What do you think?
Rate this book
The Disestablishment of Paradise
Something has gone wrong on the planet of Paradise. The human settlers - farmers and scientists - are finding that their crops won't grow and their lives are becoming more and more dangerous. The indigenous plant life - never entirely safe - is changing in unpredictable ways, and the imported plantings wither and die. And so the order is given - Paradise will be abandoned. All personnel will be removed and reassigned. And all human presence on the planet will be disestablished. Not all agree with the decision. There are some who believe that Paradise has more to offer the human race. That the planet is not finished with the intruders, and that the risks of staying are outweighed by the possible rewards. And so the leader of the research team and one of the demolition workers set off on a journey across the planet. Along the way they will encounter the last of the near-mythical Dendron, the vicious Reapers and the deadly Tattersall Weeds as they embark on an adventure which will bring them closer to nature, to each other and, eventually, to Paradise.
516 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2013
10 people are currently reading
344 people want to read
About the author
Phillip Mann
29 books16 followersPhillip Mann was born in 1942 and studied English and Drama at Manchester University and later in California. He worked in the New China News Agency in Beijing for two years but has lived in New Zealand since 1969, working as a theatre critic, drama teacher and university Reader in Drama.
Series:
* Pawl Paxwax, the Gardener
* A Land Fit for Heroes
Series:
* Pawl Paxwax, the Gardener
* A Land Fit for Heroes
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
August 1, 2017
The Disestablishment of Paradise centres around the most fascinating alien world I've encountered since China Mieville's Embassytown.
Imagine a botanical Eden, a world where every evolutionary niche is filled by plants, from moss to flowers to titanic, elephant-dwarfing tree-creatures that uproot themselves and crash about looking for mates. Imagine a world that earns it's name - Paradise - with it's intoxicating fruits, crystal clear water and a natural beauty that draws people from around the galaxy. Then imagine this Eden slowly, inexplicably becoming hostile to human life. The fruits becoming toxic, the plant life more invasive, more aggressive, the soil itself rejecting everything that humanity has introduced. This is the mystery at the heart of the novel- a story that begins as Paradise is being abandoned, its colony 'Disestablished'.
This is a mellow, in parts dreamlike story, told by a third person character (a writer) who dots the narrative with interviews with her subject Hera Melhuish, a researcher and the last person left on Paradise, whose story this is.
TDOP stands out in a crowded genre- This isn't laser-cannons and starship battles (although I loves me some starship battles), it's something different, something more gentle, and it warms my jaded old reader's heart. Days after finishing the book I still find myself imagining the flavours of the paradise plum- the most sought after of the mind-altering fruits in the novel- which Mann describes vividly and convincingly. The only criticism I can make is that occasionally the dialogue clunked a little bit for me, although I could barely hear the false notes over the roar of TDOP's vibrant, living world.
You could shoe-horn Mann's book into something like 'Eco sci-fi' as it contains a powerful, but not preachy, ecological message, but that would be doing it a disservice. This is an often subtle, smart and intriguing novel that is a blend of allegory, love story and adventure. Even the appendices are worth reading. Seriously, the appendices. It's that good.
4.5 Stars.
Imagine a botanical Eden, a world where every evolutionary niche is filled by plants, from moss to flowers to titanic, elephant-dwarfing tree-creatures that uproot themselves and crash about looking for mates. Imagine a world that earns it's name - Paradise - with it's intoxicating fruits, crystal clear water and a natural beauty that draws people from around the galaxy. Then imagine this Eden slowly, inexplicably becoming hostile to human life. The fruits becoming toxic, the plant life more invasive, more aggressive, the soil itself rejecting everything that humanity has introduced. This is the mystery at the heart of the novel- a story that begins as Paradise is being abandoned, its colony 'Disestablished'.
This is a mellow, in parts dreamlike story, told by a third person character (a writer) who dots the narrative with interviews with her subject Hera Melhuish, a researcher and the last person left on Paradise, whose story this is.
TDOP stands out in a crowded genre- This isn't laser-cannons and starship battles (although I loves me some starship battles), it's something different, something more gentle, and it warms my jaded old reader's heart. Days after finishing the book I still find myself imagining the flavours of the paradise plum- the most sought after of the mind-altering fruits in the novel- which Mann describes vividly and convincingly. The only criticism I can make is that occasionally the dialogue clunked a little bit for me, although I could barely hear the false notes over the roar of TDOP's vibrant, living world.
You could shoe-horn Mann's book into something like 'Eco sci-fi' as it contains a powerful, but not preachy, ecological message, but that would be doing it a disservice. This is an often subtle, smart and intriguing novel that is a blend of allegory, love story and adventure. Even the appendices are worth reading. Seriously, the appendices. It's that good.
4.5 Stars.
May 18, 2013
Okay, let me get this out of the way up front: This book is not going to be for everybody. Let's face it, giant-half-plant-half-animals-in-space is not everybody's cup of tea. It will be easy for some people to dismiss this as enviro-space-opera. Who knows. Maybe those people are right. After all I didn't particularly relate to any of the characters. I didn't even particularly like the female protagonist, Hera, who was the archetypal older female academic. I don't have a particular penchant for this strain of sci-fi either.
There was something special about this book though. I mean, besides the giant-alien-three-legged-sentient-tree porn involving live electrical cables and a helicopter. (Seriously - that's a thing.) The structure was interesting too. Mann tells us the outcome up front, (the disestablishment of the human colony on planet Paradise), and presents the book as a history of that event, written by a neutral outsider. There are additional "reference materials" at the back, referenced by occasional footnotes in the main text, which add some depth to the world building and which are great short stories in their own right.
But that's not it. I think perhaps it's just a bonus of this kind of space sci-fi genre. The writer can create anything. Literally anything. And every once in a while, that "anything" will speak to a particular reader at a particular moment in their life. This book just spoke to me in this moment. And I honestly don't know if it would sound the same to anybody else.
