Perihelion Summer

by Greg Egan

Greg Egan's Perihelion Summer is a story of people struggling to adapt to a suddenly alien environment, and the friendships and alliances they forge as they try to find their way in a world where the old maps have lost their meaning.

Taraxippus is coming: a black hole one tenth the mass of the sun is about to enter the solar system.

Matt and his friends are taking no chances. They board a mobile aquaculture rig, the Mandjet, self-sustaining in food, power and fresh water, and decide to sit out the encounter off-shore. As Taraxippus draws nearer, new observations throw the original predictions for its trajectory into doubt, and by the time it leaves the solar system, the conditions of life across the globe will be changed forever.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Novella, Science Fiction Fantasy, Post Apocalyptic, Hard Science Fiction, Apocalyptic

224 pages, Paperback

First published April 16, 2019

About the author

Greg Egan specialises in hard science fiction stories with mathematical and quantum ontology themes, including the nature of consciousness. Other themes include genetics, simulated reality, posthumanism, mind transfer, sexuality, artificial intelligence, and the superiority of rational naturalism over religion.

He is a Hugo Award winner (and has been shortlisted for the Hugos three other times), and has also won the John W Campbell Memorial Award for Best Novel. Some of his earlier short stories feature strong elements of supernatural horror, while due to his more popular science fiction he is known within the genre for his tendency to deal with complex and highly technical material (including inventive new physics and epistemology) in an unapologetically thorough manner.

Egan is a famously reclusive author when it comes to public appearances, he doesn't attend science fiction conventions, doesn't sign books and there are no photos available of him on the web.

Excerpted from Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Chaunceton Bird · Rating 1 out of 5]

Greg Egan is one of my favorite authors. I plan to read every one of his books. It's a shame that some of them, like this one, are probably the product of contract obligations, and are a bit lacking in the usual Greg Egan staples of complex science-driven plots.

This book had an interesting premise (two black holes pass through the solar system close enough to catastrophically disturb earth's orbit), but the rest of the story felt like Mr. Egan was making it up as he went, and it digressed into an anti-climactic action novel. Overall, disappointing to read a mulligan from one of the greats.

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

What would happen if a blackhole will pass through our solar system, further enough not to destroy any planet but leaving some traces of its journey behind? You’ll find out in this novella.

The story follows a few characters struggling staying alive in the new environmental conditions. It’s more of a pre-apocalyptical story, if you let your imagination flow beyond the end of the story.

Not as ground-breaking as other of his works, still, a very interesting one, which makes you ruminate upon it afterwards.

[Lata · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Matt and three of his friends create a mobile fish farm, the Mandjett, when news hits of a black hole moving through the solar system. After it passes, the environmental impacts it has on earth are more profound than anticipated, and though the Mandjett looked like a kooky project to so many prior to the spatial visitation, the fish farm ends up being an incredibly well-thought out idea. The climate is out of whack, and millions are affected adversely. Matt and friends begin pulling other boats into a flotilla of the relatively few in the Southern Hemisphere who were lucky enough to get off land.
It's one thing to see the negative effects already on the planet from our "progress" and over-population; the more acute effects on earth's climate as described by Greg Egan are scary. And though Matt and company create something pretty amazing, the story doesn't paint a very hopeful future for the existing survivors. And it's a little hard to care about main character Matt; I found I liked one of the supporting characters from Sri Lanka much more. On the plus side, what a gorgeous cover!

[Gabi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whew, I'm sorry to say, but this was disappointing.

I liked the idea of the drastic change in living conditions on Earth due to cosmic interference. There is potential for an exciting narration. But Egan somehow managed to tell the tale in such an unsuspenseful way that there were several times where I really had no idea why he even bothered with a scene setup if it just came to nothing.

The character development was very weak. Especially when it came to interactions of the MC with his family. They felt downright amateurish.

