anniversary of that catastrophe, a small group of men and women—as well as a smarter-than-average dire wolf and saber-toothed cat—are suddenly faced with decisions in which the stakes are higher than ever before. Will earth repeat the cycle of unbridled hubris? Or is humanity’s destiny even stranger than that?
It’s too bad that utopia had to come at such a cost: a genetically engineered super-virus that wiped out most of earth’s human population. Humanity was shaken by that event, and humanity vowed to change. Now, on the 150th anniversary of that catastrophe, a small group of men and women—as well as a smarter-than-average dire wolf and saber-toothed cat—are suddenly faced with decisions in which the stakes are higher than ever before. Will earth repeat the cycle of unbridled hubris? Or is humanity’s destiny even stranger than that?
205 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 5, 2016
178 people are currently reading
817 people want to read
About the author
Sharman Apt Russell
30 books265 followersI am pleased to be considered a nature and science writer and excited that my Diary of a Citizen Scientist was awarded the John Burroughs Medal for Distinguished Nature Writing. The John Burroughs Medal was first given in 1926, and recipients include Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, Barry Lopez, John McPhee, and many others. To be in such a list.
My most recent nonfiction is What Walks This Way: Discovering the Wildlife Around Us Through Their Tracks and Signs (Columbia University Press, 2024)--part memoir of my tracking experiences, part introduction to the basics of identifying mammal tracks, and part call to reform how we manage wildlife in North America.
My previous Within Our Grasp: Childhood Malnutrition Worldwide and the Revolution Taking Place to End It (Pantheon Books, April, 2021) combines my longtime interest in the environment with my longtime interest in hunger. I began writing about this subject some twenty years ago, believing firmly that the goals of the environmentalist and the humanitarian are aligned. Healthy children require a healthy Earth. A healthy Earth requires healthy children.
Essentially I write about whatever interests me and seems important--living in place, grazing on public land, archaeology, flowers, butterflies, hunger, Cabeza de Vaca, citizen science, global warming, and pantheism.
I like this range of subject matter. I believe, too, in this braid of myth and science, celebration and apocalypse.
A little bit of bio:
Raised in the suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona, in 1981 I settled in southern New Mexico as a "back to the lander" and have stayed there ever since. I am a professor emeritus in the Humanities Department at Western New Mexico University in Silver City, as well as a mentoring faculty at Antioch University in Los Angeles. I received my MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Montana and my B.S. in Conservation and Natural Resources from the University of California, Berkeley.
My work has been translated into Korean, Chinese, Swedish, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, Polish, and Italian. That is really a unique thrill: to see your words in Chinese ideograms.
My most recent nonfiction is What Walks This Way: Discovering the Wildlife Around Us Through Their Tracks and Signs (Columbia University Press, 2024)--part memoir of my tracking experiences, part introduction to the basics of identifying mammal tracks, and part call to reform how we manage wildlife in North America.
My previous Within Our Grasp: Childhood Malnutrition Worldwide and the Revolution Taking Place to End It (Pantheon Books, April, 2021) combines my longtime interest in the environment with my longtime interest in hunger. I began writing about this subject some twenty years ago, believing firmly that the goals of the environmentalist and the humanitarian are aligned. Healthy children require a healthy Earth. A healthy Earth requires healthy children.
Essentially I write about whatever interests me and seems important--living in place, grazing on public land, archaeology, flowers, butterflies, hunger, Cabeza de Vaca, citizen science, global warming, and pantheism.
I like this range of subject matter. I believe, too, in this braid of myth and science, celebration and apocalypse.
A little bit of bio:
Raised in the suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona, in 1981 I settled in southern New Mexico as a "back to the lander" and have stayed there ever since. I am a professor emeritus in the Humanities Department at Western New Mexico University in Silver City, as well as a mentoring faculty at Antioch University in Los Angeles. I received my MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Montana and my B.S. in Conservation and Natural Resources from the University of California, Berkeley.
My work has been translated into Korean, Chinese, Swedish, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, Polish, and Italian. That is really a unique thrill: to see your words in Chinese ideograms.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
March 24, 2021
This is dystopian with both a uniqe concept and a classic one. The classic being that some kind of superflue wiped out the majority of the human population, but it that wasn't bad enough, scientist or similar had before that learned how to clone and bring back prehistoric animals, dire wolfs, sabel tooth and more! Oh boy! It was entertaining and I liked the world building, while not perfect it was very interesting and kind of cool to read about. But felt like the plot it self and the characters wasn't as well made as the world. But would probably continue if there is more books about this.