********************************************************
PreReview: I don't know what it is about this book that grabbed me, but I saw this at the book shop today and HAD to have it. Actually I do know what grabbed me - it's the cheesy computer-generated cover that screams of old-school sci-fi. I love it, love it, love it.
There was something special about this book though. I mean, besides the giant-alien-three-legged-sentient-tree porn involving live electrical cables and a helicopter. (Seriously - that's a thing.) The structure was interesting too. Mann tells us the outcome up front, (the disestablishment of the human colony on planet Paradise), and presents the book as a history of that event, written by a neutral outsider. There are additional "reference materials" at the back, referenced by occasional footnotes in the main text, which add some depth to the world building and which are great short stories in their own right.
But that's not it. I think perhaps it's just a bonus of this kind of space sci-fi genre. The writer can create anything. Literally anything. And every once in a while, that "anything" will speak to a particular reader at a particular moment in their life. This book just spoke to me in this moment. And I honestly don't know if it would sound the same to anybody else.
********************************************************
PreReview: I don't know what it is about this book that grabbed me, but I saw this at the book shop today and HAD to have it. Actually I do know what grabbed me - it's the cheesy computer-generated cover that screams of old-school sci-fi. I love it, love it, love it.
April 2, 2013
Phillip Mann is an Englishman living in New Zealand. His previous novels have been excellent, though not always entirely to my taste. He does, however, always give the reader plenty of thoughtful material to work with. His latest novel, The Disestablishment Of Paradise, is billed as an ecological thriller in the vein of Avatar and Silent Running but is really a piece that finds its own way. The comparisons are inevitable, I guess: like Avatar, it tells the story of humans on a near-sentient planet with an amazingly alien ecology; like Silent Running there are large parts of the book where the main character spends an awful lot of time on her own in a strange yet familiar place. But really, comparisons such as this are only going to give you a glimpse as to what the story is about, because this book is similar to those movies… but quite, quite different.
It is about the evacuation of a planet, Paradise, which has been decreed as being unsuitable for further human usage. It is told through the voice of a narrator, Olivia, who is retelling the story of Hera Melhuish, the last human to leave Paradise. Olivia accompanies the story with a ton of appendices which stretch out further the story of Paradise and its human history. She refers to these quite often during the novel which only adds to the verisimilitude of the story. Unfortunately, she also has a rather annoying authorial voice that – thankfully – disappears as the novel progresses.
But it is not her story: Hera and her lover Mack walk, sail and fly across Paradise, exploring its ecology, discovering in the process that the planet is exhuming rubbish, bodies, anything that is alien to its surface, as though it is cleansing itself of impurities. And the extent of this is being felt even in space where Hera and Mack’s transport offworld are waiting for them…
But it is primarily the story of Hera’s journey across Paradise. Which is where Mann really goes to town: this is a book about journeys and destinations, metaphorical and actual. While the planet returns to its natural condition, so too does Hera. Already widely knowledgeable about Paradise she discovers things that she never realised she knew amidst its astonishing variety of life.
Mann has really created a believable milieu for his story here. He has taken great pains to immerse the reader in the environment of the story and does it effortlessly. Thanks to the structure of the story you find yourself investing belief rather than suspending your disbelief (which is a discussion for another day) and the result is a story where you are beside the characters feeling their joys and pains, their failures and successes and living their lives with them
Recommended.
(Review also published at http://stuffianlikes.aussieblogs.com....)
It is about the evacuation of a planet, Paradise, which has been decreed as being unsuitable for further human usage. It is told through the voice of a narrator, Olivia, who is retelling the story of Hera Melhuish, the last human to leave Paradise. Olivia accompanies the story with a ton of appendices which stretch out further the story of Paradise and its human history. She refers to these quite often during the novel which only adds to the verisimilitude of the story. Unfortunately, she also has a rather annoying authorial voice that – thankfully – disappears as the novel progresses.
But it is not her story: Hera and her lover Mack walk, sail and fly across Paradise, exploring its ecology, discovering in the process that the planet is exhuming rubbish, bodies, anything that is alien to its surface, as though it is cleansing itself of impurities. And the extent of this is being felt even in space where Hera and Mack’s transport offworld are waiting for them…
But it is primarily the story of Hera’s journey across Paradise. Which is where Mann really goes to town: this is a book about journeys and destinations, metaphorical and actual. While the planet returns to its natural condition, so too does Hera. Already widely knowledgeable about Paradise she discovers things that she never realised she knew amidst its astonishing variety of life.
Mann has really created a believable milieu for his story here. He has taken great pains to immerse the reader in the environment of the story and does it effortlessly. Thanks to the structure of the story you find yourself investing belief rather than suspending your disbelief (which is a discussion for another day) and the result is a story where you are beside the characters feeling their joys and pains, their failures and successes and living their lives with them
Recommended.
(Review also published at http://stuffianlikes.aussieblogs.com....)
September 29, 2018
Hmm, difficult to rate this one. On one hand, it's got interesting world-building and a timely (if somewhat depressing) reminder of humanity's tendency to exploit resources without considering the impact on the environment. And I liked the format, mixing narrative with later documentation and supporting documents that make it look like a scientific inquiry.
On the other hand, it gets bogged down in a mushy love story that happens out of nowhere - literally, we'd never even met the main male character before, but suddenly he appears half-way through and basically take over the novel from the female lead. Then it all ends up very hippie "love is the key to everything". Yawn. Female characters that start out the novel as independent, high-ranking professionals are all paired off by the end - it seems the author can't compute the idea of a woman wanting to remain single.
So what starts off as a promising sci-fi novel ends up feeling rather dated, cliched and downright annoying. I'll give it 2 stars. The author should just have stuck to the sci-fi/planetary exploration element instead.
On the other hand, it gets bogged down in a mushy love story that happens out of nowhere - literally, we'd never even met the main male character before, but suddenly he appears half-way through and basically take over the novel from the female lead. Then it all ends up very hippie "love is the key to everything". Yawn. Female characters that start out the novel as independent, high-ranking professionals are all paired off by the end - it seems the author can't compute the idea of a woman wanting to remain single.
