Robert Charles Wilson’s Burning Paradise is a story about what happens if a paranoid’s worst nightmare came true. It’s a well written tale with some decent characters, but I had a hard time accepting the premise and that just sank the book for me. Labelled as hard science fiction, the main concept seemed so fantasy that it was hard for me to take the book seriously. Let’s check out what went wrong.
Cassie’s at home with her younger brother Thomas, while their Aunt is out with friends. Cassie sees a strange man across the street and watches as he gets hit by a car and lies in the street dying. This is Cassie’s hint to grab her brother and run. In this alternate universe, it’s 2015 and the world has been at peace for the last 100 years. But some scientists have secretly made a surprising discovery. They are not alone. There is a parasitic being enveloping the world and altering communications enough to turn humans more peaceful. Angry telegrams are made less angry. Telecasts are calmed down and the parasite is secretly pushing the world to more peace. But is this a good thing.
Cassie runs to meet Leo, he’s the nearest member of the Society (the group that is aware of the parasite). The escape plans, put into place after the parasite had physically attacked and killed several society members (including Cassie’s parents) years earlier, call for notifying the closest Society member and then running. Leo is the son of the Society’s leader and feels like he has a lot to prove. Cassie’s Aunt Ris is also on the run and we follow our two small groups as their paths slowly converge. Along the way we learn more about the parasite and it’s dealings on Earth. And, of course, there is a twist. All with the parasite might not be what is thought.
The book does decent characterizations and the plot is tightly focused on the escape of all our characters. But I had a hard time buying that this parasite, often described as not an intelligent being, was able to do all the complex manipulations and planning without being a lot more intelligent and malevolent than presented. It lost me in the description of the alien and I never got back into the story. Mediocre story. Not recommended.