Sacrifice of Fools

Our science fiction reviewer in residence, Duncan Lawie has reviewed Ian McDonald's Sacrifice of Fools. This book balances an incisive look at human nature to a backdrop of alien settlement. Click below to learn more.

Sacrifice of Fools
author	Ian McDonald
pages	280
publisher	Gollancz, 1996
rating	9/10
reviewer	Duncan Lawie
ISBN
summary	A strongly written novel balancing an excellent understanding of humannature with a well-paced investigation of alien settlers.

Ian McDonald was born in England but has lived in Northern Ireland since he was a small child. His first short story was published in the early 1980s and he has been a full time writer for over a decade. He has published eight novels, a graphic novel, a novella and numerous short stories. His work has tended to be dark, sincere material, gripping in it's complexity and understanding of the world, even when his characters seem to be wholly alien.

His work has often been so lyrical and remote that it is interesting to see him tackle a near future subject set in his home territory. It is even more interesting that he succeeds in doing this without the barest usage of the devices of cyberpunk though there is no shortage of violence in this projected vision of Northern Ireland. The Joint Authority, which was entering the news as Sacrifice of Fools was being written, has become a reality. The arrival of aliens has seemed more likely at times than reaching this political settlement in the Province. Of course, in this novel, the aliens have arrived, migrating across 80 light years to find our planet as inhabited as it is habitable. The governments of Earth have come to an agreement with the Shian, making a place for their communities around the planet, including a large group in Northern Ireland. In a society polarised from birth the appearance of this new third force is seen as a threat by both Protestants and Catholics manoeuvring for political power in the new peacetime.

Andy Gillespie, a former protestant enforcer who has learned the alien's language in prison, is an immediate suspect when a group of Shian is brutally murdered. Historical tensions feeding into the new politics place the police under immense pressure to resolve the crime. Their investigation suggests that the method is impossible for aliens but that the weapon is alien technology. Gillespie's reaction to being tailed by the police is an attempt to find his own answers. His initial efforts are baffled by the Shian and put him in increasing danger from his own kind. The police investigation is hampered by their inability to accept the Shian as being truly alien, whilst Gillespie finds himself going deep into the Shian mindset.

The strength of characterisation underpins the credibility of the novel. The humans are ordinary people who have lived lives under the shadow of the troubles in Northern Ireland. The Shian seem almost human at first and the increasing development of their different nature is underscored by the surface similarities, giving them an almost palpable reality. Gillespie is a magnificently developed primary character and the surrounding cast of police and paramilitary also shine through as real people, genuine individuals, unpleasant as they often are. It is also creditable that the police investigation maintains momentum despite the potential for this to trail away amidst the continued revelations. It is a driving force throughout the novel, paralleling Gillespie's own travails.

Central themes of this book include self worth and the need for acceptance. Sometimes it seems that the two are virtually incompatible which can place intense pressures on the individual. This is displayed in the Northern Irish setting without the need for recourse to the third force. However, when aliens are stirred into the mix some find their allegiance wholly transferred and this process is beautifully realised. The working out of Shian society is just as thorough, reflecting humanity's desire to think it understands the other and demonstrating how futile this belief often is. Sacrifice of Fools is a book of deep truths worked through a mature plot.

Ian McDonald: http://www.sfsite.com/lists/ianmc.htm

It's an import from zShops.

Seems almost similar to the x-files

[slashdot-terminal]

The apparent collaboration with the aliens and such. However logically if so much was at stake with aliens so advanced and such I would break a group of the NSA/CIA combo and track that operson down or perhaps just very publically blame some already evil person to prevent the alien's wrath.

If you liked this...

[rde]

...and you bleeding well better, then you should also try Colin Greenland (particularly Daybreak on a Different Mountain) and Geoff Ryman (particularly The Child Garden).

Disclaimer: I am no longer a bookseller. I have no idea whether these are still in print. If they're not, then there's no justice in the world.

Another disclaimer: there is no justice in the world. This does not automatically mean that the above are out of print.

Alien Nation

[Trickster Coyote]

The premise of this story sounds similiar to that of the movie/tv series "Alien Nation". Although it sounds like the book goes into more psychological depth.

The series had some good stories, particularly it was able to do stuff about race relations through a metaphor of human/alien instead of the black/white thing that a lot of americans can be touchy about. Some of the TV movies they made after the series was cancelled sucked pretty bad though.