The Harvest

by Robert Charles Wilson

Physician Matt Wheeler is one of the few who said no to eternity. As he watches his friends, his colleagues, even his beloved daughter transform into something more-and-less-than human, Matt suddenly finds everything he once believed about good and evil, life and death, god and mortal called into question. And he finds himself forced to choose sides in an apocalyptic struggle - a struggle that very soon will change the face of the universe itself.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Aliens, Speculative Fiction, Post Apocalyptic, Religion, Science Fiction Fantasy

492 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 1992

About the author

I've been writing science fiction professionally since my first novel A Hidden Place was published in 1986. My books include Darwinia, Blind Lake, and the Hugo Award-winning Spin. My newest novel is The Affinities (April 2015).

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Charles Wilson ( born 1953 ), a resident of the Toronto area, must be one of my favorite writers, as I've read so much of his work. He's a hard science-fiction guy, meaning he's up on cutting-edge science and uses such ideas in his stories, but I think he's also known as a science fiction writer who can also give us great characters. We see Big Events through the eyes of his characters and can understand how they feel about things...This book, one of RCW's earlier books, is a good example. We (the people of Earth) make First Contact (finally) with aliens and each individual is offered immortality if they agree to join with the aliens. Not surprisingly, I think, the majority of humans take the aliens up on their offer. The story then concentrates on those few who want to remain on Earth and keep things running....What would you decide?

[Jack Pramitte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sorry Clarke's fans but for me this is Childhood's End done right because Wilson is a much better author (than Clarke) when he writes about human condition and feelings.

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have ever questioned what makes us human, this book is an excellent opportunity to ask the question again. This is a thinking person's sci-fi. The "what if" is far superior to most sci-fi. The end of the book still left me wondering if the main character, and others who made the same choice, actually made the "right choice". It wasn't a clean ending. The best reads make you think. Our human perception can be quite different from person to person. The characters in the this novel certainly approach life and humanity in different ways.

Bravo for another great novel from Robert Charles Wilson!

[Stephen Fordyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It was awesome. It enthralled me from start to finish which was a surprise to me because no one recommended it to me. I found it on my own. What made it so good was the deep question it posed. Do you say yes to immortality without pain and suffering but it costs you your individuality? There were times that I cheered for the humans who said no but at other times I could see the suffering leave those who said yes. A very well written book.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I discovered Robert Charles Wilson via Spin and have since read many of his novels, working both forwards and backwards. He rarely disappoints and The Harvest is no exception. Bit of a slow start is my only minor gripe. If you were offered immortality would you say yes or be the one in ten thousand who says no? I reckon I would say no. Anyway, if you are a fan of Robert Charles Wilson, why haven't you read this?

Ray Smillie

[StarMan · Rating 3 out of 5]

VERDICT: 3.3 stars.
REVIEW: Alien apocalypse/rapture?. Oddly 99.9% Caucasian cast. Religious-ish underpinnings. Decent mid-90s escapist SF/fantasy.

[Jason Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

As other reviewers have pointed out, this is a SF take on the Rapture -- the Protestant Christian end-of-the-world where the good people are taken to heaven and only a small number of people are, like the title of the right-wing book series has it, "left behind." Mysterious unseen aliens (we eventually discover they originated as coral-like creatures before becoming disembodied nano-intelligences) come to Earth in a colossal spaceship and, in a single night of dreams (the coolest sequence in the book), individually invite everyone to join them and become immortal. Only 1 out of 10,000 people say no (for reasons of religion, shame, regret, mistrust, individualism, etc.). The book mostly follows the perspective of these refusers as their former friends, lovers and family, while not without compassion, gradually join a sort of hivemind, become altered by nanomachines in their blood, and eventually build their own spaceship and leave the Earth (after discarding their bodies' dried-out skins).

