Ruthanna Emrys

"A Half-Built Garden deserves to be the first contact novel that defines a generation." —Seanan McGuire On a warm March night in 2083, Judy Wallach-Stevens wakes to a warning of unknown pollutants in the Chesapeake Bay. She heads out to check what she expects to be a false alarm--and stumbles upon the first alien visitors to Earth. These aliens have crossed the galaxy to save humanity, convinced that the people of Earth must leave their ecologically-ravaged planet behind and join them among the stars. And if humanity doesn't agree, they may need to be saved by force. The watershed networks aren't ready to give up on Earth. Decades ago, they rose up to exile the last corporations to a few artificial islands, escape the dominance of nation-states, and reorganize humanity around the hope of keeping their world liveable. By sharing the burden of decision-making, they've started to heal the wounded planet. But now corporations, nation-states, and networks all vie to represent humanity to these powerful new beings, and if any one accepts the aliens' offer, Earth may be lost. With everyone’s eyes turned skyward, everything hinges on the success of Judy's effort to create understanding, both within and beyond her own species. A literary descendent of Ursula K. Le Guin, Emrys crafts a novel of extraterrestrial diplomacy and urgent climate repair bursting with quiet, tenuous hope and an underlying warmth. A Half-Built Garden depicts a world worth building towards, a humanity worth saving from itself, and an alien community worth entering with open arms. It's not the easiest future to build, but it's one that just might be in reach.

A Half-Built Garden

Jay Harris

I liked this book a lot! A solarpunk-y first contact story filled with interesting ideas.

HanaKyle Moranz

So good. So worth the mildly confusing beginning.

Christine Bruce

In the not so distant future. aliens land on earth and bring with them an offer: join them among the stars to escape the dying earth. Except the aliens aren't up to date on the latest developments on Earth. Humans have begun the slow process of reversing their negative impact- making decisions collectively and making sure no choices are made selfishly or for the benefit of the few. So begins the diplomatic meetings over how to move forward with these new options. In addition to the aliens not understanding why the humans would want to damn themselves by staying on Earth. 

The entire premise of this book was so interesting. The world building at the beginning was comprehensive and exciting, but the further the story progressed, the more tedious it got- in one aspect in particular. I appreciate the inclusion of pronouns discussions. But at one point the discussion became preachy and overbearing. It honestly became more of a sub-plot than an honest attempt at inclusion and representation. Half of the discussion was unnecessary and added length to an already too long book. Not only that, but it didn't even teach anything new, and the breakdown of how the corporations use it seemed almost mocking of the use of neopronouns. 

In addition to the subplot of pronouns, was the unexpected and frankly unwanted alien romance subplot. I support monster lovers. To each their own, but I also feel like it specifically should be something I know about and am aware is at least a possibility going into a book. When the MC and her wife start talking about having feelings for the spider alien it felt totally out of no where and ungrounded. Then when it came to actually talking to him about wanting to have a relationship, the entire discussion didn't help me feel like any of the feelings were believable. It was clinical and detached. Even the sex scene just made me extremely uncomfortable and felt more like I was reading a text book than anything interesting or fun. 

I enjoyed the elements of the alien civilization that put a clear emphasis on being matrilineal, and how children were involved in most important discussions. The overall discussions of child-rearing were very interesting and were really the heart of learning more about the alien civilization. But there was so much extraneous detail of other aspects of the future Earth that the author felt the NEED to over-explain to the point of exhaustion that I couldn't even enjoy the fun parts of reading an alien contact sci-fi. Then the entire trial at the end was just draining and tacked on that I was honestly TIRED by the time it was over and the book was nearing its end. 

Overall, so much promise that fell so short because of a lack of editing and an almost disingenuous attempt at inclusion while other themes only ever touched the surface and never delved into actual exploration. Very disappointing.

A Half-Built Garden

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