Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Thankfully I did not pay for this.
If you enjoy being preached too and being bored then this may be for you.
It definitely was not for me.

Steven Erikson's Malazan Books of the Fallen is one of my favourite fantasy series.  It has rich, deep worldbuilding; strong emotional power; subtle interiority to a strong ensemble cast; world-shattering epic impact; and an emotional punch that regularly reduced me to tears.  I was really excited to see what Erikson could do with Rejoice (review copy from Gollancz) - a  first contact science fiction novel.

Oh dear, was I disappointed. 

There is nothing in Rejoice of the Erikson I know and love from the Malazan books.  What he's given us is painfully obvious polemic with thinly disguised self-insertion. 

The main character in Rejoice is Samantha August, a reasonably famous science fiction writer who is kidnapped by aliens to be their interlocutor to humanity.  August is chosen because the aliens like her work.  She is well-known and her vlogging about climate change and associated issues has led the aliens to believe she will be sympathetic to their plans to save Earth's biome from environmental collapse by taking drastic interventionist action. 

What follows is a sequence of crudely written interventions by the aliens.  They render weapons ineffective, protect habitats and restore migratory routes, and tackle food and energy scarcity.  These are written with an aliens-know-best sensibility that minimises the impact of imposing solutions like these on the Earth's population.  And interspersed with bits of woo-woo philosophy about Earth's diverse biome containing all the solutions to humanity's problems.  There is no subtlety here whatsoever.  At least not in the 20% I read before giving up. 

Rejoice is a poor shadow of other books dealing with the same issues.  Instead of this, read Octavia Butler's Lilith's Brood, which relates similar alien intervention designed to heal the Earth with the experience of colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade.  Or Sherri S Tepper's The Fresco, which writes the same scenario as a Swiftean satire. 

Goodreads rating: 1*

Is there a timelier concept than post-scarcity?

That is the premise of Steve Erikson's first contact novel "Rejoice, a knife to the heart" – pacifist aliens abduct a cigarette-smoking, Canadian, science fiction author/youtube personality Samantha August because, well, she is a science fiction author and a feminist vlogger and hire her as emissary for them as they ban violence and give food and shelter to everyone on Earth.

Their force fields indeed ban all sorts of human-on-animal and human-on-human violence – from domestic violence to poaching, to all kinds of war all around the globe. Military-industrial complex becomes obsolete, borders are unenforceable, drugs don't work (same as alcohol and cigarettes), so most world economies plunge into darkness.

People move freely, with millions of refugees all over the place – so the aliens supply them with food and cover to. No one hurts anyone, and there is enough of basic resources for everyone. So the creator of the Malazan Book of the Fallen shows us through multiple POVs of presidents, PMs, media moguls, arms dealers, and junkies, how this new world order affects them.

After establishing such an important and much-needed positive view of the future, the novels trouble began.
If you read Malazan Book of the Fallen, it is no surprise that Erikson loves to speculate and meditate on human nature and how different concepts affect it. It may have worked in a series spanning tens of books and thousands of years, but a couple months and four hundred pages make the plot feel unfocused. Constant changes feel forced at best, and unnatural at worst. What makes it worse are the POV characters themselves.
It is understandable that for such a post-modernist approach to First Contact novels, plot and character are secondary, and yet. He masterfully deconstructs the tropes, the entire genre, the politics and
We are allowed behind the scenes of US and Russian Presidents, British and Canadian PMs, Australian-American media mogul who-is-not-Ruper Murdoch, and how they handle the imminent change in the way the human population and the world economy is governed.

At first, it is, once again, timely and courageous to see a critique of real-life politicians, albeit under pseudonyms. This approach promises depth, real analysis, and social and political critique of today's issues with the proposition of a way out of it – something unique to the science fiction. Yet all of the POV characters don't fulfill their potential and fall flat. We end up with shallow, apologist caricatures of Putin, Trump, Theresa May/Tony Blair Frankenstein, and female Justin Trudeau, who act like Alec Baldwin SNL parodies of themselves – their issue simplified, their shortcomings comical, their history, complexities, and potential change – nonexistent.