I don't know what I should think about it, because I heard from a fellow reader whose taste in books I appreciate that Greg Egan is quite a good author. Let's hope that this was his Monday piece and others are a lot better.
I will give his work a second chance with something higher rated.

[Oleksandr Zholud · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a hard SF novel of post-apoc kind. I read is as a part of monthly reading for March 2020 at SFF Hot from Printers: New Releases group.

The review contains slight spoilers because the first part sets the scene for the remaining two and they cannot be discussed without giving some outcomes of the first one.

Like other works of Greg Egan, it is largely based on the current scientific understanding of the world. This time a small black hole travels near the Earth. Unlike less scientifically inclined books, there is no whooshing-out the atmosphere or giant waves – actually the protagonists discuss why it cannot be so. The main character, Matt, with his friends constructed an aqua-farm, a closed eco-system of fish (cobia), GM-flies and greens. The black hole passes thru, but changes slightly Earth orbit, so now in Southern hemisphere summer temperature may reach 60C° (140F) and people will die en-masse. The rest of the book is an attempt to save a tiny fraction of those doomed by traveling to Antarctica.

This novel is much weaker than his other stuff, it reads fine but without a “wow”-factor. It is much more realistic in depiction what a post-apoc may look like, not Mad Max style but with a lot of frightened people.

[destiny ♡ howling libraries]

DNF @ 30%

Oof, what a bummer. I was actually really intrigued by the plot in this story, but... well, I have a very specific phobia of a certain type of, er, insect, (no, not spiders — maggots — ugh even typing that made me shudder), and they featured really prominently in the first few chapters of this novella! By the fourth description of these little bastards, I realized it was time to choose between finishing the story or keeping my lunch down.

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this review copy in exchange for an honest review!

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.0 Stars
This was an interesting piece of hard science fiction exploring the scary realities of a potential global disaster. I loved the scientific ideas explored in this novella, but I found the characters and story itself to be weak. Despite my criticisms, I will definitely read more by this author.

[Holly (The GrimDragon) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars~

"There had to come a point when the sluggish motion of the Taraxippoi across the sky was replaced by a sudden rush, like a train rattling by--and the longer it took for this oncoming train to appear to veer sideways, the closer that placed the Earth to the tracks. If you were waiting for a sign that the headlights were no longer bearing down on you, no news was bad news."

Alrighty.. let's see if I can make this mini review a bit more.. mini. My last attempt wasn't as short as I was hoping. Because of course. WHY AM I LIKE THIS?!?

Greg Egan is a writer that I've been curious about for some time now, but just haven't gotten to for one reason or another. As I mentioned in my previous review, I seem to be doing this thing more often where I read a new release by authors who are already established with many books/series and that is my introduction to their work. I'm more than okay with this development! It helps to prioritize new to me writers. 

This particular writer appears to be somewhat of a mystery, which is rare these days. Apparently he is quite the recluse and there isn't even a picture available online anywhere of him. I don't know.. I think there's something fucking radical about that. Nowadays everything is so damn AVAILABLE. There is absolutely nothing wrong with keeping a bit of privacy for oneself.

Perihelion Summer's story is about a black hole that is quickly approaching Earth. Summers are getting hotter, winters more cold. Matt Fleming is a young scientist who is working on the Mandjet, a mobile aquaculture rig. This experiment is meant to withstand dramatic sea level changes, meaning that people would hopefully be safe on this self-sustaining innovation no matter what environmental shift may occur. Except nothing is ever that simple.

This is coming out just as the first image of a black hole has been released. That's some free cosmic marketing right there!

It's an intelligent story, one that is is an exploration on climate change and survival. Complex science, yet never overwhelming. Perihelion Summer mostly centers around the characters and how they are dealing with the (possible) impending doom.

I'm definitely planning on checking out more of Egan's work after reading this!

(Big thanks to Tor.com Publishing for the copy!)

