Thoughts on "Axiom's End" by Lindsay Ellis

So the book was… OK. There were certain bits that were interesting, certain bits that took a shot at being profound (with mixed results), then there were the boring bits, and the eyebrow-raising bits.

First contact - what could be more exciting, right?

But here's the thing, as explained by the alien named "Ampersand":

“One species is only comprehensible to another species as it understands itself. But with all species, there are attributes one possesses that the other does not share. Where attributes are not shared, inevitably both parties will try to shape the other into a form they can understand. … It is in the nature of all organisms, intelligent and non-intelligent alike, to understand other entities only through their own prism of existence.”

The idea that two civilizations could be so different that contact could be unwanted and, possibly, disastrous brings to mind Strugatski’s Space Mowgli (or The Kid – in any case, the English translation that I saw was pretty terrible). The story included a civilization so different from ours that, initially, it was not recognized as something alive. Humans thought it was some sort of weather phenomenon. That civilization had absolutely no interest in having any contact with humans (because they were so different and profoundly un-curious about humans, if I remember correctly…).

And then, more ominously, the alien in Axiom's End says the following:

“The more powerful superorganism will always try to reshape the less powerful superorganism in its own image. If it does not, the value systems the more powerful superorganism finds repugnant are exterminated or assimilated, or the less powerful superorganism is neutralized altogether.”

Yes, this happened throughout history (ie, colonialism and the like). It was interesting to think about it on the level of extraterrestrial civilizations. 

My favorite part of the books was the realization by the main character that the alien she has encountered is as terrified of her as she is of it. Boom – they have something in common, there is a frame of reference, now they can attempt to understand each other.

Then there is the whole bonding and caring thing, and there is touching that may be purely comforting and platonic but still made me raise my eyebrows and seemed… weird. Perhaps both human and alien were so stressed and freaked out by everything that happened that it seemed natural that they would become all sorts of friendly. Still, weird.

There is a lot of other stuff in the book: conspiracy theories, alternative history, family dynamics. It’s just that the theme of contact with something so completely alien that mutual understanding may not be possible (or desirable) at all – that’s my thing.

What if we walk right past something without realizing it’s alive and self-aware? What if something walks right past us without realizing we are anything more than flesh-eating “bags of mostly water”?