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Learning the World
Ken MacLeod
Orbit hardback, 356 pages, £17.99
Review by Steven Blake (2005)

As subtitled (‛A novel of first contact’), Learning the World is a distant future first contact novel by the author of the hard SF Engines of Light trilogy and the Fall Revolution series. As ever it’s both eminently readable and in-depth political.

There are actually two worlds to be learned, one of which is a massive starship (a sunliner) en route to colonize a distant solar system. It’s pretty much a colony in itself, being 4000 years old and having been on this particular journey for 400 years. Some of its inhabitants have been around a long time, as people have enormous lifespans in this SF future; the Oldest Man, Constantine, is still on board. This longevity doesn’t remove rebellious youth from the population. 

Despite all the interstellar travel and colonisation aliens have never been found. However, the other world is called Ground. An Earthlike (groan) planet with inhabitants of its own, who look like bats. Ground is technologically developed around the level of early 21st century Earth. The bats, who call themselves humans, detect the approaching sunliner and think it’s a comet. They don’t believe in aliens either. The Sunliners, meanwhile, detect the Grounders (I’ll call them Sunliners and Grounders) are even more sceptical. The analogy with contemporary Earth isn’t total: the Grounders have wings, and they keep slaves. A kind of comedy of errors ensues, and the actual first contact is rather messy.

MacLeod’s narrative alternates between Ground and the sunliner, and is never short of readable. There are several key characters on Ground, but the principal character on the sunliner, the learner of worlds herself, is Atomic Discourse Gale (the sunliner is called But The Sky, My Lady! The Sky!). She’s blogging (futuristic equivalent of, but it basically works the same way) on the sunliner, and is a member of the current youngest generation. (The blog is named Learning the World.)

First contact novels are usually more or less contemporary with their time of writing, of course, and the inclusion of two societies in Learning the World allows MacLeod to explore first contact themes. Many riffs on first contact are explored, and many riffs on SF too, I think; I’m sure I don’t get them all. And of course the two societies are explored socio-politically (including economically). At one point Atomic’s generation are given their own space inside the liner. And things aren’t what they seem. 

Learning the World isn’t Star Trek. It isn’t nice, its characters muddle through. It’s a moral and political quagmire. And there’s a surprise ending – which is key – rounding off nicely, which is why I think there won’t be any sequels this time.