**The quotes above were taken from an ARC & are subject to change upon publication**

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

“People have had a couple of years to stockpile whatever they wanted, even if they thought the chance of anything happening was minuscule. The only ones who haven’t done that are temperamentally incapable of entertaining the possibility of disaster, and nothing they’ve heard in the last few days is going to change their minds.”

A third into this short novel (slightly overlong novella?) things haven’t changed so dramatically yet. And the old maps still work perfectly. Or rather, the frog is boiling so slowly that it hasn‘t noticed yet. I had expected something a lot more dramatic.

By the middle of the book things have started to heat up. Literally.

The world building is ok, the characters are mostly exchangeable. The most confusing thing for me as a European were the upside down seasons—the story is set south of the equator.

It was ok. It probably would have profited from having a few more pages.

And the ending was not satisfying. I actually flipped back a page, to see if I had missed something.

[RG · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this in a sitting. Im a huge fan of Egan. This is obviously a novella of his. I love his scifi like permutation city, quarantine and also his short stories. This however is what some would classify as cli-fi. Climate change, end of the world and detailed descriptive science. My issue was that it didnt really have much of a plot. It was really just a group of people, main guy Matt, and othera dealing with issue surrounding them. It may have worked better as a fully fleshed out novel. Just wasnt as good as his previous novels. I hope he brings back his heavy science 80s feel stories next time.

[Dylan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book takes a neat idea (black holes pass through the solar system and drastically changes Earth’s climate) and does absolutely nothing interesting with it.

The plot only works if you care about the characters and Egan made zero effort to flesh any of them out or make them interesting, so it’s basically just 200 pages of people you don’t care about struggling to solve problems. I feel like the plot could have easily gone in much more interesting directions, with or without better characters. I also found the ending to be fairly subpar.

[Alvaro Zinos-Amaro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Greg Egan's Perihelion Summer wastes no time introducing its central premise, namely the launch and operation by Matt and some of his friends of the seafaring vehicle called Mandjet: "On the Mandjet," Matt explains, "we'll be self-sufficient in food, and pretty much immune to sea-level changes." Though officially designed as an aquaculture project "that could help a lot of people," Matt's endeavor becomes hyper-relevant in the wake of astronomers' discovery of Taraxippus, a black hole the entrance of which into our Solar System has the potential to wreak massive havoc on Earth. After reading this short novel's blurbs, I imagined a far-reaching apocalypse that would push our pale blue dot, and perhaps a few other astronomical bodies, into realms of extreme physics, and well past their breaking points. Egan, however, goes a different route. We soon learn that the black hole--which is discovered to be a binary system of two singularities, hence Taraxippoi--will not be immediately devastating to our world. Instead:

What they would do, though, as they passed by on the outer side of the orbit, was turn the Earth's velocity vector to point a little farther away from the sun. And by forcing it to veer off the road this way they were letting it do all the damage itself: the effect of that slight change in direction would build up over time, long after they were gone. So although the old and new orbits agreed in March and September, in June the planet would be 7 percent farther from the sun, and in December 10 percent closer.

The net impact of these orbital changes? Humans will have to adapt to "ten degrees Celsius colder in June, and fifteen degrees warmer in December." Thus, Egan has in effect cleverly compressed the timescale of certain modern-day global climate change predictions into a period of several years, rather than decades, and displaced the cause to an extrasolar agent beyond dispute. The novel chronicles, in episodic fashion, Matt's challenges onboard the Mandjet, his relationship with his family--early on we meet his sister Selena, and learn that their parents have refused to join the crew, preferring to take their chances on land--and his friends, and the overcoming of various obstacles external and internal. These misadventures and conflicts unfold in the dual contexts of social policy discussions and a fascinating attention to scientific detail.