February 16, 2018
This is an odd little book.
It's set maybe 150 years in the future. The vast majority of humanity has died in a supervirus plague. Before they died, though, they figured out how to bring back and clone various Paleo-animals - dire wolves, teratorns (some kind of giant bird), giant ground sloths, short faced bears, etc. And surprise! they found out that these paleoanimals were sort of psychic. That is, some humans could hear the Paleos thoughts in a slightly muzzy way. This was handy for avoiding predators and/or finding prey.
Then the world fell apart, mostly. There are a few groups of surviving humans living in widely separated parts of the world. Fortunately, they have retained the ability to scavenge or build solarcomps. These are computers that connect the remaining groups of humans via satellite. The satellites, we are assured, will function for hundreds of years. However, no mention is made of the server farms that would be needed to handle storage of maps, etc. Maybe they're in the few labs that still exist.
Humanity has returned to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, but with email. That part was interesting, even if it strained credulity a bit.
Then there's Dog, a dire wolf with an interesting mutation. He's much smarter than your average dire wolf, and can communicate much better with humans. He becomes the catalyst for bringing a new sort of living being into existence. This is the bulk of the book, after we've met the main characters: Brad, the lab nerd, Clara the teacher/mentor, and Luke/Lucia, a person comfortable in their own shifting sense of gender.
The end of the book hints at changes coming to the world.
I was dubious about some of the premises here, but the book was pretty readable. I think it's interesting to see an author wondering about semi-modern people returning to hunter-gatherer lives.
It's set maybe 150 years in the future. The vast majority of humanity has died in a supervirus plague. Before they died, though, they figured out how to bring back and clone various Paleo-animals - dire wolves, teratorns (some kind of giant bird), giant ground sloths, short faced bears, etc. And surprise! they found out that these paleoanimals were sort of psychic. That is, some humans could hear the Paleos thoughts in a slightly muzzy way. This was handy for avoiding predators and/or finding prey.
Then the world fell apart, mostly. There are a few groups of surviving humans living in widely separated parts of the world. Fortunately, they have retained the ability to scavenge or build solarcomps. These are computers that connect the remaining groups of humans via satellite. The satellites, we are assured, will function for hundreds of years. However, no mention is made of the server farms that would be needed to handle storage of maps, etc. Maybe they're in the few labs that still exist.
Humanity has returned to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, but with email. That part was interesting, even if it strained credulity a bit.
Then there's Dog, a dire wolf with an interesting mutation. He's much smarter than your average dire wolf, and can communicate much better with humans. He becomes the catalyst for bringing a new sort of living being into existence. This is the bulk of the book, after we've met the main characters: Brad, the lab nerd, Clara the teacher/mentor, and Luke/Lucia, a person comfortable in their own shifting sense of gender.
The end of the book hints at changes coming to the world.
I was dubious about some of the premises here, but the book was pretty readable. I think it's interesting to see an author wondering about semi-modern people returning to hunter-gatherer lives.
February 2, 2020
I wanted to dislike Knocking on Heaven's Door, a dystopia set in the 23rd century, filled with crazy premises. Survivors have access to the Internet and scavenge 21st century technology, but also live in tribes of hunter-gatherers. The Russian colony was comprised of a group of Pleistocene scholars, who were in St. Petersburg for a conference. They cloned Paleolithic creatures – saber-toothed cats, mammoths, direwolves and more – who populated the Earth. (How?) These Paleos were telepathic, as were some but not all of the surviving humans.
None of the three original groups of survivors were politicians, which sounds like wish fulfillment to me, as politicians surely had more survival resources available than did the scientists.
Yes, silly-sounding premise, but it generally works. Russell's speculations about what would happen after a supervirus wiped out most of the humans on the planet were interesting. I particularly liked both the resulting culture's ambivalence about science and occasional scientists' passion for further exploration. Surely, while I wouldn't want to be part of a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, they would think their decisions were right.
“We live in abundance, the best of times, the best of worlds. Thousands of years and billions of deaths to reach this beauty, this wealth, this diversity—to hold it in our hands. All of history has brought us to this moment, and if the burden is great and the cost high, then the prize—this moment—is even greater. If Thee cannot see that, what can Thee see or know or understand?” (Kindle 385)
The letters from Claire's students all over the world – education appears to be largely distance learning – were sometimes vapid, in the way that teens can be, and allow Russell to fill in some of the history of the intervening 150 years without being pedantic. Interesting device.