As the tiny minority of not-immortals gather together and figure out how they'll keep society running once everyone else is gone, the book takes on a bit of a post-apocalyptic survivalist tone, almost like Stephen King's "The Stand." However, apart from storms battering the coastal Oregon town where the protagonists live, and a single isolated evil maniac who refused the aliens' offer (just one?), there's not much physical danger here; not much danger at all, honestly, as Robert Charles Wilson ultimately has an optimistic view of human (and alien) nature and a positive view of a transhumanist future. Once it's clear, midway through, that the aliens are both nigh-omnipotent and truly altruistic, the tension of the book slackens considerably, leading up to the dramatically unsatisfying ending in which the formerly human aliens leave a satellite behind to watch over the depopulated Earth, and continue their offer of immortality, so that even those who refused once can get a second chance to go to 'alien heaven' when they die. When reading Christian Rapture books like "Left Behind" I'm always most fascinated by the psychology of the characters who refuse salvation, but aside from the one sociopath who feels like he stepped out of another novel, "The Harvest" spends surprisingly little time examining why people would refuse the aliens' offer, perhaps because the author makes their offer just so darn good. Essentially, this is a New Age book which explores the goodness and wonder of this transformation, much more than it explores the fear and doubts of those who'd refuse it; I also wish we'd gotten to see a little more at the end of how North America's last remaining town would persist after the End, and how anyone would find meaning in life knowing that they can just throw in the towel and join the aliens at any time; since Wilson never gives the human characters any core 'value' that the immortals don't also have, wouldn't everyone choose immortality before too long? An interesting read, with vaguely Stephen King-like prose waxing rhapsodic about small town life and everyday beauty, but know what you're getting into.

[Daryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes a book will sit on my shelf for a long time before I get around to reading it. (Books on my shelf are generally books I haven't read.) I read Wilson's A Bridge of Years in 1996, and though I can't remember much about it now, at the time I really liked it, enough so that I picked up The Harvest when I saw a copy. That was probably close to 20 years ago. This is a nicely written sci-fi book which concentrates more on the human element and human interaction than the sci-fi elements, which really set up the story and then serve more as the backdrop to what's going on with the characters. And it's an intriguing set-up: a giant alien spacecraft arrives in earth orbit, but doesn't communicate with humans as it sits up there for a year. Then in one long extended night, everyone dreams essentially the same dream in which they are offered immortality although it means giving up being human. Only about one in 10,000 turn down the aliens' offer, and the novel, of course, tells the story of a group of those who do just that. It's a story that would make for a good TV series, although some of the technology (cassette Walkmans, VCRs) is dated to the early '90s. There are a number of separate stories that get tied together, although not until well into the novel, and most of the characters are pretty interesting. I thought that the ending came a little too quickly (after 430 pages building up) and that ending left things a little too open-ended, but overall I found this a good read, and an author worth keeping an eye out for.

[Eric]

It's so rare to find a science fiction author that concentrates as much (or more) on his characters than on the science. Wilson is one of the best I've ever read at this.

This story of the slow shutting down of society after a welcome invasion by alien visitors, and the emotional scars this leaves on the few who choose to stay behind, is as heartbreaking as it is compelling. Wilson is extremely good at asking hard questions and positing believable answers.

This book is one of the best reads I've experienced in a while. The similarities to Stephen King's "The Stand" are unavoidable, but Wilson is so original and memorable, and this book earns an important place in the best of the "last man on Earth" subset of science fiction.

[David]

In a sentence: An unusual mix of (sort of) alien contact and (sort of) post-apocalyptic fiction.

A huge alien artifact orbits Earth for a year without communicating or invading. Then every human goes to sleep for 1.5 days as a result of (sort of) nanobots in everyone's bodies. Individually, each person has a "dream" in which the aliens explain their organic origins, how they made their planet uninhabitable, and their transformation into mostly virtual beings in their artifact's computer (and occasionally in physical form.) Each human is asked if he/she would like to become immortal via such a transformation. 99.99% of humans say yes, and those individuals begin a process of change from their human form. The few who declined the transformation have the nanobots leave their bodies.

The bulk of the book is the "post-apocalyptic" story focusing on the 0.01% ("mortals.") It's through this story that we learn most of the above. At first, the mortals feel the immortals, who are still walking around looking as they did before, aren't "human" and mortals are uncomfortable about them. Over time, the immortals disappear, leaving only a "skin" (like a cocoon after the moth has emerged.) The mortals become a small number, scattered among empty buildings. A major story thread centers on a group of 10 in Oregon. Unlike many post-apocalyptic stories, there are no zombies, biker gangs or similar dangers (although there is a mentally ill former army officer.) And electricity and plumbing continues to work.