So what starts off as a promising sci-fi novel ends up feeling rather dated, cliched and downright annoying. I'll give it 2 stars. The author should just have stuck to the sci-fi/planetary exploration element instead.
March 14, 2019
5 stars because it is just so unique. If you want to read an Avatar like book this is one for you. There are weakness in the ending, seemingly so abrupt when parts of the book were so drawn out. Still the strengths of the book outweigh the weaknesses in my opinion and make a 5 star rating "defendable."
October 30, 2021
A pretty good idea marred by too much talking that doesn't advance plot - much of it related to character, but I didn't find many, if any, of the characters particularly appealing. If the story had dispensed with the 1st person character recounting the story as told to her by the main character but in a semi-fictionalised manner, then the tale of Hera seeing through her last days on a planet that really wasn't designed for colonisation (though by human eyes it seemed perfect) would have had more impact if either she was delivering the tale herself, or the omniscient 3rd person could travel that road with her intimately. Instead, there is a genuine disconnect from the characters as they interact and try their best to deal with a planet beyond their mere human grasp.
In some ways, I can imagine other readers really enjoying this book - it feels like it should have been one of those good shelf sellers that lesser authors seem to be able to write: a fat page-turner of strange aliens and interesting adventures. It has lots of interesting detail, some extreme character events that really show how harsh life is to outsiders, but the central love story between two human characters didn't really ring true to any great detail for me, and their evolving adventure across the planet became somewhat distant towards the end.
Philip Mann has always been able to create vivid and interesting aliens with some truly interesting depth to the human-alien interactions. His writing style comes across as easy to read, but not in a "young-adult" simplification way, but more in terms of good sentence structure that keeps you reading. These positive aspects fall flat in this book when characters talk too much, when alien life on the planet doesn't get enough description, and in the end a 500 page book, though admittedly very readable, became a bit boring. The somewhat unbelievable ending felt a bit out-of-place in what was up to that point a novel grounded in biology.
The book has 12 Documents at the end that are referenced throughout. These give a bit more context to those parts of the story - historical or otherwise. I recommend Mann's earlier works - The Eye of the Queen, Master of Paxwax, and Wulfsyarn - but I felt like this book was far too long for its own good.
In some ways, I can imagine other readers really enjoying this book - it feels like it should have been one of those good shelf sellers that lesser authors seem to be able to write: a fat page-turner of strange aliens and interesting adventures. It has lots of interesting detail, some extreme character events that really show how harsh life is to outsiders, but the central love story between two human characters didn't really ring true to any great detail for me, and their evolving adventure across the planet became somewhat distant towards the end.
Philip Mann has always been able to create vivid and interesting aliens with some truly interesting depth to the human-alien interactions. His writing style comes across as easy to read, but not in a "young-adult" simplification way, but more in terms of good sentence structure that keeps you reading. These positive aspects fall flat in this book when characters talk too much, when alien life on the planet doesn't get enough description, and in the end a 500 page book, though admittedly very readable, became a bit boring. The somewhat unbelievable ending felt a bit out-of-place in what was up to that point a novel grounded in biology.
The book has 12 Documents at the end that are referenced throughout. These give a bit more context to those parts of the story - historical or otherwise. I recommend Mann's earlier works - The Eye of the Queen, Master of Paxwax, and Wulfsyarn - but I felt like this book was far too long for its own good.
April 1, 2014
Author living in New Zealand? Shortlisted for the Arthur C Clarke? Alien world of plants? Old style?
For me this was a must-read. I was hoping to be entranced.
Unfortunately the reality ultimately disappointed.
My main impression is that this book is patchy - in pace, in narrative, in characterisation, in world-building. Some areas excellent, others certainly not.
Very forgettable.
For me this was a must-read. I was hoping to be entranced.
Unfortunately the reality ultimately disappointed.
My main impression is that this book is patchy - in pace, in narrative, in characterisation, in world-building. Some areas excellent, others certainly not.
Very forgettable.
April 10, 2014
Really imaginative idea, but poorly executed. No respect or sympathy for the characters as they are voiced with prose that is saturated with melodrama. Big monologue from the main character 40% in killed me off.
November 12, 2013
Aetheric storyline. Lacking the depth and and scope expected, but making up for that with a refreshing simplicity.
January 13, 2023
I’m not a fan of the pseudo-documentary style and this novel reinforces my opinion.
It certainly doesn’t help when the opening chapter summarizes the entire story; in a handful of pages the entire momentum drains from the plot. I don’t need to read the trailer right before I dive into the novel. And worse, the summary is dull. It tries to hint around about the "real story" behind the history, but it all falls flat.
There might be a good novel hidden behind this mess of an opening, but I don’t trust the author with the time it’ll take to find out.
It certainly doesn’t help when the opening chapter summarizes the entire story; in a handful of pages the entire momentum drains from the plot. I don’t need to read the trailer right before I dive into the novel. And worse, the summary is dull. It tries to hint around about the "real story" behind the history, but it all falls flat.
There might be a good novel hidden behind this mess of an opening, but I don’t trust the author with the time it’ll take to find out.
January 13, 2014
This and more reviews, interviews etc are on Dark Matter Zine, an online magazine. http://www.darkmatterzine.com. This review was written by James Kennedy for Dark Matter Zine.
The Disestablishment of Paradise is set a few hundred years in the future at a time when humans have colonised at least 150 planets. The vast majority of these planets are located outside our solar system, and a giant “fractal” network allows people, goods and letters to travel between these planets with relative ease. The setting for this story is gorgeous.
The story takes place on a planet called Paradise. Paradise is a relatively hospitable planet—there are no living predators, plant life is everywhere, gravity is at a comfortable level and oxygen is more abundant than on Earth. Early pioneers encountered nothing dangerous at all, but did discover an irrestibly delicious, aphrodesiac fruit called the “Paradise Plum”, which, along with mining, quickly became Paradise’s most important export.