Russell's characters were varied – a teacher from the tribe, a scientist with poor hunting skills, a gender-fluid loner, some Paleos – and somewhat wooden, even when they changed, and the plot had all sorts of loose ends, but that didn't really matter to me. I read dystopias to consider alternative paths and to remind myself that we aren't omnipotent.
Three of the books I've read recently have had sequences of people experiencing alternate experiences (also Oscar and Lucinda and Go Tell It On the Mountain. I'm sure I've read others, but the process of creating realistic-feeling sequences is very interesting. This is particularly interesting in Heaven's Door, as much of the story plays with shifting/changing/fusing consciousnesses and their communications with each other.
Heaven's Door feels as though it could be the first in a series – but I don't believe it is. If so, it would likely move to another community or a later time period – as Meg Ellison did in the Midwife series or Octavia Butler did in Xenogenesis trilogy.
None of the three original groups of survivors were politicians, which sounds like wish fulfillment to me, as politicians surely had more survival resources available than did the scientists.
Yes, silly-sounding premise, but it generally works. Russell's speculations about what would happen after a supervirus wiped out most of the humans on the planet were interesting. I particularly liked both the resulting culture's ambivalence about science and occasional scientists' passion for further exploration. Surely, while I wouldn't want to be part of a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, they would think their decisions were right.
“We live in abundance, the best of times, the best of worlds. Thousands of years and billions of deaths to reach this beauty, this wealth, this diversity—to hold it in our hands. All of history has brought us to this moment, and if the burden is great and the cost high, then the prize—this moment—is even greater. If Thee cannot see that, what can Thee see or know or understand?” (Kindle 385)
The letters from Claire's students all over the world – education appears to be largely distance learning – were sometimes vapid, in the way that teens can be, and allow Russell to fill in some of the history of the intervening 150 years without being pedantic. Interesting device.
Russell's characters were varied – a teacher from the tribe, a scientist with poor hunting skills, a gender-fluid loner, some Paleos – and somewhat wooden, even when they changed, and the plot had all sorts of loose ends, but that didn't really matter to me. I read dystopias to consider alternative paths and to remind myself that we aren't omnipotent.
Three of the books I've read recently have had sequences of people experiencing alternate experiences (also Oscar and Lucinda and Go Tell It On the Mountain. I'm sure I've read others, but the process of creating realistic-feeling sequences is very interesting. This is particularly interesting in Heaven's Door, as much of the story plays with shifting/changing/fusing consciousnesses and their communications with each other.
Heaven's Door feels as though it could be the first in a series – but I don't believe it is. If so, it would likely move to another community or a later time period – as Meg Ellison did in the Midwife series or Octavia Butler did in Xenogenesis trilogy.
September 4, 2020
I read this book together with the Solarpunk group. Here's our discussion thread.
The novel started great but left me feeling more and more distant as it went on.
My most vivid impressions:
https://choveshkata.net/forum/viewtop...
The novel started great but left me feeling more and more distant as it went on.
My most vivid impressions:
https://choveshkata.net/forum/viewtop...
September 9, 2020
World Building ★★★★★
Characters ★★☆☆☆
General Story ★★☆☆☆
Microwave Ghost Science ★☆☆☆☆
Characters ★★☆☆☆
General Story ★★☆☆☆
Microwave Ghost Science ★☆☆☆☆
April 29, 2016
Knocking on Heaven's Door is speculative fiction that will entice newcomers to the genre while never disappointing those already in love with wildly imaginative visions of our planet's future. Sharman Apt Russell, already well-known for her award-winning writing as citizen-scientist, breaks new ground in this novel. Its characters seem as real as the moral and survival dilemmas they face--I started to say the characters are "real people" but of course many of the most important characters are animals from Paleolithic times, or their "unique consciousnesses," golden and disembodied, whose minds are able to blend with and enlarge human consciousness. This is a novel a with a generous, affirming vision of what this planet's future could be. Best of all, for this reader, the story is shot through with a dry sense of humor that had me laughing out loud even as (for instance) my mind stretched to comprehend the consciousness of the character named Dog, a cloned direwolf with a fully functioning Theory of Everything and--from blending his intelligence with humans--a penchant for thinking in borrowed language his own experience can't recognize. Here's a bit of Dog's rumination: the biome in ungulates' stomachs "nested together like Russian dolls. (What were Russia dolls?). How extraordinary."
Extraordinary, yes. Read this book, and I think you will agree.
Extraordinary, yes. Read this book, and I think you will agree.
February 17, 2018
There is a DOG!
September 9, 2020
Eight words that kill stories: "I don't care what happens to these people."