This methodology, in building the story and its character can be seen throughout the entire book. Be it a junkie in the midwestern US, an arms dealer in Malawi, or president of Russia, Erikson arrives at the same simple conclusion for every character arc – the world has changed because the aliens changed them because we were wrong and now we should change our ways. Prime Minister of Canada is to be the leader of the new communist utopia quote – "because she is from Canada". Putin reflects on his mistakes, weighs on his imperialistic legacy, and thinks maybe he was wrong. And Trump… well, Trump remains Trump even in the most daring science fiction.

The aftertaste of most of the above characters was like watching a Stephen Colbert bit - an angry and simplified YouTube review of yesterday's news cycle. The novel quite ironically
A separate nod goes to Samantha August and the collective character of SF authors – with 'cameos' from Margaret Atwood, Ian M. Banks and some fictional fiction writers, as an ultimate force of good in human society. Their representation in the book, as fun as it is, was akin to Hollywood making movies about financing or journalists (take Argo, The Artist, Spotlight) – it's a pat on their own backs. It means "Yeah, we are the good guys in this one."

But what scares the most in "Rejoice" is the underlying premise that Erikson seems to accept and preach to us: we are so beyond redemption at this point in humanity's history, that we fucked up so much, that it would take an alien intervention to change anything. It is a dystopia in a sweet coating of Cosmo-positivism.
'Rejoice' might not stand the test of time and become a classic like "Left Hand of Darkness", but it is a very important piece for today. Steven Erikson dares to take a science fiction darling of the post-scarcity world and applies it to our current world, even if the result falls short of expectations. It is a must-read for anyone who is not okay with what is happening in the world and asks herself "what should I do to bring change?".
We've gotta believe we don't need aliens to do better.

Though Steven is best known for his Epic Fantasy Malazan series, it’s been clear for a while that he’s a genre fan. As well as Epic Fantasy, he has also published Star Trek inspired SF-comedy that fans of The Orville may appreciate, with (I believe) a third book due soon in the US.

And now there’s this: a full-blown, ‘proper’ SF novel that takes one of the genre’s biggest tropes – first contact – and gives it a whole new spin.

The story begins with science fiction author Samantha August being abducted from a street in broad daylight – one minute she was there, the next, gone. We discover that she has been chosen by a foreign artificial intelligence, who on the behalf of some enigmatic aliens, wish her to be humanity’s representative. (Science fiction writers have fewer personal axes to grind, have greater imagination and are better equipped to cope with grasping out-of-the-box concepts, it seems.)

To show the seriousness of its intent, whilst Samantha makes up her mind to be involved, the AI (amusingly named Adam) begins the task of saving Humanity and the world’s ecosystem in ways that, to humans, seem incredible. Violence becomes near-impossible. The world’s natural resources – the rainforests, the Canadian Tar Sands and others – suddenly become shielded no-go zones. Food and water is provided for those who need it. A new cheap energy source is given freely to those who want it, something that will power everything from an electric toothbrush to a space rocket engine.

It seems like a new world and a new dawn for Mankind. But it is not a free gift without conditions. Adam explains to Sam clearly that Humans must show the aliens that we are able to adapt, and in the usual sf-nal process of Uplift, prove ourselves worthy of this boon. There is also that tricky situation of what to do in a post-capitalist world (Iain M. Banks gets a mention here.) And what about the moral and ethical issues, whether people can cope with a loss of free will in return for a world without violence?

Off-planet, things are also changing. On the Moon those troublesome alien Greys are sent packing, and their no-longer-secret base there is being developed into – something – which Humans are dissuaded from visiting. At the same time, Venus is being transformed, thanks to a giant sunscreen and the use of many comet impacts, clearly for something in the future.

As this brief summary suggests, there are big ideas here. Steven builds these up carefully and, as a consequence, Rejoice starts fairly slow. Much of the first part of the novel is spent introducing characters from various backgrounds and setting up the premise.