The orbitally-induced climate changes create massive pressures on the populations that inhabit the most seasonally affected countries, leading to vast migratory waves. This informs part of the book's ongoing examination of the morality of various immigration strategies. Consider, for instance, the following lines, which we can easily imagine in a contemporary newspaper article: "'The quotas we've set for climate migrants are the most generous in the world,' the minister for Home Affairs read from her autocue. 'But we cannot and will not allow our sovereignty to be undermined in the name of some false idea of compassion.'" Egan does a thorough job of examining pros and cons for various positions, filtered by Matt's deeply humanistic point of view. Other adaptive responses include the construction, around Singapore and Dubai for example, of a photovoltaic glass enclosure, while other cities like Shanghai opt instead for "a multitude of smaller domes." Nevertheless, as the situation becomes more drastic and resources sparse, many undertake dangerous oceanic voyages, leading to weekly tallies of drownings that reach four digits in the Mediterranean and five in the South China Sea.

Matt's attitude, and that of his companions, is typically measured and rooted in a kind of pragmatic techno-optimism which allows seemingly small innovations to go a long way. Sustenance aboard the Mandjet, for instance, is largely provided by the net-enabled farming of cobia, which in turn are fed maggots whose "CRISPR'd genes and algal supplements added all the right oils needed to provide the cobia with a balanced diet." When planning a particularly risky maneuver, Egan treats us to this signature exchange: "'I'm impressed that you can still remember the formula for Stokes drift,' Matt confessed. 'I don't think I've ever used that since my final fluid dynamics exam.' 'What's to remember? It's just dimensional analysis: if you screwed up the formula, the units would make no sense.'" There are other fascinating glimpses of the scientific worldview at work, such as the reasoning for why the initially single black hole must in fact be two entities ("The square of the radius was supposed to be proportional to the black hole's mass divided by its distance. If the trajectory computed from the first two sightings was even remotely correct, the size of the ring should have more than doubled") or later the engineering of a new kind of biodiesel.

The action occurs in spurts, and accelerates towards the end of the book, particularly after the Mandjet assimilates an additional crew of Sri Lankans and is forced to deal with, you guessed it, pirates. "Pirates of the Antarctic: Fury Road," Matt ironically but not inaccurately reflects. Despite these events, the overall plotting proceeds quite placidly, with time for the types of ideological and conceptual asides I've suggested. Anyone expecting far-out physics and insane planetary sunderings will be disappointed. Think of this as Egan working in a kind of Kim Stanley Robinson clifi-mode, albeit in a more compressed style.

My initial response to this book was intellectual appreciation coupled with a kind of emotional apathy. Matt didn't particularly grab me, and throughout the novel we're not given access to the kind of rich inner life that would have hooked me on an affective level. Other characters, like Aaron and Arun, don't fare much better. The repertoire of responses by everyone seems a bit limited, often defaulting to embarrassment (e.g. "Aaron managed an embarrassed smile," "Aaron's face flushed with embarrassment," "Matt mumbled something incoherent, embarrassed by his stench and half-nakedness"). But upon reading and re-reading Perihelion Summer's final page, I re-evaluated this opinion and found myself deeply moved. In Matt's case, at least, there is a subtle dramatic arc that plays out just below the narrative's surface, one that culminates in shuddering catharsis that retroactively infuses what came before with a sense of pathos I'd missed. The science scaffolding of Egan's narrative is impeccably erected, and the story moves deliberately rather than languorously. I'm appreciative, upon consideration, for the lack of histrionics and the overall contemplative feel. There's a certain sardonic tone too (e.g. "I guess when the world's falling apart, the last thing anyone wants is to be stuck on a boat with their ex") that I came to appreciate. I still wish certain elements, like character dynamics, had been developed at greater length, but given the constraints of Egan's wordcount, I think Perihelion Summer acquits itself well enough.

If there is a theme to this month's column, it may be how expectations can work against our enjoyment of stories. The promotional copy I'd seen for The Light Brigade conjured up a visionary reinterpretation of military sf tropes that turned out to be quite different from Hurley's direction; likewise, early descriptions of Perihelion Summer, combined with my familiarity with many of Egan's previous works, led to me envision a much more astrophysics-centered tale than the one Egan chose to write. This is not so much a case of "buyer beware," then, as it is one of "anticipator beware."