September 3, 2020
Very good.
Imagnitive story of a future after the supervirus wiped out nearly the whole population. A hundred and fifty years later there were 3 tribes in communication with each other via solar computers. Must have been solar powered as well.
Imagnitive story of a future after the supervirus wiped out nearly the whole population. A hundred and fifty years later there were 3 tribes in communication with each other via solar computers. Must have been solar powered as well.
March 15, 2016
Knocking on Heaven’s Door Review
Knocking on Heaven’s Door, a novel by Sharman Russell
Yucca Publishing, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing 2016
266 pages
Sharman Russell does not back down from the fundamental human questions of our common origins and shared future in her dystopian sci-fi novel Knocking on Heaven’s Door. She confronts the impulses and instincts entwined in our DNA that no amount of reasoning and spiritual practice could deny. The human quest to dominate, to take charge of our world, rather than surrender to the truth of our interconnected existence is our undoing.
Set in twenty-third century New Mexico in the wake of an era known as the Return where a super-virus crippled the human population on earth, Russell depicts a “Paleoterrific” society living in the midst of ruin. The protagonist, Clare, is an online writing teacher who connects with students from the three remaining human civilizations in Russia, Costa Rica, and the American Southwest. She is also a guide for Brad, an employee of the lab responsible for DNA experiments that tend to be questionable in this fragile new world. He is on a requisite quest that he has delayed for quite some time. He and Clare strike up an unexpected relationship that leads them both to question everything they have known.
Russell is a true lover of knowledge whose affinity for anthropology, history, physics, biology, anatomy and physiology, genetics, geology, botany, basket weaving and so much more come together in this book. One of the most mesmerizing scenes is the death of Dog, a cloned extinct species from the Pleistocene era who has gained consciousness via telepathy. As he lays dying in Chapter 11, the omniscient narrator leaves no detail behind:
In those last moments, his body was deliriously busy, bladder emptying, heart pumping, right and left atria filling with blood, priming the ventricles, ventricles contracting, propelling blood to the lungs, aortic and pulmonary valves opening atria—then not filling. Where was the blood? The heart waited to contract (111).
I further enjoyed Russell’s depiction of Clare, a strong female character who has misgivings about her pregnancy because of how she might be received by her tribe given that the father is not one of them. Via Clare’s experience, Russell confronts issues regarding family structure that manifest in our current patriarchy and into the future.
This interesting and well written novel proved to be a challenging read for me. As a fan of documentary, realism, romance, and young adult fiction, the combination of trying to understand the nature of the post super-virus world and the vocabulary associated with it made for a slow read. In the first half of the novel, I felt uncertain of the setting and I found myself re-reading a number of passages to nail down the basics.
Once that unsettling feeling passed, I was able to grasp Russell’s vision of a future that is daunting on the one hand, but essentially optimistic. Human beings gain the capacity to communicate with plants and animals and ultimately construct a reality with the benefits of being able to a hear one another.
Knocking on Heaven’s Door is not for the faint of heart. Be ready for a wildly unexpected look at the twenty-third century and all that it takes to thrive in this new world.
Knocking on Heaven’s Door, a novel by Sharman Russell
Yucca Publishing, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing 2016
266 pages
Sharman Russell does not back down from the fundamental human questions of our common origins and shared future in her dystopian sci-fi novel Knocking on Heaven’s Door. She confronts the impulses and instincts entwined in our DNA that no amount of reasoning and spiritual practice could deny. The human quest to dominate, to take charge of our world, rather than surrender to the truth of our interconnected existence is our undoing.
Set in twenty-third century New Mexico in the wake of an era known as the Return where a super-virus crippled the human population on earth, Russell depicts a “Paleoterrific” society living in the midst of ruin. The protagonist, Clare, is an online writing teacher who connects with students from the three remaining human civilizations in Russia, Costa Rica, and the American Southwest. She is also a guide for Brad, an employee of the lab responsible for DNA experiments that tend to be questionable in this fragile new world. He is on a requisite quest that he has delayed for quite some time. He and Clare strike up an unexpected relationship that leads them both to question everything they have known.
Russell is a true lover of knowledge whose affinity for anthropology, history, physics, biology, anatomy and physiology, genetics, geology, botany, basket weaving and so much more come together in this book. One of the most mesmerizing scenes is the death of Dog, a cloned extinct species from the Pleistocene era who has gained consciousness via telepathy. As he lays dying in Chapter 11, the omniscient narrator leaves no detail behind:
In those last moments, his body was deliriously busy, bladder emptying, heart pumping, right and left atria filling with blood, priming the ventricles, ventricles contracting, propelling blood to the lungs, aortic and pulmonary valves opening atria—then not filling. Where was the blood? The heart waited to contract (111).