At the end, a huge new artifact blasts off from Earth with the ex-human immortals, and many of the mortals are traveling to locations where significant numbers can work together to maintain societies.

There's more character development than in many SF novels.

[Lisa H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not quite sure how I feel about this book. As I said in an earlier update, it reminded my in some ways of Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis trilogy (specifically the first book, Dawn) - the basic premise of aliens coming to a dying Earth and transforming humans into something different, as a way of saving us. Also some hints of Stephen King's The Stand - isolated pockets of humanity making contact via ham radio, foraging for needed supplies, even (in a superficial way) the presence of a psychic bond between all of these very different individuals, bringing them to work together/share things they never would have before the triggering event. (On further reflection - also somewhat reminiscent of Greg Bear's The Forge of God.)

Beyond that - I don't know, it just seemed sort of incomplete; like there should have been MORE to the story. I liked the examination of different motivations for declining the aliens' offer of immortality, but thought Wilson could have done more with that.

[Okenwillow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Je suis définitivement conquise par Wilson ! Le thème de l’immortalité est ici formidablement traité. Les humains ont le choix de rester mortel ou de devenir éternel. Chacun se retrouve face à un dilemme qui les confrontent à eux-mêmes, à ce qu’ils sont vraiment. Ceux qui ont dit non à la vie éternelle estiment ainsi conserver leur Humanité, et considèrent que les “contactés” ne sont plus humains. Ceux qui ont refusé ont tous de bonnes raisons, l’incompréhension, la peur de l’inconnu et du changement, le refus de ce qu’ils sont vraiment, leur vécu… Une histoire magnifique.

[Lawrence · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought after reading Spin that I would check out another of Wilson's works. Harvest seem the highest rated here on goodreads, so I put that on my to-read list. I read about 100 pages before deciding this book was a waste of my time. The plot moves glacially, with many seemingly unrelated threads that I'm guessing all came together by the end of the book, duh. The characters are extremely unsympathetic. Oh, and then there are the aliens. Actually, at the point I stopped reading I knew almost less about the aliens than I had at the start.

[Alecia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic science fiction with a large dose of moral philosophy.

[Zackery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kept me reading! Solid story I found randomly at a used bookstore.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aliens visit the Earth, but at first they're silent, visible in the sky but not engaging. Until finally, in mass dream, they speak to everybody at once with an incredible offer. They will give functional immortality to everyone who wants it. As well as other benefits. The only catch is... once death is no longer a concern to you, or anyone else, you can't help but change your outlook, your priorities... you, in essence. And maybe that means you're no longer going to be what you presently consider human. Still, most people accept the offer. The novel follows a few of the small minority that refuse it, who are left unaffected, except that they're in a world full of people who said "yes." Could this all be a sinister ploy by the aliens and those who accepted the offer are enslaved and need rescuing? And, even if it's not... is it that much better?

This type of book is pretty much Robert Charles Wilson's specialty. A big event that can't help but change the world, and yet the focus is on the personal, how individual, rather normal people react to it, often helpless to change the course of events. In this case, it's also somewhat reminiscent of Childhood's End, although different enough that I wouldn't even call it a homage much less a ripoff (although I also wouldn't be terribly surprised if someone told me the author was inspired by the classic work to try this). It's just that a few similar ideas are explored, but with a more modern perspective. Modern to us, but for Wilson, it's one of his older, earlier pieces... and to an extent, it shows. Not that it's bad, but it's less... deft. The characters don't ring quite as true as some of his later work, some lean a little towards stock (but with interesting twists), and the plotting has a few more rough spots.

Two issues in particular stood out to me for the negative. One, there was a fairly obvious question that never seemed to be brought up, or even occur to any of the characters. It does eventually get answered, but it's far too late and feels contrived to provide a surprise to the reader, but not a fair one. I kept waiting and waiting for somebody to bring it up because it would have been one of my first questions and I can't believe it took that long to find out. The other problem is that there seemed to be too much uniformity in how the people who accepted the offer of immortality act. There is some mention of people taking slightly different paths, but just considering the natural variation of human personality, you'd think, given the abilities they have, there would be many more approaches taken. Maybe most people acting similarly allows for a certain creepiness to set into the story, but given the premises it didn't ring true. Even the basic count of how many people refused seemed unlikely to me... I could certainly believe a large majority, but I could see a significant minority refusing for some of the many reasons given by others.