There’s then a lengthy pause whilst the aliens (or at least the AI Adam on their behalf) sit back and let the world adjust to the new situation. The world struggles to make sense of what is happening and there is an element of denial at this stage. To reflect this, we see events from various diverse points of view around the world. There’s the Trump-like US President, Raine Kent and his advisors in the West and to counter-balance this, the story from the perspective of Liu Zhou, the Science Advisor to Xin Pang, the Leader of the Chinese government and Konstantine Milnikov, a Putin-like Russian leader. Away from politics we have vlogger Joey Sink, business entrepreneurs, scientists and engineers and mercenaries in the African rainforest. Overviewing it all are various delegates of countries in the United Nations struggling to decide what to do next. Steve can’t resist a little self-appreciation here – it’s great fun to see the Canadians be involved (a nod to Steve’s native country) emphasised by a cameo from Canadian s-f writer Robert J. Sawyer.

At about the halfway mark of the novel we begin to see the Human response to the AI’s arrival. The pace picks up a little as the Chinese stage a raid on the abandoned Grey lunar base to gain a potential advantage.

Up to this point the AI’s purpose is still unknown, even to Samantha, who is still considering being the Human-alien liaison. On the whole, it seems benign and beneficial, though not without a price. Steven does well to consider the moral and ethical views of many of those concerned. In this aspect, in places Rejoice reminded me of an upgraded, contemporary version of Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End – not a bad thing, in my opinion.

When Samantha returns to Earth in the last part of the novel, her speech to the United Nations and the listening world is eloquent and logical. At this point my doubts about using a science fiction writer for this role are dissuaded in a tour de force speech that reminded me of Klaatu and Gort in the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still (more than the original story).

Most of all, here the book brings a Star Trek style optimism by the end. There is hope for the future and even an excitement that humans are on the threshold of a new beginning. The ending is a major cliff-hanger that will need clarification in a future novel.

In summary, Rejoice is a great ‘proper’ science fiction novel that takes what I think often makes s-f great. There are big ideas here and Rejoice treats them seriously. It is clearly a novel that has been thought about for a while and is written with enough confidence to tackle those s-f tropes full on, dragging them kicking and screaming into the light of intense scrutiny and using them to an appropriate conclusion.

As well as being accessible, entertaining, and even amusing, I suspect Rejoice will raise many questions in the thinking reader’s mind that will bear repeated thought after finishing the novel – and if ever you needed the sign of a good SF novel, in my opinion, that is it. Big ideas examined with a broad perspective and balanced with a certain degree of humour and optimism – Rejoice is a triumph.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I will admit as a self professed fantasy fan - I have yet to read anything from Steven Erikson. I swear they are on my TBR list.
I absolutely LOVED this book. Without giving away any spoilers, this is how I find alien first contact might be and more realistic. The book was thought provoking and insightful & that is all I can ask out of a book to resonate with me long after I finished reading.
I can't wait for more sci-fi from Erikson

It’s so nice when you get offered a chance to review a book you’ve already had your eye on for a while and have already preordered, Rejoice A Knife to the Heart with its super advanced alien A.I, Sci-fi writer main character and moral choices is pretty much the book equivalent to cake for me, especially is cake could make me rethink some of my choices in life. This is a deep cake.

Steven Erikson is hugely well-known for his chunky epic fantasy with the Malazan Book Of The Fallen series and despite dipping his toe into the sci-fi before Rejoice represents his first full-length work in the genre. At just over four hundred pages it’s considerably smaller than his fantasy contributions but no less impressive and thought-provoking, just in a very different way. For one thing, other than a few explosions there are not many action filled moments usually present in the genre owing to the fact that humans find themselves unable to commit any violent acts but we do still get the same sharp wit and intelligence which seems to be Erikson’s signature.

Cake may be the wrong analogy for this book I feel, Rejoice is closer to a piece of contemporary art in that it may not be to everyone’s tastes but if you get it then you really feel the heart of the piece and can appreciate it more. This is a hard book to read, it’s difficult to really fall into it completely I find as the sheer amount of characters and the changes between them can be a little jarring and I had trouble remembering anyone’s names other Samantha and Adam the A.I but they did have memorable traits and quite often embodied people we see or have seen in our own society, (the president of the United States was a particularly scary example. I found the character development we did get very interesting and I particularly liked the interactions we had between Samantha and Adam especially. This book is for the most part almost completely dialogue which took a little while to get used to but when I realised this was the case it became a much easier read as I wasn’t waiting for unimportant surrounding details etc because what really mattered were the interactions.