However, Paradise has become plagued by problems since its colonisation by humans: mining company MINADEC causes widespread destruction to the delicate ecosystem; and the Paradise Plums contract a mysterious disease, making them unsuitable for export and causing violent vomiting and nausea in anyone who eats them. By the time this novel begins, Paradise’s two main industries (mining and plums) had already been forced to grind to a halt, and the planet goes into debt.
Disestablishment begins when the Economic Subcommittee makes the sudden announcement that all humans must abandon Paradise because it’s unprofitable—a decision, which, once ratified by Central, has no chance of being revoked. The inhabitants are required to remove or destroy all evidence of human colonisation (the regulations tell them to “leave nothing intact”), then start new lives on another planet with monetary compensation. Most inhabitants are understandably disappointed to leave the planet, but protagonist Hera Melhuish, a leading plant scientist on Paradise, is completely heartbroken. She loves her planet so much that she breaks down upon hearing the news, attempts suicide, and spends ten days recuperating in a safe-haven. The story then follows Hera and her assistant Mack while they stay on Paradise as long as possible, discover one of its hidden treasures, and ultimately become the last people to leave.
The beginning of this story is told from personal, political and scientific perspectives. It’s written in a way that makes readers empathise with the characters as they learn the disappointing news that their planet is to be ‘disestablished’. We learn the political and economic arguments from the other side for doing so, and the interplanetary legal battle to reverse the decision is a compelling one. All the science fiction is explained convincingly in the narrative or in the appendices, and the story makes clever allusions to Genesis and to Greek mythology before page 50. Over thirty characters make themselves known before page 200. I loved this richness and complexity in the first half of this book.
Spoiler alert
This book went downhill for me after page 200 when the “hunch” that leads Mack to fly half-way around the planet unguided by maps to save Hera from danger turns out to be correct. This unexplained act killed my sympathy for both of the main characters. Mack and Hera then wrestle a Dendron (an animal-like plant), a process throughout which, it becomes increasingly obvious that they love each other and will eventually have sex. Disappointingly, they do.
I am disappointed because the politics, science fiction and maturity from the first half of the book don’t continue into the second half. Character complexity and fantasy melt away and the book becomes a simple romance story between Mack and Hera. The author sexualises both characters heavily and makes them dwell on their feelings to the extent that they sound like adolescent, first-time lovers (highly reminiscent of Gale and Katniss from the Hunger Games, actually) even though they’re both fifty years old. This novel’s intense focus on Mack and Hera’s naïve, predictable relationship in the second half didn’t match the complex, political sci-fi/fantasy novel I was expecting after reading the first half of the story.
I would have preferred an alternative storyline. First, I’d have preferred to see Mack transported back to Earth or Mars after his sex with Hera. The book’s ending could be the same, but Hera would then be faced with a big question: does she care more about Mack than about Paradise? Second, I’d have preferred to bring Hemi back into the spotlight in the second half. I’d make Hemi (who has an obvious crush on Hera) work for a demolition team, and thus introduce a new conflict: should he abdicate his duties as a demolition worker to protect Hera and her scientific samples? Unfortunately, such dilemmas were absent from the second half of the book.
End of spoilers
I recommend this book for anyone who enjoyed the film Avatar. You’ll enjoy The Disestablishment of Paradise even more if you’re also familiar with young adult literature, science fiction and the few allegorical references that this novel makes to other stories. Even though the storyline weakens towards the end, the world that the author creates in The Disestablishment of Paradise is a beautiful one. I still enjoyed reading this book as a whole.
The Disestablishment of Paradise is set a few hundred years in the future at a time when humans have colonised at least 150 planets. The vast majority of these planets are located outside our solar system, and a giant “fractal” network allows people, goods and letters to travel between these planets with relative ease. The setting for this story is gorgeous.
The story takes place on a planet called Paradise. Paradise is a relatively hospitable planet—there are no living predators, plant life is everywhere, gravity is at a comfortable level and oxygen is more abundant than on Earth. Early pioneers encountered nothing dangerous at all, but did discover an irrestibly delicious, aphrodesiac fruit called the “Paradise Plum”, which, along with mining, quickly became Paradise’s most important export.
However, Paradise has become plagued by problems since its colonisation by humans: mining company MINADEC causes widespread destruction to the delicate ecosystem; and the Paradise Plums contract a mysterious disease, making them unsuitable for export and causing violent vomiting and nausea in anyone who eats them. By the time this novel begins, Paradise’s two main industries (mining and plums) had already been forced to grind to a halt, and the planet goes into debt.
Disestablishment begins when the Economic Subcommittee makes the sudden announcement that all humans must abandon Paradise because it’s unprofitable—a decision, which, once ratified by Central, has no chance of being revoked. The inhabitants are required to remove or destroy all evidence of human colonisation (the regulations tell them to “leave nothing intact”), then start new lives on another planet with monetary compensation. Most inhabitants are understandably disappointed to leave the planet, but protagonist Hera Melhuish, a leading plant scientist on Paradise, is completely heartbroken. She loves her planet so much that she breaks down upon hearing the news, attempts suicide, and spends ten days recuperating in a safe-haven. The story then follows Hera and her assistant Mack while they stay on Paradise as long as possible, discover one of its hidden treasures, and ultimately become the last people to leave.
The beginning of this story is told from personal, political and scientific perspectives. It’s written in a way that makes readers empathise with the characters as they learn the disappointing news that their planet is to be ‘disestablished’. We learn the political and economic arguments from the other side for doing so, and the interplanetary legal battle to reverse the decision is a compelling one. All the science fiction is explained convincingly in the narrative or in the appendices, and the story makes clever allusions to Genesis and to Greek mythology before page 50. Over thirty characters make themselves known before page 200. I loved this richness and complexity in the first half of this book.
