Air in The Alternative Worlds

Jul 04, 2007 Wealhtheow rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sci-fi, pocmaincharacters

I read this years ago but still remember whole sections; it absolutely astounded me. It's the tale of Mae, who lives in the not-quite-distant future. Mae is the exact opposite of an expected main character: middle-aged, not white, a woman, not a revolutionary or particularly gifted or chosen in any way. But her personality is so vibrant, and Ryman writes her world so well, that I couldn't imagine a more appropriate heroine.

Last year I saw Geoff Ryman speak, and he mentioned his ambivalence abou ...more

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Jun 21, 2013 Daniel Roy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sf

As William Gibson said, "The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed." I travel a lot, and I see the evidence of this everywhere I go; I once sat in an Aboriginal village council meeting in rural India where discussions on the necessity of clean running water were interrupted by the village leader's ringtone.

Air is the story of that point when the future will be evenly distributed, and the one village on Earth that's the least ready to welcome it. The novel does something As William Gibson said, "The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed." I travel a lot, and I see the evidence of this everywhere I go; I once sat in an Aboriginal village council meeting in rural India where discussions on the necessity of clean running water were interrupted by the village leader's ringtone.

Air is the story of that point when the future will be evenly distributed, and the one village on Earth that's the least ready to welcome it. The novel does something I've never seen before: it starts with a great SF concept, then explores those who are the absolute farthest from its reach. The result is a novel about the motives of poverty, resourcefulness, vision, and the need to embrace inevitable change.

"Air" is a technology that will soon join the world's minds into a global, wireless Internet. Chung Mae, a poor peasant who fancies herself a fashion consultant, lives in a fictional Central Asian mountain village whose people are arguably the least ready for this quantum leap in human development. When the UN performs a test to verify their readiness, tragedy ensues and Mae's spirit becomes intertwined with that of a dying woman. But Mae also recognizes the inevitability of Air, and she sets about learning and teaching the ways of the future to her divided village.

Mae is amazing. She's resourceful, smart, visionary, but she's also kind of messed up emotionally. She has her flaws and her hangups, which just make her victories and her strengths more vivid. She's the kind of character I loved, even as I wished someone would slap some sense into her, in particular when it comes to men.

The story itself, when it focuses on Mae's efforts to rally her village, is gripping and beautiful. Ryman writes about the poor fictional Karzistani village with lucidity and compassion. He describes the mindset of rural villagers without the condescension one would expect with such a subject matter. Sure, there are times when I wished the villagers were less wrapped up in their own little conflicts; but I suspect Ryman was writing about the whole of humanity when he wrote these things. One just needs to look at climate change and alternative energies to realize that Mae's Karzistani village is us. Well; with the exception that they ultimately learn to change and grow. Jury's still out whether we as a species are capable of such a brave step forward.

Where the novel was less than stellar for me is when it headed down predictable "literary fiction" paths. The middle part in particular drifted into literary metaphor territory involving a weird pregnancy and a talking dog. I kept wishing for the pregnancy angle to go away, because every time it was mentioned I would lose part of my suspension of disbelief. The novel was doing so well before that, too.

Air itself is intriguing, but exploration and a bit of exposition didn't help it. I eventually realized that it wasn't so much a SF concept as a magic realism one; for that reason, I hesitate to classify the novel as science fiction, though it sure blends genres quite skillfully and unexpectedly. It's not even a problem that Air doesn't make much sense; ultimately, this novel is about what comes before, and Air itself is the vague threat on the horizon.

But all these qualms aside, Air was a compelling, fascinating read about the necessity of change, and how the best of us can help the worst of us to adapt if we'd only listen. The future is coming whether we like it or not; but it behooves us to listen the day a Chung Mae shows up to teach us about it. ...more

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