The Darwin Elevator
The Dire Earth Cycle series, Book 1
Jason M. Hough
Del Rey
Fiction, Sci-Fi
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: When the Builders ship arrived in the 23rd century, humanity didn't know what to make of it. When it unspooled a fine filament down to Darwin, Australia, then hung inert, people realized they had an orbital elevator, technology that had long been theorized but had never been practical - at least, not with human technology. It seemed like a massive leap forward for the species, whatever the unknown intelligence that sent it may have intended... then the disease set in, transforming humans into irrational, mindless beasts in a matter of hours - save those within a few kilometers of Darwin. Now the city and the stations spaced along the length of the alien filament are all that remain of human civilization - and still, nobody knows why it was built, or what its purpose is, or if its makers intend to come again, bringing more gifts and calamities.
Skyler is one of a handful of people immune to the disease that creates "subs" - subhumans - beyond Darwin's boundaries. As such, he and his small crew are in high demand as scavengers, scrounging ruins for needed supplies and the occasional luxury (on and off the books). He was just coming home after another mission when the unthinkable happens: the elevator lurches to a halt. In theory, it should be impossible, as it generates its own power from static in the air, yet it happens, and keeps happening more often as the days pass. As those on the ground and in orbit try to figure out the cause (and/or try to leverage things to their personal advantage), nobody wants to consider what it may mean for the future of humanity... especially if, as some fear, it signals the imminent return of the Builders and another cataclysmic change on the horizon.
REVIEW: It sounded like an interesting, action-filled sci-fi story, and at first that's exactly what it delivers. The characters - from brooding scavenger Skyler to Darwin's ambitious/borderline mustache-twirling leader to an almost too-innocent orbital scientist taken under the wing of a tycoon with a hidden agenda - may not be stunningly original, but they don't need to be, and they fill their roles decently enough. Human nature has made the best and the worst of the alien elevator; the fact that the mystery disease accentuates one random human trait to the point of unthinking insanity almost feels like an alien commentary on our species, forcing people to confront what they truly are beneath the veneer of civilization. While some people look upon the Builder tech as a scientific puzzle, others see a stepping stone to a new era, or a tool to raise themselves to power, or a symbol of their oppression and everything lost since the elevator's arrival a scant few decades before the story begins. Likewise, as some race to unravel the new irregularities in the "aura" that protects what's left of civilization from the disease (and the possibility of the elevator failing altogether, essentially a death blow for the species), others only care about what they can grab for themselves as the rules change and power shifts. Through it all, people like Skyler and his crew can only do their best to survive, even as they're pulled into greater machinations and dangers.
I really can't say precisely when and where the story stopped being an engaging (and somewhat thought-provoking) story for me, but at some point I found myself just... not enjoying it as much as I had been. The characters that had been serviceable (if, as noted earlier, not entirely original) started feeling more like overworn, somewhat threadbare (not to mention testosterone-heavy) tropes, down to mildly forced romance and the ever-tiresome reliance on bad guys ogling and groping and threatening women with rape to emphasize the fact that they're bad. Generic guys doing generic guy action things began to wear thin. The sense of wonder and possibilities that the Builders and the elevator initially generated felt short-changed, for all that it was supposed to be pivotal to the overall story. Then the ending just became a lump of things happening largely to ensure a sequel, without much of a sense of conclusion.
I liked parts of The Darwin Elevator, and it definitely delivers on the action its cover and blurb promise. I just ultimately didn't enjoy it enough to consider pursuing the series, which - given that part of a first book's job is to hook a reader into continuing - means it didn't work for me on some level.
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