Doug Johnstone

This is the second book in The Enceladon Trilogy; it takes place six months after the end of The Space Between Us.

Ava is awaiting the verdict in her murder trial while Lennox and Heather are prisoners at New Broom, an American military base in Scotland where their ability to telepathically communicate with the Enceladons is being exploited. Enceladons are being captured and subjected to barbaric experiments. When Sandy makes contact, they execute an escape plan which ultimately leads to a confrontation between those who see these beings as a threat and those who understand that they could help create a better future for humanity.

As does the first novel, this one employs a multiple point of view structure. The perspectives of Lennox, Ava, and Heather are given in alternating chapters. The view of a fourth character, Oscar Fellowes, the antagonist of The Space Between Us, is also added. He understands that he was wrong and now wants only to learn from and about the Enceladons, though Ava, Lennox, and Heather are mistrustful of him.

The main villain is General Ryan Carson who is charge of New Broom. He represents all of the worst of humanity, turning “first contact with an alien species into some pest-control exercise,” and insisting that the Enceladons, whom he considers “an existential threat to humanity,” be called illegals. Arrogant and drunk with power, he has no concern for the law or anyone’s welfare. He’s willing to manipulate and ab/use anyone, even an infant, in order to achieve his goal of preventing alien domination. Incarceration and physical and emotional torture are his tools. He clearly states his belief that “’Might is right, that’s all there is to it. Humans were designed to take what we can and exploit it. It’s kill or be killed, eat or be eaten.’”

Ironically, it is the Enceladons who behave humanely. They don’t understand war and are unable to lie. Ava believes they don’t “comprehend how humanity worked. They were too innocent, open and caring.” In many ways, the Enceladons are foils for humans. Oscar points out that humans fear intelligent creatures: “’We hate that something else will see humans for the monsters we really are. Seeing humanity from the outside, what we do to each other and our planet, that’s terrifying.’” Lennox agrees: “Humans were nasty, craven, violent and selfish, and the Enceladons brought that into sharp relief.” But of course the Enceldons are perceived as a threat because “they pointed towards a new way of being, and that was threatening to the status quo.”

In The Space Between Us, the limitations of humans are delineated. In The Collapsing Wave, this idea reappears. Oscar thinks, “Energy all around him that he couldn’t see with his pathetic human senses. Birds navigated by sensing magnetic fields, some fish sent electrical messages, dogs lived in a world of scents. In one way, it wasn’t surprising the Enceladons had telepathy, just another extension of the animal kingdom’s sensory experience. And here he was, stuck with his limited human brain, trying to understand it.”

The novel’s theme is stated clearly. Lennox realizes that “Reality is not things, it’s the connections between things.” Sandy emphasizes that “Communication is connection, life is connection.” And Ava agrees: “Imagine if everyone knew what everyone else was feeling? Surely the world would be better, we would have more empathy.” The implication is that our lack of connection is responsible for the “inequality, violence, poverty, hatred, wars, famine, disease, destruction. Hate, hate, hate, all the way down to the core of what it is to be human.” It is wonderful to see when people, like Lennox and Vonnie, do achieve a special connection. Certainly the Outwithers, camped near New Broom, are drawn to the Enceladons “by some dream, a sense it was vital.” While they wait, they create “a sense of community.”

There are some weaknesses that irritated me. I found it difficult to believe that New Broom was built in six months and is “not subject to British or international law”? If the latter is indeed the case, why is there a court martial and why would Mendoza still have a treason charge hanging over him? Carson with his lack of redeeming qualities comes across as a cartoon-type villain. And the thriller-style standoff struck me as too over-the-top, though I understand its entertainment value.

As I read, I often thought of films I’ve seen and books I’ve read. E.T. the Extraterrestrial came to mind, but so did The Shape of Water. When reading about Chloe, I was even reminded of Petra in The Chrysalids by John Wyndham, and I wonder whether Chloe will play a pivotal role in the next book. I taught The Chrysalids many times when I was a teacher, and if I were still teaching, I think I’d use The Enceladon Trilogy.