Spoiler alert
This book went downhill for me after page 200 when the “hunch” that leads Mack to fly half-way around the planet unguided by maps to save Hera from danger turns out to be correct. This unexplained act killed my sympathy for both of the main characters. Mack and Hera then wrestle a Dendron (an animal-like plant), a process throughout which, it becomes increasingly obvious that they love each other and will eventually have sex. Disappointingly, they do.
I am disappointed because the politics, science fiction and maturity from the first half of the book don’t continue into the second half. Character complexity and fantasy melt away and the book becomes a simple romance story between Mack and Hera. The author sexualises both characters heavily and makes them dwell on their feelings to the extent that they sound like adolescent, first-time lovers (highly reminiscent of Gale and Katniss from the Hunger Games, actually) even though they’re both fifty years old. This novel’s intense focus on Mack and Hera’s naïve, predictable relationship in the second half didn’t match the complex, political sci-fi/fantasy novel I was expecting after reading the first half of the story.
I would have preferred an alternative storyline. First, I’d have preferred to see Mack transported back to Earth or Mars after his sex with Hera. The book’s ending could be the same, but Hera would then be faced with a big question: does she care more about Mack than about Paradise? Second, I’d have preferred to bring Hemi back into the spotlight in the second half. I’d make Hemi (who has an obvious crush on Hera) work for a demolition team, and thus introduce a new conflict: should he abdicate his duties as a demolition worker to protect Hera and her scientific samples? Unfortunately, such dilemmas were absent from the second half of the book.
End of spoilers
I recommend this book for anyone who enjoyed the film Avatar. You’ll enjoy The Disestablishment of Paradise even more if you’re also familiar with young adult literature, science fiction and the few allegorical references that this novel makes to other stories. Even though the storyline weakens towards the end, the world that the author creates in The Disestablishment of Paradise is a beautiful one. I still enjoyed reading this book as a whole.
May 17, 2017
this took me a few attempts are reading but was really interesting once I got past the first few chapters
April 7, 2018
well written world building by the author. some interesting ideas. the invented world got to be a bit much after a while, but all in all not too bad.
January 22, 2020
Be transported to a completely different kind of world.
abandoned
January 14, 2021a bit to epic for the current moment, where my attention span seems to have suffered from quarantine.
August 1, 2021
One of the best alternate world, alternate beings, books ever.
February 4, 2022
wonderfully imaginative
October 25, 2022
This wasn't bad, but the concept was old, and the execution not brilliant and full of quack. About 2.5 stars, but I don't want recommendations like it, so I'm rounding down rather than up.
August 24, 2015
Phillip Mann seldom disappoints and here provides another blend of sharply crafted characterisation with a beautifully detailed alien landscape.
Paradise is a world of exotic plant life, a world on which humans have been living for more than two centuries. Hera Melhuish is an exobiologist and protégé of a discredited scientist, Shapiro whose insistence on the viability of an unproven Gaia theory saw him ostracised from the scientific community. Paradise, however, seems to be proving him right as it appears that the biosphere, after 200 years of desecration and poisoning by Humanity is beginning to fight back. The Paradise Plum, a combination of aphrodisiac and narcotic, has begun to turn toxic and the agricultural settlers are finding their crops failing.
Hera receives a call from Earth which is a political fait accompli. Earth will no longer support the agricultural community or the scientific base and announce that Paradise will be disestablished and the human colonists evacuated.
Despite her best efforts, Hera fails in an appeal against the decision, but discovers that a mysterious benefactor has arranged for her to stay alone on the planet until the human buildings and equipment have been removed and the orbital station leaves in a few months time. This is where the novel truly begins and is the story of how Hera discovers the true nature of the planet.
The structure is interesting in that Hera’s story is interspersed with selections from interviews with Olivia, the woman who wrote the book of Hera’s experiences on Paradise which are shared with Mack, an engineer from the planetary demolition crew. Mack returned to the planet unofficially when he psychically sensed she was in danger.
I’ve always felt that Mann writes in technicolor, and this is especially true here where he vividly paints the sights, sounds and smells of a truly alien world.
We learn some of the history of the world, in particular how some of the mobile plant life, such as the enormous twin-trunked Dendron, was hunted to extinction, partly because it was a menace to crops and partly because of the prices that would be paid for the bonelike growth within their bodies which is prized as an aphrodisiac.
Comparisons will inevitably be made with Mann’s earlier novel, ‘The Eye of The Queen’, a modern SF masterpiece which explored the concept of influence and indeed damage caused by the meeting of two disparate cultures. In ‘The Eye of The Queen’ there was at least a level of intelligent communication between the human anthropologist and the indigenous aliens, whereas here Mann has postulated a nascent intelligence with which we may never experience any true rapport, as in Lem’s ‘Solaris’, a novel which is mentioned in this context within the text.
In very obvious terms it’s a metaphor for our treatment of Earth and contains some very powerful messages about the balance of nature and the biosphere’s fragility. There is also a deep level of spirituality running through it, something that hasn’t been a feature of Mann’s previous work as I recall.
Cleverly, Mann closes the novel with some appendices which contain either diary entries from former colonists or folk tales based on real events. These, having read the novel and Hera’s tale, become quite chilling in the matter-of-fact way that the settlers deal with the local lifeforms.
Mann is not as widely read as he should be, which is a terrible shame, since he is certainly one of the finest exponents of SF to be writing out of the Antipodes and long may he continue to do so.
Paradise is a world of exotic plant life, a world on which humans have been living for more than two centuries. Hera Melhuish is an exobiologist and protégé of a discredited scientist, Shapiro whose insistence on the viability of an unproven Gaia theory saw him ostracised from the scientific community. Paradise, however, seems to be proving him right as it appears that the biosphere, after 200 years of desecration and poisoning by Humanity is beginning to fight back. The Paradise Plum, a combination of aphrodisiac and narcotic, has begun to turn toxic and the agricultural settlers are finding their crops failing.