I further enjoyed Russell’s depiction of Clare, a strong female character who has misgivings about her pregnancy because of how she might be received by her tribe given that the father is not one of them. Via Clare’s experience, Russell confronts issues regarding family structure that manifest in our current patriarchy and into the future.
This interesting and well written novel proved to be a challenging read for me. As a fan of documentary, realism, romance, and young adult fiction, the combination of trying to understand the nature of the post super-virus world and the vocabulary associated with it made for a slow read. In the first half of the novel, I felt uncertain of the setting and I found myself re-reading a number of passages to nail down the basics.
Once that unsettling feeling passed, I was able to grasp Russell’s vision of a future that is daunting on the one hand, but essentially optimistic. Human beings gain the capacity to communicate with plants and animals and ultimately construct a reality with the benefits of being able to a hear one another.
Knocking on Heaven’s Door is not for the faint of heart. Be ready for a wildly unexpected look at the twenty-third century and all that it takes to thrive in this new world.
January 30, 2020
This was a really odd, inconsistent book. I thought the premise at the start was enough to make for an interesting novel, and I was looking forward to learning all the details about this world. I wondered a bit if it were written for a YA audience as the worst profanity is "muck-a-luck", which I found terribly cringe-worthy and immersion-breaking each time it occurs. Toward the middle the storyline started to get bizarre and confusing, and I almost gave up on it. Later it started to make sense again but it had taken a sharp turn away from the potential world-building that could have been done with the original premise, which I found to be really disappointing. I would have loved to know more about why people came to live in a "Paleoterrific" setting (and even why they called it so- if it was mentioned, I missed it) and how they can be stone-age yet still have computers- this is so outrageous an idea that it really should have been explained rather than mostly left to the reader's imagination. I was also looking forward to learning more about the cloned, telepathic Paleo animals and the effects of the supervirus- if the author had chosen to go into more detail, it would have been fascinating- but despite an interesting setting, the focus turned to... ghosts (though they were not really described as such). I was also pretty dissatisfied with the ending- possibly the author is gearing up for a sequel or a series because it was very quickly and neatly wrapped up, yet left so many questions unanswered. However, if there is a sequel I will probably skip it.
September 22, 2019
KNOCKING ON HEAVEN'S DOOR by Sharman Apt Russell is a work of science fiction, but also fantasy, with themes including the environment, technology, and religion/philosophy. It is the 23rd century and the Earth has been ravaged by a supervirus 150 years in the past that killed off most of humanity. The worldwide web and internet, however, survived, along with technology. Survivors committed to reconstructing their lives and society in a most unusual blending of hunting/gathering and technology. They have developed a new kind of computer, have cloned extinct and living animals, and many embrace a kind of cultural animism evolved from discoveries in physics. There are tribes living a primitive existence on the land and tribes in colonies embracing technology, education, and interaction. Much of the world hasn't been heard from in decades and no one knows what has become of large areas. There is no means of intercontinental travel and society has evolved to value peace, nonviolence, understanding and protecting all life and the planet. It's a very strange mix of the primitive and the technological. Interesting characters and plot, but the strong point for me was the discussion of the culture. Four out of five stars.
October 10, 2019
Transcends fiction, and the genres of fantasy and science fiction.
Knocking on Heaven's Door is, like Stephenson's The Diamond Age and Spinrad's Child of Fortune, a book that goes beyond fiction and genre boundaries by being so essential to and illumination of the Great Remembering of Whom We Really Are that it has suddenly leaped ahead of the thousands of all the other novels I've read in terms of truth, understanding, and real importance in expanding our understanding of our cosmic selves, including the role of our human selves in the greater picture. Suddenly, I see it as the book I have always sought to write, as if it were formed beyond space, time, and death, and available in the Akashic Library. I want to send A copy to everyone I love and admire. It is 3:00 am and I don't see how I can sleep after finishing the best book I ever read.
Knocking on Heaven's Door is, like Stephenson's The Diamond Age and Spinrad's Child of Fortune, a book that goes beyond fiction and genre boundaries by being so essential to and illumination of the Great Remembering of Whom We Really Are that it has suddenly leaped ahead of the thousands of all the other novels I've read in terms of truth, understanding, and real importance in expanding our understanding of our cosmic selves, including the role of our human selves in the greater picture. Suddenly, I see it as the book I have always sought to write, as if it were formed beyond space, time, and death, and available in the Akashic Library. I want to send A copy to everyone I love and admire. It is 3:00 am and I don't see how I can sleep after finishing the best book I ever read.
