Arkhangelsk 9 - Exiles

clash_bowley

The Exiles are at first presented as a danger to the colony, yet that impression erodes away as we learn more in the book. How well did you feel Bonesteel handled them?

RichardAbbott

Hmmm. Wasn't really convinced by this. The sheer difficulty of the planet meant that surely they had to be close by. Yet no effort to really look for them. I'm not sure I buy the "details of them were suppressed" argument, mainly because too many people had to be in on the "secret" for it to be kept. Didn't anyone try to send signals? Leave scribbled notes? Just talk to each other?

As a plot point I guess they were handy scapegoats for the doctor to arrange for people to disappear... but then so were people in the main colony, like the unfortunate Rolf. In the end I felt that in her original planning of the book Elizabeth Bonesteel had considered both options ( an external group, and internal disappearances) and couldn't quite make up her mind which to use, hence both remaining.

For me it made the situation too complicated - you had the new ship, the Exiles, the doctor's hideaway for reproductive experiments, and then the main habitat (itself split into multiple factions often disagreeing with each other). And my understanding was that because of the severity of the planet, especially radiation, there weren't all that many people in total, so why so many different groups?

Apocryphal

While I understand and agree with Richard's points, I have to say this aspect of the book didn't really bother me during the read - I had no trouble accepting this as presented. This may have been because I was more fixated on wondering why none of the so-called Russians were very Russian.

BarnerCobblewood

Trying to confuse the reader to create excitement and interest in the story, which is too long for what it contains. Probably based on Game of Thrones stuff.

NeilNjae

The notion of the Exiles was a very weak part of the book. They served no purpose to the narrative, and the in-world explanation for them (different factions on the original ship) was both far-fetched and under-developed.

The only role they played in the book, I think, was to give some kind of justification to the society of Novayarkha. The main settlement was awful, but not as awful as the conditions the Exiles were forced to live under.

I think the book would have been better had they not been there.

kcaryths

This entire book could have been written without the Exiles. No idea why they were added to be honest. I guess since it adds to the "hidden information" theme, but then they were such an add on that I wondered why she bothered.

I was hoping it was something way cooler than it ended up being.