Hera receives a call from Earth which is a political fait accompli. Earth will no longer support the agricultural community or the scientific base and announce that Paradise will be disestablished and the human colonists evacuated.
Despite her best efforts, Hera fails in an appeal against the decision, but discovers that a mysterious benefactor has arranged for her to stay alone on the planet until the human buildings and equipment have been removed and the orbital station leaves in a few months time. This is where the novel truly begins and is the story of how Hera discovers the true nature of the planet.
The structure is interesting in that Hera’s story is interspersed with selections from interviews with Olivia, the woman who wrote the book of Hera’s experiences on Paradise which are shared with Mack, an engineer from the planetary demolition crew. Mack returned to the planet unofficially when he psychically sensed she was in danger.
I’ve always felt that Mann writes in technicolor, and this is especially true here where he vividly paints the sights, sounds and smells of a truly alien world.
We learn some of the history of the world, in particular how some of the mobile plant life, such as the enormous twin-trunked Dendron, was hunted to extinction, partly because it was a menace to crops and partly because of the prices that would be paid for the bonelike growth within their bodies which is prized as an aphrodisiac.
Comparisons will inevitably be made with Mann’s earlier novel, ‘The Eye of The Queen’, a modern SF masterpiece which explored the concept of influence and indeed damage caused by the meeting of two disparate cultures. In ‘The Eye of The Queen’ there was at least a level of intelligent communication between the human anthropologist and the indigenous aliens, whereas here Mann has postulated a nascent intelligence with which we may never experience any true rapport, as in Lem’s ‘Solaris’, a novel which is mentioned in this context within the text.
In very obvious terms it’s a metaphor for our treatment of Earth and contains some very powerful messages about the balance of nature and the biosphere’s fragility. There is also a deep level of spirituality running through it, something that hasn’t been a feature of Mann’s previous work as I recall.
Cleverly, Mann closes the novel with some appendices which contain either diary entries from former colonists or folk tales based on real events. These, having read the novel and Hera’s tale, become quite chilling in the matter-of-fact way that the settlers deal with the local lifeforms.
Mann is not as widely read as he should be, which is a terrible shame, since he is certainly one of the finest exponents of SF to be writing out of the Antipodes and long may he continue to do so.
December 17, 2014
This isn’t your normal science fiction book. Interestingly, the difference is the addition of metaphysics and the supernatural to one being’s journey of spiritual discovery.
Dr. Hera Melhuish, leader of ORBE – a scientific project on the planet Paradise – is upset. Not only is ORBE’s role on Paradise being cancelled, but the planet is being disestablished. In the future humans don’t just colonize planets. Instead they try planets out for some time then determine whether or not to colonize longer term. In some cases, like the planet Paradise, a decision is made that the planet will never be hospitable enough for humans and so it becomes ‘disestablished.’ That’s what happens here.
What ensues is the story of how Hera deals with the loss of her scientific pursuits, her time with her team of researchers, and also her connection to the planet. She is blessed with a repreive to stay on the planet during disestablishment (where all human things are removed or torn down), thus giving her several month’s time to spend with herself. What she finds is that the planet is much, much more than just a rock in space. Could it also be sentient in some way?
What’s fascinating about this book is how the story is told. It is written from the perspective of Hera through interviews given with the ‘author,’ a female children’s book writer who is chosen by Hera to document her life and the story of Paradise. Occasionally, the story will pause while a dialogue between Hera and the author ensues, many times a transcript from a recording during the interviews. This breaking down oft he third wall by the author character works really well. Coupled with the world building of the actual author, Phillip Mann, where not only is the world deeply but fantastically realistic, but end notes and an appendix of short stories from ‘settlers’ and other pioneers on Paradise fill in backstory via footnotes. It is deep and rewarding to read the stories or even the introduction once the book is over to really make sense of so much that happens.
As to the story itself, [SPOILERS] I have to say that I found the main thrust to be weak. That Paradise is somehow sentient or physic in some way was far too naturalistic a way to describe the powers we see. With the telepathy and leylines or physic power this is almost a fantasy novel rather than science fiction. That a planet could be sentient isn’t the issue, but rather the conclusions of Hera and the author on the causes of the powers and the point. Rightly summarized, I think, this is a cautionary tale of human avarice and how that darkness can destroy untainted things. Very Adam and Even in the Garden. But with an odd conclusion that didn’t bring home that message. No lesson is learned other than Hera’s which is to open herself up to metaphysical science (divination, psychic communication, etc). [END SPOILERS]
I also found that the book took a very long time to build momentum. It wasn’t a slow buildup, but rather a meandering one where readers may have been wondering about the point for most of the 500 plus pages.
All in all, this was a well developed world written well, but that moved a bit too slowly for the first half and that didn’t satisfy this reader in the conclusions. Still, a read worth your time.
This book was provided by the publisher for review.
Dr. Hera Melhuish, leader of ORBE – a scientific project on the planet Paradise – is upset. Not only is ORBE’s role on Paradise being cancelled, but the planet is being disestablished. In the future humans don’t just colonize planets. Instead they try planets out for some time then determine whether or not to colonize longer term. In some cases, like the planet Paradise, a decision is made that the planet will never be hospitable enough for humans and so it becomes ‘disestablished.’ That’s what happens here.
What ensues is the story of how Hera deals with the loss of her scientific pursuits, her time with her team of researchers, and also her connection to the planet. She is blessed with a repreive to stay on the planet during disestablishment (where all human things are removed or torn down), thus giving her several month’s time to spend with herself. What she finds is that the planet is much, much more than just a rock in space. Could it also be sentient in some way?