Still, on the whole, I enjoyed the book. Wilson may not have shown himself as capable as he has in other works, but it was still interesting and worth a read. And he avoided several pitfalls that I think others might have fallen into and created a story that was far more conventional and much less interesting. The biggest sin is that I think that if he wrote from the same premise today, I think it might be a great book instead of merely good.

[Wynden · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel was an unexpectedly profound and personal experience, which elevated it beyond a mere pleasure read. Had I understood the particulars of the religious overture before going in, I may have skirted the title entirely; this is, ostensibly, a story about The Rapture in Christian tradition; however it has been cleverly and provocatively stripped of its overt religious accoutrements. This presents a tantalizing philosophical quandary which challenges the devout and secular, alike: if something other than god offered eternal salvation, would we take it?

There were two reasons that the book felt intensely personal for me; one considerable on a cultural scale and one merely coincidental. I'll start with the former. As a US citizen who grew up in rural America to conservative agricultural communities, I have plenty of first-hand experience with Christian religious belief. As a child, my older half-sister considered herself "saved" at Jesus camp and endeavored to do the same by me, and my grandmother worried that my brother and I were at risk of going "heathen" given our parents' general lack of church attendance. While the sister took a "Jesus loves" approach which was at least somewhat compelling, our grandmother elected to scare us into obeisance by reading Revelations. My younger brother became enraptured (heh) by these stories and later read all of the Left Behind series, while I remained agnostic and abstained from the pop culture obsession.

While a young adult still struggling with my skepticism and consequent cultural estrangement from other-minded family, including my own brother, I once had a nightmare that remained with me forever. In it, one of the many Christian prognosticators finally proved correct about the date of Rapture and most of my family vanished from Earth while I remained, physically and spiritually, left behind on our living room couch. There was no threat of hellfire and damnation in the dream; just the stark pain of being suddenly and permanently cut off from the people that meant the most and were, both tangibly and emotionally, my primary sense of "home" and connection to life.

What The Harvest does exceptionally well is to take the psychological trauma that many of us have experienced by the threat of this separation and to explore it; it asks us to examine it, to travel down the path to its fullest implications. If we accept these dictums as true, we must necessarily take the more difficult next step in accepting that we are choosing to be severed from anyone who chooses differently, and this choice almost universally entails the loss of some of our closest loved ones. Those who choose the Christian God over humanity must come to terms with that choice, and those who decline must come to terms with being second tier to God and salvation, often by their own kin, while both contend with the conflicting priorities of their loved ones or community. In this sense, the journey of this novel is like therapy; strangely cathartic as it gently leads us to revisit and reassess these unsettled emotions and challenge foregone conclusions.

Yet Wilson is more clever than merely to present a "what if the Christians were right?" thought experiment. Instead, he reframes the Rapture-esque phenomenon as something entirely different; something alien and unanticipated, which reopens and extends many of the questions and promises of religion to secular populations, as well. What if a more advanced intelligent life offered us the cure for mortality — eternal life and exploration — at the price of the flesh, the physical Earth and, arguably, the essence of our humanity... not to mention every person who chooses traditional life and mortality.

Given the human inclination for expansion and discovery, and that Death is generally depicted as the Final Boss or Ultimate Fear of this plane of existence, this is no trivial bargain. Even those of us who have no trouble saying no to the religious version of eternity must re-sit with the question and reevaluate our position and priorities. This is a provocative side-quest in our narrative adventure. Would I take the bait? Would I trust it?

The more idiosyncratic reason that this novel felt curiously personal to me was in finding myself so well represented in the character of Tom Kindle. It is rare that I see my more solitary, unconventional convictions mirrored as accurately and sympathetically as I did here, and it was refreshing. Here was a stubborn, introverted man who was not an impersonal recluse or a troglodyte, not unsanitary or suspicious, not angry and afraid and conspiratorial, and not lonely — but comfortable, congenial, and content in his lifestyle. And he was, I daresay, even a likeable guy. Kindle is never otherized, depicted as less-than or unfortunate or self-deceived; he is articulated as a whole and fully-dimensional character with strong self-awareness and compassion, despite lack of attachments. And, as a bonus, his introduction in Chapter 11 is, entirely on its own merits, one of the most tense but enjoyable and entertaining things I've ever read.

