Book Review: Proof of Concept Gwyneth Jones

Proof of Concept by Gwyneth Jones

Paperback, 144 pages

Published April 2017 by Tor

Let me be clear about something I was rooting for this novella. I have enjoyed ALL of the Tor novellas I have read before. They have all been great high-quality fiction. There is much to like here in this high concept Cli-Fi story, but ultimately I found it to be a mess that was kinda hard to figure out. It is not a good sign that I went to read other good reads reviews just to see if I understood what I read. I am still not sure I understood what happened. That is not always bad, sometimes you can read a story that is so bizarro that you know there are levels in the story that is beyond easy comprehension. In this case, I think there are too many elements for the 144 pages.

This story takes places in a post-climate change apocalyptic future where much of the globe is Dead Zones. The story followers a group of scientists trying to solve long distance faster than light space travel. You see the overpopulated humans live in underground hives, and our species needs to get the hell out of dodge to survive.

Now it has been a few days since I read it but a bad sign is that all I remember is setting and plot points and nothing about the characters. In fact, I had to go back and look just to see who any of them were. Once I did I remembered Kir she was a pretty interesting character who is home to the interface with the starship AI once they launch. There is a mission to deep space I think, maybe it is a ruse, that is some of the stuff I couldn't really make sense of towards the end.

There are lots of interesting moments and world building but the confusion I felt reading this short novel was a disappointing experience. It felt to me like it needed double the length and another draft. That said this is my first time reading Jones who is has a shelf full of genre awards. I didn't like this book but I saw enough that has me interested to read more of her work.