[Kateblue · Rating 2 out of 5]

My friend Annti recently said that a book, The Vor Game, was like two novellas strung together with a bad bridging story. Well, this book felt like several novelettes/novellas/short stories not bridged together at all.

Although the concept was interesting, I found myself skipping many paragraphs. Also, characters were not fleshed out, which led me not to care about any of them.

And what was the point of having characters named Aaron and Arun? Really.

Basically, just when a part of the story would get interesting, it would just end and another part would randomly start:
1) waiting for the black holes to pass, and exactly when it gets interesting, they do the math, and the story just skips forward. That initial part was the most interesting to me (which isn't saying much), but it was simply truncated.
2) a little bit where a character gets in trouble/fired from volunteer job for proselytizing to a guy he's installing insulation for, without pay. And then that whole subject is dropped forever. Why bother?
3) they keep adding people in the flotilla until--will it work? And it's done in a very ad hoc seat-of-the-pants way, too. I mean, I like that they are helping people, but why they are is not supported. Nobody's really portrayed as a do-gooder. And they never really thought about it before they just started taking people on.
4) Matt goes back for his family--and it seemed pretty coincidental that he found them. Given the way his family behaved toward him, I think I would have just left them there.
5) They spend pages and pages on how to take the big boat back, including lots of internal angst by Matt about how he doesn't want to become a killer, and then--no battle. Which is good, but why all the buildup? A letdown again.
6) Suddenly they're in Antartica, and Matt meets a girl, but no follow-up. Why bother?
7) And he goes back to the tent he and his sister and mom are living in, and she "forgives" him. For what? Being right about going to sea? I guess she's blaming him for his father's death, which he wasn't even there for. What a beyotch.
8) His mom's statement is the last line. Why??? No feeling of hope, or even closure here. It just stopped.

Running amongst all of this is a bunch semi-interesting (sometimes) science facts, but this book needed to decide if it wanted to be scientific tome, or if it wanted to be an exciting novel. It succeeded at neither.

I have heard others of Egan's books are better, so I will try again. I'm hesitating between 2 and 3 stars. I wanted to be nice, but then I went back to reread what I had written and decided--nope, 2*.

I just don't get it. In spots, it seems more like an outline than a novel to me.

The cover art is real pretty, though.

[Bart · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you think Greg Egan isn’t to your liking – too dense, too much math, too much science – Perihelion Summer is the title for you. With hardly any science inside, this novella shows yet another side of Australia’s most reclusive science fiction author.

While it may have a difficult world in the title, the fact that Tor published it is an indication of its accessibility. Length is another argument to give it a chance: its 214 pages offer a short, smooth, engaging read. While every online bookstore or professional review I’ve consulted seems to consider this a novel, Egan himself calls it a novella on his own website. That classification does matter, as I’ll explain below.

(...)

Full review on Weighing A Pig Doesn't Fatten It

[Pavel Lishin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh, not the best. A series of connected issues with surviving in a changed world, and an obvious "what if ecological change took place over a single season rather than creeping up over decades" message.

I think it would be better if it were a longer novel.

Also, I'm your classic scifi nerd, and am really bummed we didn't get to spend more time with Taraxippus.

[Kam Yung Soh · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting tale of immediate survival in the face of catastrophic climate change. Compared to his previous stories, there isn't as much 'hard science' involved here, but surviving the changes would involve making tough decisions about how they can prepare and save themselves from the oncoming global crises.

The story starts with the discovery of a black hole that is passing through the solar system. Initially worried about the possibility of huge tides induced by the black hole, a group of people decide to ride it out in the ocean with their self-sustaining vessel. As the danger passes with little incident, the group realise that the orbital changes induced by the passing black hole would cause the global climate to become even more extreme.

The second part deals with the immediate aftermath. The summer temperature has shot up and the group, along with some refugees who have decided to join them, are making a desperate journey towards Antarctica. But as conditions worsen in the rest of the world, one member of the group decides to head back to try to persuade his family to join him on the desperate journey.

