Flipping Through Pages #31 - Seveneves (A Book Review)

 "Fighting isn't about knowing how. It's about deciding to."

A beautiful exploration of evolution in the face of cosmic extinction, as Stephenson breaks down key themes of what is meant to be human, survival vs progress and whether humanity has a place in the design of the universe.

And it all starts with the end of our constant in the sky. The Moon is destroyed by an unknown agent, and in turn starts the decimation of life on Earth. We slowly start with the sinking realization that our habitat of millennia is lost as space stations and vehicles are designed to ensure our culture lives on in the starts.

But nothing goes to plan. Power plays, suicide missions and in general a feeling of hopelessness and despair whittle away the populace till only a handful is left for the next stage of humanity. And a new hope is born as Earth is made home again.

Stephenson's detailing is beautiful in how he puts himself into the shoes of the leading scientists of the world and tries to figure out exit strategies for humanity while also putting in place checks that ultimately thwart those carefully laid out plans. Almost as if the architect of a house to be demolished, he ensures we go through a gamut of emotions of hope and despair at every turn.

The book is carefully laid out in three major parts - the preparation, the journey and the aftermath.

Each carry individual strengths and weaknesses and for me, the major area where I felt we could have explored better is the aftermath as we get a time whiplash 5000 years into the future, having to transfer our emotions from the eight individuals (or seven eves) to their descendants, an artificially created cosmic bred human race, in a very short amount of time.

But overall, this is a massive epic covering human frailties and ingenuity - and those are the sagas that matter in the end.

So, I give this 7 out of 10.

+A beautiful exploration of emotional cataclysm
+Carries well insights in all sciences, including political
+Good range of characters leading into the epilogue
+Interesting process mapping of fictional events

-The last part is a genetic whiplash as things spiral into convenience (should have been a separate novel)
-Some interesting characters are rendered as 'fridging' material for plot progression