Review: The cool book with the funny name
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 9, 2013
The name of the book, Chrysopteron, is hard to remember, and I had to spell it out when I was recommending it to my friends. But it's the name of the spaceship where much of the action takes place.A generation ship is heading toward a colony world, which they will reach in 4 or 5 generations. However, before they arrive, a strange new religion emerges among the crew when they crown one of their own a living goddess. Since religion affects society in so many ways, the social structure of the spaceship is changed by it, and the crew almost doesn't reach their colony world. Even once they are safely on the planet, bad things happen, leading to a loss of contact with Earth. Many years later, another spaceship is sent to find out what happened to the Chrysopteron all those years ago. When men of science enter a world of superstition and religion, everyone is changed by the clash of cultures.Chrysopteron is an epic book with a wide scope. In a way, it reminded me of The Mote in God's Eye by Niven and Pournelle. (But I liked Chrysopteron more.) Even though the cast of characters is huge, spanning several generations, I was never confused about who was who. The scenes are vivid, and Michael K. Rose has a keen sense of pacing. He knows just when to do a quick cut to the next scene to keep the story moving quickly. This is very, very well-written.My only issue is with the new religion itself. They worship a goddess, which means a matriarchal religion, yet it seemed to have all the trappings and failings of a patriarchal religion. I thought that could have been addressed more. Still, that's not a huge fault since most religions are man-centric (it's practically a definition of the big religions) and therefore, the author could say a lot more about religion in general if he came at it in a sideways way.I liked the ending and resolution quite a bit. Things weren't gift-wrapped for the reader with a tidy bow, but the ending still felt satisfying. I'd recommend this novel to fans of Larry Niven, to science fiction readers, and to people interested in the ways that religion intersects with culture.