February 11, 2018
Uneven but intriguing concept
The author makes a reasonable attempt at presenting the story frm the perspective of the different main characters. The future portrayed is novel, but slightly unbelievable. The conclusion is decent although it was a struggle to get there. I almost would like to see a better written sequel.
The author makes a reasonable attempt at presenting the story frm the perspective of the different main characters. The future portrayed is novel, but slightly unbelievable. The conclusion is decent although it was a struggle to get there. I almost would like to see a better written sequel.
March 21, 2018
A nonsensical post-apocalyptical (disease in this one) story where people actually choose to live in a paleolithic society (but with the internet) when they have much more nearly civilized options. Oh, and there are restored paleolithic animals (cloning a la Jurassic Park) which are telepathic.
January 31, 2020
A new way of life
In the future an apocalypse has invested animals and some humans with telepathy. This telepathy enables Dog (a direwolf) to shuffle DNA. The eventual outcome is a whole new form of life. But there are some cracking adventures on the way.
In the future an apocalypse has invested animals and some humans with telepathy. This telepathy enables Dog (a direwolf) to shuffle DNA. The eventual outcome is a whole new form of life. But there are some cracking adventures on the way.
July 16, 2023
Relaxing read
The book (story line) was a nice relaxing, easy read. I enjoyed the characters and the events .
The social problems concerning the bringing of the dead was interesting
The book (story line) was a nice relaxing, easy read. I enjoyed the characters and the events .
The social problems concerning the bringing of the dead was interesting
February 27, 2018
Unexpectedly
Interesting and bewildering in a good way. In a new future paleo animals have been restored but it’s the humans who steal the show!
Interesting and bewildering in a good way. In a new future paleo animals have been restored but it’s the humans who steal the show!
March 12, 2018
Took me awhile to get into it, but ultimately a fascinating book! Enjoyed a different view of a post-apocalyptic society, and the exploration of the concepts of animism.
August 21, 2019
Not Me
Extremely well written and exited. An unusual different theme. It was too far out for my enjoyment, but I did finish the book and that is a positive these days.
Extremely well written and exited. An unusual different theme. It was too far out for my enjoyment, but I did finish the book and that is a positive these days.
August 27, 2019
Did Not Finish - 25%
Couldn't get into it.
Couldn't get into it.
September 14, 2019
Great book
A totally different take, thought provoking, entertaining, written well and I did not want it to end. Hopefully there will be a sequel!
A totally different take, thought provoking, entertaining, written well and I did not want it to end. Hopefully there will be a sequel!
March 22, 2024
An intriguing setting and fascinating concept. The Star is strong but I felt like it was told too quickly with some big leaps in time.
March 17, 2017
Strange, but enjoyable.
I received this book free from Goodreads First Reads.
I received this book free from Goodreads First Reads.
October 15, 2016
A strain of environmentalism sees civilization as a mistake, a wrong turn in history taken 10,000 years ago at the invention of agriculture. The error sparked a chain of events taking us down the path to global warming and if you extend the trendline, global apocalypse. It would’ve been better if the first seeds sown by humans had fallen on rocky ground or were choked by weeds, goes the logic.
That civilization might be an intelligent adaptation to a harsh, dangerous, and above all unpredictable environment (Will I find game this week? Are enough berries ripening this season?) doesn’t figure in this thinking. The success of farming and the resulting rise of urbanization has meant a paradise lost. Fiction writers in particular are prone to view our hunter-gatherer past with envy, seeing our ancient ancestors as “in harmony” with the earth.
In the worst case, they romanticize indigenous people as remnants of this purer time, conveniently forgetting in the case of North America that some tribes only stopped killing each other after white people invaded (who then started killing each other as well, but that’s a different blog post). The latest twist in this sentimental view is “rewilding,” which includes aesthetic practices of ancient skills such as flint knapping and spear-making as a path toward healing man’s relationship to nature.
Nature and science writer Sharman Apt Russell expresses this longing for civilization to go away in her speculative novel Knocking on Heaven’s Door by imagining a virus wiping out 99 percent of humanity, but not before biologists bring back Pleistocene predators, such as the saber-toothed cat and the short-faced bear. With the population decimated, mammoths roaming the earth, and the climate wrecked by excess carbon, the remaining humans seize the chance to recreate the (imagined) good old days and set up a new hunter-gatherer way of life. It’s rewilding at its logical extreme.