Most of the characters are well and sympathetically crafted to explore the angles and ramifications of the premise from multiple angles and differing perspectives, and none are delivered as clearly "correct" or superior to another. Even the Evangelical spinster, who at first blush appears the image of superficial caricature, is sensitively developed rather than being reduced to a shallow stereotype, and represents a valid interpretation of events even as that interpretation shifts and adjusts with new information.

I give this book a 5 star rating because it left what I feel will be a lasting impact, and because my criticisms were subjective and relatively minor, but it was not immune from my characteristic nitpickery. My disappointment was fairly similar to criticisms I've had around this author's work in the past, in that a perceived flaw stands out specifically for its novelty in such a thoughtfully-crafted and thoroughly reasoned narrative. My frustration arose during the climax when - minor spoilers forthcoming in this paragraph - one of our protagonists was inexplicably delayed in a rescue attempt. The delay was never explained, and while the timing is obviously contrived to extend the tension and suspense, it harms the integrity and diminishes an otherwise outstanding character by its omission. The reader assumes that a plan or obstacle are to blame, but when the character arrives in the most direct, feckless, and non-tactical manner, long overdue and without explanation, it is vexing. It could have easily been explained away by the character having unsuccessfully searched for an alternate entry point or defensive shield, but no justification is offered and it results in the person appearing cowardly and negligent while other characters suffer and die.

My second point of contention with the story was even more subjective than the first, and somewhat surprising even to myself, but it struck me that the novel did not need, or particularly benefit by, the inclusion of the more conventional "bad guy". I found that the conflict presented by this character seemed especially ugly, trivial, and distracting alongside the greater challenges posed by the dualistic and profound emotional, spiritual, and philosophical stakes of the situation, itself, as well as the natural phenomena which cut straight to the core of our prehistoric fears of human frailty and mortality. I recognize that this character represented the worst of humanity and the threat inherent to our psychological isolation and any decision to remain fundamentally separate and distinct, however I wish that he could have played a smaller part in later and culminating events. (It should also be noted for sufferers that the villain is depicted as having schizophrenia, along with a dose of sociopathology and pedophilia into the mix. The book does not get more gratuitous than (minor spoiler) to threaten a young prostitute with a gun, but that is more than enough to turn my stomach at the character's mention.) In any case, this villain taking center-stage for the finale felt a bit shallow in the wake of preceding events and core questions. Admittedly, I also just didn't enjoy dwelling at length on something so distasteful and mundane in an otherwise uplifting experience.

There were a few other questionable choices and inclusions which felt a bit unnecessary to the story, such as the role of the American President and, more overtly, the late and brief insertion of the character of Rosa, who injected a certain supernatural peculiarity which had otherwise been largely absent but did not, at least for me, advance or elevate the story. Yet these were not enough to significantly diminish the value of the book given the overall substance and lasting impression of the tale.

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mini review stands. Wilson's got plot and pacing on lock, and puts just enough science into the backend of his end of the world to make the whole thing, if not plausible, at least workable. It's not his best work (this was written in 94 - he was just getting started!) and though there's a little bit of dated, cringeworthy language ("Oriental" referencing a culture, not a rug, the lack of any female primary protagonists), it's actually pretty un-blatantly cringeworthy.

Actual plot summary: it's sort of Ingress-y. First contact is made. Do you choose to trust the aliens and accept their promise of eternal life, or is death what makes us human? After the choice is made, what happens to those who transition, and those who stay behind? Shocker, it's a world builder.

If you can track it down, I read it in a day. But Wilson's one of my favourite authors - his cadence always feels like something I can burrow in to.

[Mars Girl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my all-time favorite books of all time. It's the book that I discovered Robert Charles Wilson with and I have an actual paperback copy of this book that I got much later. I've re-read it a few times. I just loved the whole premise of a race coming to earth and offering humanity the choice to evolve. It is really a bittersweet tale with great characterization. How does one let go of ones humanity to move forward? Can everyone move forward? It's a social commentary on change.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last humans on Earth come to terms with the others leaving; perhaps it's the realistically drawn characters, the pathos of Summer coming to an end, or meditations on mortality amongst the banal, but something really hooked me.