What’s fascinating about this book is how the story is told. It is written from the perspective of Hera through interviews given with the ‘author,’ a female children’s book writer who is chosen by Hera to document her life and the story of Paradise. Occasionally, the story will pause while a dialogue between Hera and the author ensues, many times a transcript from a recording during the interviews. This breaking down oft he third wall by the author character works really well. Coupled with the world building of the actual author, Phillip Mann, where not only is the world deeply but fantastically realistic, but end notes and an appendix of short stories from ‘settlers’ and other pioneers on Paradise fill in backstory via footnotes. It is deep and rewarding to read the stories or even the introduction once the book is over to really make sense of so much that happens.
As to the story itself, [SPOILERS] I have to say that I found the main thrust to be weak. That Paradise is somehow sentient or physic in some way was far too naturalistic a way to describe the powers we see. With the telepathy and leylines or physic power this is almost a fantasy novel rather than science fiction. That a planet could be sentient isn’t the issue, but rather the conclusions of Hera and the author on the causes of the powers and the point. Rightly summarized, I think, this is a cautionary tale of human avarice and how that darkness can destroy untainted things. Very Adam and Even in the Garden. But with an odd conclusion that didn’t bring home that message. No lesson is learned other than Hera’s which is to open herself up to metaphysical science (divination, psychic communication, etc). [END SPOILERS]
I also found that the book took a very long time to build momentum. It wasn’t a slow buildup, but rather a meandering one where readers may have been wondering about the point for most of the 500 plus pages.
All in all, this was a well developed world written well, but that moved a bit too slowly for the first half and that didn’t satisfy this reader in the conclusions. Still, a read worth your time.
This book was provided by the publisher for review.
March 5, 2017
This book took two tries for me to get into it, it got much more interesting after the first quarter with all the politics.
February 10, 2015
Mann did some very thoughtful world building, focusing on ecology. Readers who enjoy Sheri Tepper would probably enjoy this. Like many of Tepper's books, in this one the colonizers of the planet Paradise do deep intrinsic damage; like many of her books there is a deep planetary sentience. But Mann doesn't write like Tepper and he doesn't include other of her socio/feminist concerns here.
The book tells the story of the first discovery of the planet, its initial exploitation to recover costs (both of which are just treated as background material), and then the agricultural and scientific establishments. There are two protagonists (plus the planet) and a love story. Primarily, though, this is a book of journey and discovery. There are tense moments, tender moments, and philosophical moments. I enjoyed the story of discredited scientist Hera and her can-do demolitions engineer companion. I loved reading about the world and its inhabitants -- some very unique creations!
What I think holds the book back is Mann's decision to sort of post-modernize the book. He introduces quite a bit of distance between reader and protagonists by using a narrator. Actually, the book's framing is supposedly a book recounting Hera's story, but since it is written in first person it sounds very much like a narrator. The narrative voice is mismatched to the events, introducing more distance. An introduction gives away several of the key plot points, so the element of suspense is lost. Between the narrative voice and the spoiler introduction quite a bit of energy is sapped from the book. There are several 'documents' at the end, including stories from early settlers. These are interesting and important but they also take away from any sense of drama and closure at book's end.
I should add, however, that I think Mann is right to have these documents as an appendix. Early settlers did some truly awful stuff to make the planet 'safe' -- and profitable. The body of the book deals with the after effects of such actions and gives a little bit of information about what happened. Then we read about them in casual, light-hearted story telling fashion in the appendix. The irony between the aggression against the planet's life forms and the folksy tone of the stories is very effective.
I'm glad I read the book and will search out other of this author's works.
The book tells the story of the first discovery of the planet, its initial exploitation to recover costs (both of which are just treated as background material), and then the agricultural and scientific establishments. There are two protagonists (plus the planet) and a love story. Primarily, though, this is a book of journey and discovery. There are tense moments, tender moments, and philosophical moments. I enjoyed the story of discredited scientist Hera and her can-do demolitions engineer companion. I loved reading about the world and its inhabitants -- some very unique creations!
What I think holds the book back is Mann's decision to sort of post-modernize the book. He introduces quite a bit of distance between reader and protagonists by using a narrator. Actually, the book's framing is supposedly a book recounting Hera's story, but since it is written in first person it sounds very much like a narrator. The narrative voice is mismatched to the events, introducing more distance. An introduction gives away several of the key plot points, so the element of suspense is lost. Between the narrative voice and the spoiler introduction quite a bit of energy is sapped from the book. There are several 'documents' at the end, including stories from early settlers. These are interesting and important but they also take away from any sense of drama and closure at book's end.
I should add, however, that I think Mann is right to have these documents as an appendix. Early settlers did some truly awful stuff to make the planet 'safe' -- and profitable. The body of the book deals with the after effects of such actions and gives a little bit of information about what happened. Then we read about them in casual, light-hearted story telling fashion in the appendix. The irony between the aggression against the planet's life forms and the folksy tone of the stories is very effective.
I'm glad I read the book and will search out other of this author's works.
June 15, 2014
I haven't read much science fiction before, in fact only two books so far as I can remember, unless you count the novelisation of Star Wars, in which case, three books. The Disetablishment of Paradise reminded me strongly of one of these, by Card, I think the sequel to Ender's Game. And I haven't read Ender's Game, which shows just how ad hoc my reading has been. In that Card book, so far as I can recall, the action takes place on an alien planet where the native life-forms are strange, have covert symbiosis, and blur the lines between animal and plant. Mann's book does this too. Perhaps all science fiction does, with the possible exception of novelisations of notable films.
So I liked that aspect. I also enjoyed that the romantic focus of the story was on a couple well past their middle years, not a plot thread encountered often, which will be unfashionable enough to preclude a high budget filming anytime soon. Or if it did, the story would have to be markedly altered to make Mack and Hera hip twenty somethings, and therefore could result in a post-film revisionist novelisation.
It might not be the greatest prose ever written, and I was underwhelmed by the fantastical elements in the closing acts, but overall I found the Disestablishment to be good reading, and actually broadly plausible. And yes, it's a mouthful of a title, but it feels like the right title.
