The Wan

by Bo Balder

In a far future, on a faraway planet, humans have become infected by the alien Wan, creatures that communicate by feeding each other poems composed of their own flesh. Obsessed alien and former human biologist Ing infects Frog, a barren slave girl, and Firdaus, deposed ruler of the human settlement, with the alien fungus. When a once-in-a-millennium Wan reproductive event threatens to destroy all human life on the planet, Frog and Firdaus must choose between transforming their loved ones into cadaverous toadstools and surviving - or watching them all die in a planetary holocaust. Unless Frog can come up with a third solution - with the help of her greatest enemy.

Genres: Science Fiction

348 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 15, 2015

Reviews

[Octavia Cade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of good ideas in here, though perhaps not all of them are as developed as they could be, and what characters can do at any one time can be frustratingly dependent on what the plot needs them to do - or not do (Ing in particular strikes me as becoming conveniently, implausibly stupid whenever Firdaus needs to appear intelligent). I do like the alien world though, and I especially like the link between knowledge and consumption, which I thought was explored really well.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

...Al met al is The Wan een veelbelovend Engelstalig debuut. Het heeft genoeg klassieke sciencefictionelementen om de lezer die daar naar op zoek is tevreden te houden, zonder te vervallen in oppervlakkige karakters of al te zwaar te leunen op een technisch concept. De Wan zijn bizar genoeg om te fascineren maar menselijk genoeg om herkenbaar te blijven. De roman is een uitgekiende mix van plotelementen die goed met elkaar in balans zijn. Aan haar techniek valt hier en daar best nog wat te schaven maar dat neemt niet weg The Wan is een roman is die de lezer met een voldaan gevoel zal achterlaten.

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[Ogi Ogas · Rating 5 out of 5]

My ratings of books on Goodreads are solely a crude ranking of their utility to me, and not an evaluation of literary merit, entertainment value, social importance, humor, insightfulness, scientific accuracy, creative vigor, suspensefulness of plot, depth of characters, vitality of theme, excitement of climax, satisfaction of ending, or any other combination of dimensions of value which we are expected to boil down through some fabulous alchemy into a single digit.

[Deborah Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bo Balder draws the reader into a compelling alien world, where humans are scrabbling to live in a harsh colony.

What if memories could be transferred in a bite of flesh? What if you personality were an amalgamation of everyone you'd ever consumed? What if your life span was extended beyond the human span?

Would you still be human? Could you use your alien mind-set to save a doomed colony?.

Excellent, strange and thought provoking SF.