Except that people get it both ways in Russell’s story. The death of civilization leaves behind things no one wants to give up, including email, the internet, laptops, and enough scientific apparatus to explore a theory that posits we’re all a hologram. In this absurd world traipses Brad the “lab rat,” Clare the faux-paleo hunter and writing instructor, Luke/Lucia, a gender-switching hermit, and Dog, a direwolf that can read minds.
Russell nearly succeeds, particularly in scenes portraying life in a new tribal society and the jealousies endemic in human relationships, whether it’s in the office or the wickiup. The novel is ambitious and wildly imaginative, but it tries too hard, particularly when Brad resurrects a human being, complete with its old personality, from a fragment of DNA. If Russell had left out the kitchen sink, Knocking on Heaven’s Door might have been more plausible.
This review also appeared on Joe Follansbee's blog.
That civilization might be an intelligent adaptation to a harsh, dangerous, and above all unpredictable environment (Will I find game this week? Are enough berries ripening this season?) doesn’t figure in this thinking. The success of farming and the resulting rise of urbanization has meant a paradise lost. Fiction writers in particular are prone to view our hunter-gatherer past with envy, seeing our ancient ancestors as “in harmony” with the earth.
In the worst case, they romanticize indigenous people as remnants of this purer time, conveniently forgetting in the case of North America that some tribes only stopped killing each other after white people invaded (who then started killing each other as well, but that’s a different blog post). The latest twist in this sentimental view is “rewilding,” which includes aesthetic practices of ancient skills such as flint knapping and spear-making as a path toward healing man’s relationship to nature.
Nature and science writer Sharman Apt Russell expresses this longing for civilization to go away in her speculative novel Knocking on Heaven’s Door by imagining a virus wiping out 99 percent of humanity, but not before biologists bring back Pleistocene predators, such as the saber-toothed cat and the short-faced bear. With the population decimated, mammoths roaming the earth, and the climate wrecked by excess carbon, the remaining humans seize the chance to recreate the (imagined) good old days and set up a new hunter-gatherer way of life. It’s rewilding at its logical extreme.
Except that people get it both ways in Russell’s story. The death of civilization leaves behind things no one wants to give up, including email, the internet, laptops, and enough scientific apparatus to explore a theory that posits we’re all a hologram. In this absurd world traipses Brad the “lab rat,” Clare the faux-paleo hunter and writing instructor, Luke/Lucia, a gender-switching hermit, and Dog, a direwolf that can read minds.
Russell nearly succeeds, particularly in scenes portraying life in a new tribal society and the jealousies endemic in human relationships, whether it’s in the office or the wickiup. The novel is ambitious and wildly imaginative, but it tries too hard, particularly when Brad resurrects a human being, complete with its old personality, from a fragment of DNA. If Russell had left out the kitchen sink, Knocking on Heaven’s Door might have been more plausible.
This review also appeared on Joe Follansbee's blog.
August 23, 2016
Knocking on Heaven's Door is an extremely unique take on post-apocalyptic fiction. I listened to the audible version. I've never read (or listened to) anything like it. The narrator did a fantastic job. I especially loved the narrator's take on the character of "dog", who is a hyper-intelligent dire wolf with human-like thought.
Sharman Apt Russell creates a beautiful new world where humans and nature coexist together in harmony after a terrible apocalyptic event wipes out most of humanity. The survivors reject the old ways that caused humans to live at odds with nature and instead selectively choose to keep some technology while at the same time embracing a sustainable hunter-gatherer, egalitarian, tribal sort of society.
The world-building is at the forefront of Knocking on Heaven's Door. The new society described is so different from the kind typically found in post-apocalyptic novels that the author spends a lot of time showing the reader how the new society evolved and how it works.
There are many interesting concepts presented in the book, many of which will require an open mind. Below are a few examples.
One concept is that of the fractal-holographic universe, which has something to do with how the consciousness of all living creatures and things in nature are connected with each other in the universe. I thought it was something the author made up, but it is based on a real theory. For more information, check out this website: http://holofractal.net/introduction/
Another idea is that of animism, which is a belief that plants, animals and non-living things like rocks have a spiritual consciousness.
Yet another concept is telepathy, which many human characters in the book, called "receivers", use to communicate with certain animals.
All in all, if you are looking for something different in post-apocalyptic fiction and you are open to new ideas, I recommend checking out Knocking on Heaven's Door.
Disclaimer: I received a free audible copy in exchange for an honest review.