So I liked that aspect. I also enjoyed that the romantic focus of the story was on a couple well past their middle years, not a plot thread encountered often, which will be unfashionable enough to preclude a high budget filming anytime soon. Or if it did, the story would have to be markedly altered to make Mack and Hera hip twenty somethings, and therefore could result in a post-film revisionist novelisation.
It might not be the greatest prose ever written, and I was underwhelmed by the fantastical elements in the closing acts, but overall I found the Disestablishment to be good reading, and actually broadly plausible. And yes, it's a mouthful of a title, but it feels like the right title.
May 28, 2016
The Disestablishment of Paradise by Phillip Mann is an Arthur C Clarke award nominee from 2014.
Humans are colonizing habitable planets for resources, and as the planet Paradise suddenly starts changing and becoming more unpredictable and unreliable, they make an exit. But two people stay to explore the planet and it's strange plant life.
I really liked the first 1/2 to 2/3rds of the book, the exodus of humans from the planet, the disenchantment felt by Hera (the female protagonist who thought Paradise had more to offer), and then the gradual exploration of the unusual plant life. As far as alien (plant) life forms go, I thought those of Paradise are quite original and very detailed.
What brought the book down for me was the very long section on the dividing (reproduction) of the Dendron, the walking tree-like indigenous life form. Too much time was spent on it, I found myself skipping pages after a while. I also thought the ending was a bit uninspired and disappointing as well.
Overall a well written (with exceptions) and original novel, but just not concise enough to make it a very good book.
Humans are colonizing habitable planets for resources, and as the planet Paradise suddenly starts changing and becoming more unpredictable and unreliable, they make an exit. But two people stay to explore the planet and it's strange plant life.
I really liked the first 1/2 to 2/3rds of the book, the exodus of humans from the planet, the disenchantment felt by Hera (the female protagonist who thought Paradise had more to offer), and then the gradual exploration of the unusual plant life. As far as alien (plant) life forms go, I thought those of Paradise are quite original and very detailed.
What brought the book down for me was the very long section on the dividing (reproduction) of the Dendron, the walking tree-like indigenous life form. Too much time was spent on it, I found myself skipping pages after a while. I also thought the ending was a bit uninspired and disappointing as well.
Overall a well written (with exceptions) and original novel, but just not concise enough to make it a very good book.
April 7, 2014
In general I liked the story and its stark warning about nature fighting back. I couldn't make myself like the main character, Hera, she was an utter pain in the ass. Mack, her eventual lover, was also a bit too generic and wholesome. While the story was reasonably well told I found the many long and detailed descriptive passages quite tedious, and they added little to the story. As a non-scientist I'm not interested in arguing about the solidity of the underlying principles used in these stories provided the basics are convincing - but here I wasn't so convinced. Admittedly this tale was about a planetary consciousness manifesting itself in nature but it was the sudden and enormous leap from planetary to universal that spoiled it for me. It was a bit too ideal and, while hinted at earlier in the story, it arrived with a bang too close to the end. It felt like the concept was just too complicated to deal with thoroughly so the author didn't bother.
February 3, 2016
I loved and hated this book in turns. The world of Paradise is curious, enchanting, and more than a little frightening, and I enjoyed exploring it. The two major drawbacks were the motivations and actions of the protagonist - at times unfathomable, ridiculous, or simply irritating- and the fact that they tell you the end at the beginning of the book. This is intriguing for for first 3/4 or so, then agonizing. The last 30 pages were my favorite part, really. Honestly, I think this book should be a third shorter.
Advice- read the documents at the end first. There are a lot of throw-away references to them, and I think it would make many things more understandable.
Overall opinion: interesting world building. Would be willing to try another book by the author, but not really crazy about this one.
Also, Mr. Mann? That was a TERRIBLE pun. I approve.
Advice- read the documents at the end first. There are a lot of throw-away references to them, and I think it would make many things more understandable.
Overall opinion: interesting world building. Would be willing to try another book by the author, but not really crazy about this one.
Also, Mr. Mann? That was a TERRIBLE pun. I approve.
January 31, 2014
One of the knottier books I've read. It's quite a struggle in many places then all of a sudden it picks up, only to mire itself in narrative lulls again. It's written in a strange mixed-up present tense/recounting style where half of the time it's a retelling by an interviewer and other times, it's from the viewpoint of the characters themselves, i.e Hera, Mack and so on. In other words, there's places where you can't figure out who is actually telling the story.
Superficially, the book is a cross between something like Lem's Solaris and an environmentalist's diary.
Intriguing, hard-going and marginally rewarding. More of a 2½ out of 5 book.
Superficially, the book is a cross between something like Lem's Solaris and an environmentalist's diary.
Intriguing, hard-going and marginally rewarding. More of a 2½ out of 5 book.
November 14, 2014
Just like proverbially banging one's head against the wall, I felt much better when I stopped trying to read The Disestablishment Of Paradise. The handy-wavy 'spiritual' plot of a Gaia-style aware planet felt tired. The trite, stereotyped characters (the scientist who doesn't know how to love! the illiterate manual labourer who is in touch with 'earth science' like dowsing!) were two-dimensional and made nonsensical decisions to advance the plot. The narrator insisted on telling rather than showing. The love story felt tacked on rather than genuine. I made it to half way through before wanting to claw my eyes out.
April 21, 2022
I've really enjoyed Phillip Mann's writing in the past - "Pioneers" is an old favourite, but I wasn't expecting to like this one for some reason (despite the fabulous cover ;). Phew! I was wrong! I wanted more when it finished, and you can't really get a better recommendation than that. The only bone I really have to pick was the foreshadowing - very early on, you knew how it was going to end, but the journey there was great.
December 2, 2021
With such an amazing premise as a planet going rouge and causing inhabitants to leave, you'd think it wouldn't be so played out and dense. This book was probably 300 pages too long and could have been written as a found diary or stand alone novel, yet it's written as several letters that were found. All this work went into making this a "recollection", the writer just came off as wayyy too into their own story.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews