Ammonite

The author's note poses this novel as a rebuff to the perennial speculative fiction question, "Are Women Human?" and in portraying a breadth of humanity in a world of only women it is a marvelous and strange sci-fi blend of colonialism, anthropology, deep time, violence and fear, and yes feminism.

Ammonite starts slow and thoughtful, exploring interesting and surprising ideas about its science fiction universe. And then it builds to an engaging plot-driven story that’s hard to put down.

I almost wish I had read Griffith’s explanation of what she was trying to do first (in my edition this was an afterword) because I think it would have made me more attuned to some really compelling aspects of the book more quickly. But this is not to say it doesn’t succeed. It absolutely does.

I loved the world, the people, and then fictional science here. It was original, fascinating, and really fun to read. And I especially loved the complex and diverse cast of female characters. 

I enjoyed this book a lot, and it's the kind of juicy food for thought that I've spent the week since finishing it digesting. Elements of it felt like an homage to The Left Hand of Darkness, but not heavily enough that to get in the way of Griffith having her own story to tell. There's also a big echo of the stories of early European colonies losing people because they either couldn't handle the environment they were trying to colonise or "went native", liking the cultures they were supposed to subjugate better than their own.

It's beautifully written too, but at times some of the human interactions felt implausibly easy. We get the protagonist almost dying a few times, but she seems to settle in to a wholly alien culture quicker & more easily than I've managed moving between countries on one planet. And the resolution at the end of the book feels too convenient.

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