beccaelizabeth | John Brunner: Total Eclipse

Today's book from the inherited pile turned out to be a good one. Gender balanced, or near enough to it I didn't notice, varying ethnicities, and a neat science/social puzzle to solve.

It's about a bunch of scientists sent from Earth to figure out why the first alien civilisation ever discovered is all dead. And it's particularly fraught because they're brought out there on humanity's first and thus far only FTL spaceship, and the world back home is not so sure that exploration is what they want to do with their money when these are the kinds of things they're finding.

It's an interesting puzzle and the solution when it comes feels satisfying, a proper triumph, but... they're in the middle of their own downer ending. And really, with mass extinction as the theme, I don't know what I expected. But to see that be all it comes to? I was left all 'but... but!' but in the fitting way. That's the ending it was building to, but if the reader actually wanted that ending, that would mean the rest of the book was fail. So it's a bit tricky to actually like it, and I might stop reading early next time, but, on the whole, interesting book.

This one buys its shelf space handily. Will read it again later and have a think about bits of it.

Just maybe also rewrite the ending in my head.