Speculative fiction featuring octopus-like aliens is not my typical genre, but this series is so well-written that I’m definitely a fan. Action-packed with lots of tension because of almost constant danger for the protagonists, it is entertaining. But more than that, it is thought-provoking. It left me agreeing that we do indeed live in “a post-truth world now, full of lies and misinformation,” and thinking about our treatment of “refugees fleeing some kind of climate crisis or invading violence” and how “Human exceptionalism had fucked Earth, it was the reason for climate change, imperialism, wars, slavery, capitalism.”

Like The Space Between Us, The Collapsing Wave is more about human beings than it is about aliens.

Note: Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/) and follow me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/DCYakabuski).… (más)

This is the fifth installment of the highly entertaining Skelfs series. I’ve enjoyed my previous visits with the three Skelf women and this one is no different.

At one point, Hanna thinks “But nothing was ever simple for the Skelfs” and their funeral service/private investigator businesses, and that is certainly the case here. Dorothy, the septuagenarian matriarch, investigates arson in an encampment of travellers, but that case becomes more complicated as other even more serious crimes are committed. Her daughter Jenny is tasked with locating Stella, her ex-sister-in-law who, a year earlier, stole the body of Jenny’s ex-husband and torched the Skelf family funeral home. And Hannah, Jenny’s daughter, is asked to investigate harassment and threats against the first female Scottish astronaut. As in the previous books, chapters alternate among the three women but their stories and cases also intertwine.

The three women are consistent with their personalities as developed in the previous books. They are strong, capable women who, rather than being defeated by the potential loss of their family home, have expanded the business to include alkaline hydrolysis and eco burials. Unfailingly loyal, they support one another. To varying degrees, all try to understand that grief comes in many forms and strive to understand and provide comfort. Jenny has tended to be my least favourite Skelf because of her chaotic, often self-destructive, behaviour, but I am pleased that she is now less angry and seems much calmer. A stabilizing friendship has helped her be less reactive and judgmental. Readers familiar with the series will be happy to see the return of the other characters as well: Indy, Archie, and Thomas. A new character, Brodie Willis, is added to Dorothy’s collection of strays and wounded souls.
I recently read The Space Between Us, Doug Johnstone’s foray into the science-fiction genre, and found that The Opposite of Lonely shares many similar themes. One is the limitations of human knowledge and understanding: Hannah thinks of humans as “blinkered idiots” whose “understanding of so much fell pitifully short.”

Even stronger is the theme of connection: “there was no ‘you’, no definitive self, unconnected from the universe. . . . We’re all up to our necks in the universe, we can’t be separated from it.” Jenny thinks about “how all the lands of the world were connected by seas, every living thing in an inconceivable network, a web of intertwined meaning and possibility.” Hannah thinks about being a “part of an interconnected universe, cosmic rays and neutrinos, solar bursts and supernovae, dark matter and black holes, animals and plants and mountains and caves and oceans and dirt.” And Dorothy, at the end of the book, reflects that “Being connected, being a part of something other than yourself, is the most important thing.”

So the advice offered is that, because “everyone has an inner life, everyone is going through stuff you have no idea about,” it’s important to “Keep an open mind, see the other side, think about what it’s like to be someone else.” We’re all “just trying to get along” and “trying to get to the end of the day” so we all need “a friendly face once in a while, someone to listen to your bullshit and not judge.”

This book has so much to recommend it: a multi-layered plot, authentic and endearing characters, wonderfully detailed descriptions of Edinburgh, and thematic depth. The book combines humour (usually of the dark variety), pathos (especially for the lonely and marginalized), and suspense (with more than one brush with danger). The book ends with Dorothy playing the drums and thinking about how “She would keep going forever, if she could.” I certainly hope the series keeps going.

Note: Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/) and follow me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/DCYakabuski).… (más)