By the end of the story, the immediate crisis is over. But the journey in a new world with more extreme weather conditions is not over and their survival still hangs in the balance.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a short story by Greg Egan earlier this year, and I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to read more of his work. So, I picked up this and a collection of his short stories.

This is a nice, taut, short book. It felt just over novella length, and the plot is pretty simple: twin black holes do a close pass of Earth, and pull it just enough out of orbit to really mess things up for everyone.

It's a great look at ecological disaster, and how if something like global warming happened overnight. We're experiencing a heat wave here, but the hot temperatures I'm experiencing right now don't hold a candle to what the crew of the Mandjet are having to deal with.

My only complaint is that the end does feel pretty abrupt. Still, it's a great read, and perhaps a cautionary tale.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my favourite old movies is When Worlds Collide (1951), directed by George Pal, a movie about Earth being destroyed by a collision with another planet. Reading this novella by Greg Egan reminded me of that movie,* for here Greg gives that old world-in-peril idea a sharp makeover for the 21st century.

At first, the set-up seems like your usual potential-disaster story. From early on we discover that Taraxippus is coming: a black hole one tenth the mass of the sun is about to enter the solar system**, and as it approaches global disasters such as tidal surges and major flooding are possible with it. The story is focussed on Matt Fleming and his friends, who live on an aquiculture rig, the Mandjet, a self-sustaining mobile platform floating in the Southern Ocean.

Considering the enormity of what could happen, the world’s reaction is not what I expected. Instead of global panic, things are strangely subdued. Despite the fact that the Mandjet should cope with the effects of the black hole’s passing, Matt and his colleagues seem to be greeted by a global ennui, which a general feeling that it might never happen or even “what will be will be”. Although the crew have offered, many of their friends, family and associates prefer to take their chances on global catastrophe not happening and stay where they are, on land.

Luckily, the black hole’s effects are not as bad nor as immediate as they could have been. Though what seems like the worst that could happen is mainly avoided, the passing of the black hole has slightly altered the Earth’s orbit, which will lead to a year-on-year change that will be just as damaging in the long run.

The second part of the story is set after the black hole has passed. Winters are colder, summers are hotter. After a brief visit home to his relatively dysfunctional family in Australia, Matt returns to the Mandjet to sail the seas and persuade refugees to come on board and travel to Antarctica where the climate will be less hot and more equitable. This is harder than it sounds. Refugees are struggling to cope, with the countries with tolerable climates such as China closing their borders. The Mandjet becomes part of a flotilla, Battlestar Galactica style, travelling south. As civilisation breaks down on land, Matt’s family are stranded in Perth, which means that Matt has to run a rescue mission to get them. When they and other refugees return, there are other issues, one of which being that the Mandjet has been taken over by pirates. The conclusion of the story brings all these aspects to a resolution.

Greg is an Australian author known for his hard science-based novels, often intimidatingly so to the layman. This is perhaps an attempt by the author to be different, to tell a story that manages to balance the technical with characterisation. As a non-scientist, I found the science not too intimidating and the characterisation engaging. It’s typical Analog magazine-type fare, with the story based around people (some with a scientific background) coping with, and succeeding against, adversity.

This is a people-based story. The focus of the tale is on Matt and peripherally his friends, which gives the story a more intimate perspective. The downside of this tight focus on the story is that there isn’t that global range that similar, bigger stories have – for example, Jim Khalili’s Sunfall, which I read and reviewed recently – and you may not therefore get the full impact of such global changes.

With the emphasis on Matt’s survival and his resilience there is a weakness in that once the main event has passed this is not a story where Matt is ever felt to be truly in peril. Whilst there is danger, generally such issues are resolved without conflict, which some readers will find refreshing whilst others equally irritating. In the end, whilst perhaps trying to show that Matt is an everyman character just trying to do his best, he comes across as characterless.