The deeper reason some may have trouble with this book is the startling truth behind it. The idea that we are slowly destroying our planet and ourselves is not a new one that now has an overwhelming amount of information to back it up. We do not have infinite space and resources etc and we often exist only for what we can do for ourselves, the notion of the rich get richer and the poor stay poor for example, not to mention deforestation, pollution, killing off entire species of animals and more. This can be a scary truth and I believe the antagonist in this book is represented by our own actions as a species rather than any one person.

Erikson really had his work cut out for him with this novel, unable to create tension using most normal avenues that require the threat of violence or harm but instead does so though philosophical debate. Rejoice is intelligent, and a hugely thought-provoking book that tackles a lot of very real problems the human race faces every day in a distinctly sci way but one I feel will be fairly divisive. It can be a bit much at times if your brain isn’t switched on fully (I do not recommend reading this before bed or too early in the morning, I read the same paragraph eight times last night). This is a book that needs full attention and concentration to get the full effect and I can see that some might find it a little much or not explosive enough when compared with a lot of the sci-fi we see today. However, it is still a startlingly sharp, thought-provoking read and an interesting take on the first contact story.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Orion Publishing Group, Gollancz and the author, Steven Erikson, for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of Rejoice in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
I enjoyed reading this offering from Mr Erikson. I initially requsted this book because the premise really appealed to me. I certainly wasn't disappointed.
I thought the storyline was well written and the characters really drew me in.
A good read for fans of the genre. 3.5 stars.

*** Disclosure - I received a free advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ***
I have been planning on reading Erikson's Malazan series for some time but have yet to take the plunge. Getting approval to read Erikson's new sci-fi book gave me the chance to experience his writing style without such a big commitment.
The book itself feels like a short sci-fi story where Canadian sci-fi author Samantha August is abducted by aliens and is shown how the alien race are helping the human race, in order to keep Earth safe for their future use. The aliens start to implement a number of changes in the planet, and other planets in the solar system, in order to protect the human race, and Earth itself, from their inbuilt self-destructive nature. Despite these improvements (no violence, drugs or alcohol, replenished food stocks and animal populations) the human race do what we do best - look past the surface benefits with suspicion to find the underlying threat and to use it to further our own selfish goals.
This short is then padded out with more in-depth insight from a large cast of characters - the leaders of a large number of countries, Murdoch-esque media oligarchs, and a range of former arms dealers and warlords. Their insights give the book a feel like World War Z, where the same story is told from a number of different viewpoints to give the varying angles and opinions. While this does add to the overall story (where Samantha's chapters focus on the high level changes and reactions, we are treated to some localised insights), most of these characters are pretty throwaway and don't really seem to have a distinct voice.
The book itself is very heavy-going, with very detailed in-depth analysis of the political, religious, ideological, economic and sociological issues being faced by the human race when such an intrusion, though a beneficial one, is experienced.
This is not a book one can pick up for short periods or read when tired, it really does take some effort to concentrate to get the most out of it.
While it was an interesting take on how such a good thing would likely be ruined by human nature, the narrative was quite detrimental to the overall piece.

With Rejoice: A Knife to the Heart, Erikson holds up a mirror for all of humanity.

"The Earth, when seen from space, shows no borders."

A First Contact story that examines the path of the human race on Earth, Rejoice is a humanity-driven narrative and nails some very brutal truths about humankind at large; where humanity is heading to and what awaits us in the future without intervention. Once again, Erikson offers up a stunning philosophical discourse that is less allusory and hitting much closer to home compared to his epic fantasy masterpiece, Malazan Book of the Fallen.