Sharman Apt Russell creates a beautiful new world where humans and nature coexist together in harmony after a terrible apocalyptic event wipes out most of humanity. The survivors reject the old ways that caused humans to live at odds with nature and instead selectively choose to keep some technology while at the same time embracing a sustainable hunter-gatherer, egalitarian, tribal sort of society.
The world-building is at the forefront of Knocking on Heaven's Door. The new society described is so different from the kind typically found in post-apocalyptic novels that the author spends a lot of time showing the reader how the new society evolved and how it works.
There are many interesting concepts presented in the book, many of which will require an open mind. Below are a few examples.
One concept is that of the fractal-holographic universe, which has something to do with how the consciousness of all living creatures and things in nature are connected with each other in the universe. I thought it was something the author made up, but it is based on a real theory. For more information, check out this website: http://holofractal.net/introduction/
Another idea is that of animism, which is a belief that plants, animals and non-living things like rocks have a spiritual consciousness.
Yet another concept is telepathy, which many human characters in the book, called "receivers", use to communicate with certain animals.
All in all, if you are looking for something different in post-apocalyptic fiction and you are open to new ideas, I recommend checking out Knocking on Heaven's Door.
Disclaimer: I received a free audible copy in exchange for an honest review.
January 27, 2017
Ms. Russell creates a future story for the human race, and once extinct fauna, after the virtual elimination of the human population except in isolated areas. Events take place 150 years after the great winnowing and results in “The Return”, a return to humans living in a manner reminiscent of hunter-gatherer societies with key exceptions. One of theses is solar-powered computers, made with scavenged parts from the ruins of the deceased civilization, making possible communication and education within and amongst surviving groups via still intact orbiting satellites. This fascinating world has many unique elements, including Paleolithic fauna that were cloned by scientists prior to the decline of the human population and that have since multiplied across the planet. These animals carry the ability to telepathically communicate their wild intelligence with humans, and vice versa, which makes for interesting relationships.
I found this novel enjoyable to read and contemplate as probably many of us have wondered what civilization will be like if human population is greatly reduced due to a global catastrophe. Science buffs will also appreciate the old and new scientific concepts the author cleverly utilizes throughout. Whether the “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” is answered may require a sequel.
I found this novel enjoyable to read and contemplate as probably many of us have wondered what civilization will be like if human population is greatly reduced due to a global catastrophe. Science buffs will also appreciate the old and new scientific concepts the author cleverly utilizes throughout. Whether the “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” is answered may require a sequel.
January 14, 2016
Is there anything Sharman Apt Russell cannot do on the printed page? Knocking on Heaven’s Door is a lyrical, superbly written tale set in the future. In the midst of the great ruin of Earth, brought about by ecological catastrophe and a supervirus, the remnants of humanity wander in their ravaged Eden. Communing with nature, taking only what they need, the heroes do everything that humans have always done: fall in love, fight, procreate, and try to survive. Apt Russell’s is a singular vision that includes a host of stunning ideas – a gender-hopping bush-dweller, telepathic animals, and ways of revivifying the dead. Knocking on Heaven’s Door is a triumph of the imagination, a brilliant and mesmerizing addition to the sci-fi canon.
January 17, 2016
Sharman Russell’s Knocking on Heaven’s Door is an intoxicating blend of pre-and post world, and a curiously optimistic view of a future in which humans, having more or less destroyed the world we live in now, exist in harmony with a nature that includes telepathic pre-historic animals and a communal technology dependent on the sun. Here, they play out full range of human emotions just the same as ever in an age old story of love and loss, while all around them marvelous events remind us that whatever we imagine our experience to be, the truth is always something else, something not quite knowable. Told with wit, grace, and humor, Knocking on Heaven’s Door is as thoughtful and provocative as it is entertaining – page-turning sf at its philosophical best!
February 16, 2016
When I read science fiction, I want to get lost in a strange new world. I want to forget about today's reality and immerse myself in an exotic universe. Knocking on Heaven's Door delivers. The twists are so compelling, so mind shattering, that I blasted through the pages with a kind of piqued reverie.
Couple all that with the fact that Russell is an astonishing writer--smart, profound, elegant. Knocking on Heaven's Door is my candidate for the next science fiction blockbuster movie. But even if it never makes it to the silver screen, the images will stay with the reader for a very, very long time.
Couple all that with the fact that Russell is an astonishing writer--smart, profound, elegant. Knocking on Heaven's Door is my candidate for the next science fiction blockbuster movie. But even if it never makes it to the silver screen, the images will stay with the reader for a very, very long time.
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