[The Local Spooky Hermit · Rating 3 out of 5]

lol i got this thinking it was a different book. part way through I realized it wasn't a horror like i thought. oop them library sales where ppl move stuff around.
Not terrible but I got it thinking it was a different book I was looking at. so it suffered from feeling jipped

[Maliwan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was very interesting and surprising. Also very different from other sci-fi books that I had read. One of a kind. The idea of human is explained and questioned in this book so well, I start to question myself. It's a book one should definitely read.

[Torie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Totally irrestible premise. Excellent, easily digestible writing. Woefully unsatisfying conclusion.

Filed under "great idea that didn't go anywhere."

[Chuk's Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

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Feelings about the book:
- This book is one of the best sci-fi books I've ever read. What a book. It is also criminally underrated. If you liked, disliked or even hated (like me), Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke - this book is a vast improvement on the 'classic'. It is a totally different story, but there is overlap thematically.

Premise/Plot:
- In The Harvest, humanity is visited by a benevolent alien species. The mysterious aliens (The Travellers) offer every human the chance to be immortal.

- Those who accept change to become something other than human. We follow the people who refused for one reason or another.

- Our protagonist Dr Matt Wheeler forms a small group consisting of his neighbours mostly. We follow along their story as they grapple with the meaning of humanity, religion, love and more.

Themes:
- Humanity, obedience, rebellion, hate, acceptance, growing apart and more

Characters:
- Alien entity/spaceship called the artifact. With ‘beings’ called the travellers. And ‘helpers’ that are these things that came from the artifact itself and spread out in every town.

- The human characters are well written and realistic too

Sci-Fi/Fantasy elements:
- Benevolent alien species, human extinction, post-human potential/transcendence, collective consciousness, immortality

Pros:
- So well written, Robert Charles Wilson executed on the concept extremely well

- Very good pacing

- The themes were well explored through the characters

- The Dystopian and utopian duality was done really well

Cons:
- There is some ambiguity in the aliens’ motives, but that didn't bother me

Quotes:
‘He knew that “we have to talk” was a polite code for an impending emotional meltdown, and he didn’t like it.’

‘Do you want to live, they had asked, even if you change? Even if you become, in time, something no longer entirely human?’

‘They’re not even offering forgiveness, that’s not their business – their business is understanding.’

‘He wondered what he was trying so hard to save. What was he sorry to lose, in this new world they were making? War was finished, after all. Disease, apparently, was a thing of the past. Starvation was history. Lies were becoming impractical.’

‘What had he loved so much that he turned down the offer of eternal life?’

‘They would all be well-cared for. Like cattle. Cattle were well-cared for. Cattle were also slaughtered.’

‘They called it a Helper. The name, he thought, was grotesque but appropriate. It suggested a blunt, totalitarian benevolence - a meaningless gesture from a humourless tyrant.’

‘Matt was tired again. It was as if he had made some silent bargain, traded sorrow for fatigue.’

‘The Travellers had approached Earth like a benevolent but clumsy giant. For all their wisdom, they hadn’t foreseen a ratio of resistance as high as one in ten thousand. They had underestimated the stubbornness of humanity.’

‘This journey had demonstrated all too graphically the emptiness of the world and the inadequacy of the human temperament.’

‘But if you go out and pray to that thing for help – my fear is that it will help, and it won’t stop helping, and we’ll have a new God in the sky, and that’ll be the end of us, one way or another.’

[Dominick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read many of Robert Charles Wilson's books, but this one may be the best--certainly, it kept me engaged and guessing throughout. As is typical of Wilson, an inexplicable phenomenon (in this case the arrival of an alien ship that offers all of humanity immortality--at the cost of their corporeal lives) throws the lives of the protagonist(s) into disarray. The focus in on a handful of the humans who reject the offer (about one in 10,000 did so, the novel tells us) as they have to cope first with watching everyone else literally disappear (often leaving emptied skins behind, a nicely macabre touch), then with the increasing changes to the world brought about by the activities of the artefact (e.g. increased storms) and ultimately--and unsurprisingly--with their own human propensity to fight with each other. This had something of a Stephen King vibe to me, possibly because I am currently also reading The Stand, which has some vague similarities (e.g. a handful of humans trying to figure out how to cope in a radically transformed world). Wilson mostly avoids the expected paths and cliches here, notably by presenting and then foreclosing on the notion of a resistance to the alien activity. Human agency against the alien activities is represented as futile; this is not a story of plucky human ingenuity overcoming the superior force and technology of a much more advanced race (not that such stories are not also fun). Instead, it uses the conceit to ask questions about why humans would choose not to die--or, more importantly, in the case of the focal characters, to choose inevitable death over probably immortality in what we are told is essentially a virtual paradise. I don't think Wilson quite sticks the landing, but that may reflect my own preference for pessimism over optimism. Regardless, this is well-written, thought-provoking, and absorbing SF. Recommended.