So, what does this post-apocalyptic story bring to the table that is new? I did enjoy the point that it was a story that was not Europe or American-centred. Writing from an Austral-centric view gave the story a pleasingly different perspective which reminded me a little of Nevil Shute’s On the Beach (1957).

The ending is a little abrupt, although by that point the purpose of the tale seems to be done. In the publishing pattern of such novellas, though, it is possible that this is just the first part of a longer story, with more to follow later.

Whilst there are times when it feels as if it is part of something bigger, the tight focus allows the reader to feel that such events are not only life-changing but personal, and it is the ingenuity and resilience of the Human race to survive, whatever the change in circumstances.

Summing up then, Perihelion Summer is an enjoyable disaster tale that within its limited scope and perspective manages to entertain and engage the reader in a tale that’s short enough to leave an impression whilst not outstaying its welcome. Like When Worlds Collide, the point of Perihelion Summer seems to be that whatever happens Mankind will endure and the future, though different, will be survivable. Which may be an important message for our times.

*And yes, it was based on a best-selling novel by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer (1932). The novel, and its sequel, have also rather dated.

**An idea I think I first encountered in David Brin’s Earth (1990), although the black hole was in the Earth’s core and artificially created.

[Curtis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This audiobook made a boring day even boringer. And anyone who whines that boringer isn't a word is a bigger nerd than the nerd who wrote this nerdy book.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. A short novel, almost a novella. The adventures and experiences of an Australian man and the challenges faced during a period of sudden global warming. In this story, the imagined cause of the global warming is not due to humans, but to an event external to Earth. A grim scenario but an interesting read. I liked the integrity of the central character and his friends.

[Sunil Laxman · Rating 3 out of 5]

*** 3.5 Stars ***

The future sees a black hole moving dangerously close to earth. Although it doesn't cause any direct destruction, it sets the earth on a whole new orbit, bringing it closer to the sun at some times and farther at others. The world goes into chaos with the varied temperature spikes and dips. Matt is a scientist from Perth, and together he and his group of friends must figure out a way to quickly adapt to the rapidly changing conditions.

The story was great! This kind of realistic dystopian setting was pretty well realized. Scenes where the world reels from the rapid changes in the weather, and it was nice seeing how different nations coped. Egan doesn't spare us any of the gritty details either. There are plenty of scenes where you really feel for the plight of humanity in this world.

The only drawbacks I feel are the length of the book and the writing. I feel Perihelion Summer would've benefited from a hundred more pages. The world was reasonably fleshed out, but there were a lot of time skips. If the time skips had been replaced with either character development or world building the book would've felt a lot more complete in my opinion. This includes the ending. I know what Egan was going for and I understand it, but it doesn't mean i'm completely on board with it ( hehe get it? I'll show myself out).

The writing was also sometimes a bit too non-descriptive for me. Maybe because I came from A Feast for Crows, but a lot of the scenes I didn't completely understand, a nagging doubt always playing at the back of my head. Either way, Perihelion Summer was a good read and I can't wait for Greg Egan's next effort!

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Egan, Greg. Perihelion Summer. Tor, 2019.
In Perihelion Summer Greg Egan gives us a climate change disaster that is neither our fault nor the fault of alien monsters. How about a pair of smallish black holes crossing the plane of the ecliptic close enough to disrupt the orbits of Earth and Moon? That’ll do it. Our hero, Matt, is planning to ride out the expected high tides and possible tidal waves in a large aquaculture rig. When the second black hole is discovered, the math suggests a much worse disaster, and Matt finds himself shepherding an international flotilla of refugees into the Antarctic where temperatures will be survivable. Don’t expect the survivalist fantasies of Mad Max or Water World, or even the grim hopelessness of On the Beach. Egan is a committed hard science fiction guy in the tradition of Arthur C. Clarke. For the most part, his characters act with rationality and humane motives. Even his villains can be persuaded with reasonable arguments based on self-interest. I hope he is right about human nature.