[Geoff Battle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wilson takes an unique approach to contact in The Harvest, although the title is somewhat of a clue. The initial third is laden with suspense as the characters are developed and this is achieved with a modicum of science. In fact it's the lack of any knowledge which makes it unnerving. Once it starts to pick up pace it shrugs off the suspense and tries to offer credible action and develops a more scientific approach. Whilst it tries to not to play its cards it fails to juggle all of these approaches and loses its way. The characters become unfocused and the story meanders. It's interesting enough to create a desire to see it through, however the latter half is poor in comparison to the moody and tense first half. The Harvest is an interesting and unusual piece of science fiction, refusing to use familiar alien contact plot lines and that bravery should be noted.

[whit · Rating 3 out of 5]

A subdued story about an Earth-changing event and those that chose not to accept the gift of eternal life offered by a benevolent alien force. It was enjoyable to read a novel by a talented writer who isn't well known but produced an intriguing story with a premise that I'm fond of.

"The Harvest" doesn't fall far from the tree of Arthur C. Clarke's "Childhood's End". I like "Childhood's End" more because it doesn't get as detailed about the characters. In "The Harvest", the characters converse...a LOT. It reminded me of the way Stephen King sometimes over-explains his cast. Come to think of it, this is a bit like "The Stand" in that there is a small group of people trying to survive an invading force. Granted, it's not a virus like Captain Trips, but it alters everything about humanity.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm surprised this book isn't more well-known. I'd never have noticed it except for having seen it on a friend's read list. It reminded me a lot of Stephen King's The Stand, that concept of an uncertain future that roils the entire world. … Who will persist through force of will or faith and who will fail for whatever reason? Ragtag band of survivors, eclectic assortment of people thrown together, etc. It feels a little dated, but the characters are believable. I do have doubts about the portrayal of mental illness. It reminds me of some statistic about how people with mental illness are more likely the victims of violence and not the cause of it. But Colonel Tyler, though not a one-dimensional villain, reminds me of similar villains in similar stories, like Kurtz from Apocalypse Now (I have yet to read Heart of Darkness).

[Tatiana Shorokhova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Грустная книга о человеческой природе. С плохими людьми и хорошими губчатыми инопланетянами. В описании все верно, но ощущение, будто в финале какой-то швах, а там нет его.

Относительно темы смерти, то все очень просто: даже если отказаться от предложения инопланетян жить вечно, все равно захочешь существовать, когда до смерти останется несколько шагов.

Плюсик за попытку выписать женских персонажей, но при этом минус за их шаблонность. Лучше всех, как ни странно, президент, но его ужасно мало.

Идея с перестройкой тела благодаря инопланетному вмешательству очень интересная, и я бы наверное про этих людей с большим интересом прочла, чем про обычных. И тем не менее, где-то с сотой страницы не могла оторваться: Уилсон ставит своих героев перед разными моральными дилеммами и не сказать чтоб все идеально проходили испытание.

Классный сериал бы получился.

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some interesting points in this book. Aliens appear over America, in this case, and tell everyone they have to leave as the world is being destroyed. A tiny number are left behind. These at first try to adjust, then go bonkers. Like three men yelling at one another that there are only ten people left in town and you have to wave a knife at someone? They get possessive over women. Who could possess themselves just fine if left to it. Especially as the aliens have placed some kind of organic filter device on the drinking water supply. Easier to maintain, the suspicious humans mutter. And they could always dig a well. If they felt like it.
By the end, some of these people are not human anymore, but alien, while supertornadoes are ravaging the town.
I didn't enjoy the masculine style or the writing. The book seems too long and padded.
I read a paperback.