[Antti Värtö · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not Egan's best work: indeed, it's one of his weakest. But Egan at his worst is still better than many writers at their best, so I enjoyed this short novel, despite it's flaws.

I was reminded of Seveneves when I read this book: both books have a cosmic event that threatens mankind's survival: both novels feature a central ship (ISS / Mandjet) that forms a hub for a flotilla of smaller ships: both novels have the feeling of impending doom and things falling apart and people still doing their best to survive another day.

The ending was a downer, though. I admit it's hard to find a satisfying ending to this kind of semi-apocalyptic story, but Perihelion Summer seemed to end pretty abruptly. 10 pages more would've been welcome.

[Tim Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remember that a novella is allowed to show us just a slice of a story.

Know going in that the hard science you expect from Egan is mostly in the first quarter. After that it's consequences, and by gosh there are plenty of those.

Let's just say that "It missed us!" isn't always good news.

A thing happens, and we follow one character trying to deal with those consequences. It's well thought out.

And the best thing is that Brock McSquareJaw does not step forward, nor does a Plucky Girl Discovering Her Self-Confidence.

This ends the way all climate-change speculations probably should: with our people soldiering on as best they can in a world with little hope.

[Matt Payne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greg Egan's one of the best sci-fi writers ever, and one of the best storytellers in sci-fi.

This is a beautiful page-turner about a really tough global situation, seen through the eyes of a small handful of craftspeople facing Armageddon. The focus on craftsmanship and cooperation, in the face of cosmic catastrophe, is genuinely inspiring.

[Devilz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Il buco nero Taraxippus sta per passare vicino alla Terra, portando con sé conseguenze nefaste per il pianeta. Per far fronte al problema, Matt Fleming e i suoi amici trasformano una piattaforma mobile per l'acquacoltura, la Mandjet, in un'arca per la salvezza, faro di speranza per la sopravvivenza.

Un survival abbastanza lineare, senza particolari sviluppi o approfondimenti. L'idea è interessante, ma la mancanza di vera azione e la ripetitività rendono la lettura poco stimolante.

5/10 ★★

[Darrel Moore · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5*

[Owen]

There was good stuff here - an interesting premise and likable characters. But I feel like the scale of the story was strangely chosen.

Like, if the event of your story is a world-changing event, you can tell a story that's zoomed in on one character's experience, or the experiences of a small group, and give us lots of detail about how their lives are changed. You can also try to tell a story about the world as a whole, by zooming out and showing us the big changes in society or maybe by telling us lots of individual short stories that weave together.

This book felt like it was halfway between the two choices - we didn't get enough of the world's story to get a full picture of it, but we also jumped around in time enough that it was hard to stay grounded in the protagonists' stories. I'm not going to say that a hybrid kind of story couldn't work, but in this case, I feel like I would have enjoyed it more if it had picked one of the lanes.

[Armamix · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, but not as mind bending as Egan can be.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

A small-scope disaster novel focusing on a few very competent people and their attempts to ride out a climate apocalypse. It's a brief, tight, compelling read--over and done with before many "cli-fi" novels have finished setting the stage. Egan dispenses with much of the societal grist that other writers mill for near future climate disasters: disinformation, nefarious corporate interests, fascist retrenchment against greens, and hyper-inequality are all absent and the social and economic collapse is offscreen (mostly). In their place is a thought experiment: suppose the earth's physical systems are pushed slightly--but without a human hand on the lever. The psychodrama over contesting ownership, blame, and meaning of "climate change" falls away. What's left is a succinct, well written drama that illustrates the massive indifference of climate systems to our wishes. The details of Egan's climate disaster are imaginary (and scientifically rigorous, and spectacular) but his characters live under the same atom-thick security blanket that we do. The austere exploration of identity and free will that is often hand in hand with an unfolding of quantum physics into psychology--as far as I know a combination that occurs only in certain Greg Egan novels--is not here. Still, a worthy way to spend 2 hours.