Even though this is an Earth-based story, its scope is still expansive as the narrative sweeps through the Americas, Russia, China and Africa through the eyes and minds of numerous characters who react to the alien intervention in myriad ways. If you are looking for a character-driven story, however, you will have to look elsewhere. While there is one main character that appeared the most, her development as the chosen spokesperson of the ET presence (as in the formal acronym of extra-terrestrial, and not Spielberg's) is not the focal point of the story. What was fascinating was that Erikson chose a Canadian science fiction writer to be that character - highlighting the level of empathy, understanding and intelligence prevalent in a profession that is more often than not subject to derision among the literary circle.

"Yet another example of a brilliant Canadian Science Fiction writer virtually no one in this country knows about, outside of the aficionados of the genre. Never reviewed by the Globe, or the National Post. So, who is she, madam Prime Minister? Smart, opinionated, a feminist, a humanist. Frankly, I'm not surprised the ETs selected her."

How very telling, isn't it? That Erikson chose to highlight how SFF writers with their imagination can understand and empathise more with the plight of our world as humans threaten the sustainability of the planet and capitalism serves to widen the gap between social hierarchies; themes which many other current SFF writers are incorporating into their fictional narratives.

"Good writers don't blink. They don't shy away from hard truths."

If you want to know more of these hard truths, I do recommend picking up this book. I will not be able to write it better than Erikson did and as such, shall refrain to do so in this review. Do note that this not your typical thrilling science fiction adventure, it is highly philosophical and the narrative can drag at times. Nonetheless, there is a spark of humour and wit in the writing as a few notable current real-life personalities are fictionalised in this book, and to great effect. It is because of the conviction that I share with the author around these social and economic commentaries that I enjoyed reading this original First Contact story as much as I did, notwithstanding the uneven pacing and occasional dryness of the prose.

"With the death of your imagination, you lose the sense of wonder. But you need wonder. You need it to stay sane, and you need it to keep your heart from turning to stone."

This is why we read, as stories provide us with a sense of wonder and discovery, teach us empathy and give us hope. And more importantly, this is why my favourite genre is science fiction and fantasy.

Rejoice, a Knife’s Heart is a sci-fi novel by Erikson. Erikson is probably most known for his Malazan fantasy book series. Books I’ve heard great things about so I was eager to give this book a chance. Unfortunately I struggled a lot with this book.
Sci-fi comes in all shapes in forms. From dystopia to space opera’s. But one other aspect that is often a big part of the genre is the introspectiveness to look at our own society. Something that this book attempts to do and in places certainly succeeds. For one, the nod to the current Trump administration and its voters was very clear. America got quite a few jibes here. But also at capitalism and economy in general and how we sometimes lack empathy towards the other humans that occupy this earth if they aren’t in our own circle. Or how our society seems to spin around violence in ways. I applaud that. And then you will say, but wait Annemieke, wasn’t this a book about first contact. It is. And it isn’t.
Why I did not enjoy this book was because of the packaging. We go through a variety of different characters throughout this book to showcase the above introspectiveness. However I felt nothing for these characters. I barely get to know them because then we quickly shift to another character. The conversations quickly grew boring because there was nothing for me to invest in. And unfortunately Erikson’s writing style is somewhat on the dry side.
I also question the characters chosen but most of all the slave driver and pedophile who seems to be getting some kind of redeeming arc. It was disgusting.
The first contact is more of a background setting to everything. We don’t get big aliens but an AI who asks an SFF writer to be their spokesperson and then doesn’t let her do it for the majority of the book which I didn’t get. I did find it interesting that an SFF author was chosen. Very nice indeed. We got a little more from her point of view which was nice in places.
Overall though if you like dry reflections on society sci-fi novels than this first contact might be completely up your alley.

It's an interesting premise that explores the attitude variance over intervention vs civil liberties, using the science fiction genre. Some of the commentators seemed a little two-d, until you reflect them against actual equivalents, or certainly their media perceptions. Hopefully more inter-planetary space battles in the sequel.

Rejoice by Steven Erikson

Great premise, some wonderful moments and some intriguing characters and fine writing but, despite all of that, I found this book so difficult to finish. It has a message (about whether mankind is a species worth saving and the state of American politics) and it doesn't bear it lightly. I love First Contact stories but this has buried it beneath philosophy and endless discussion between science fiction writer Samantha August and the AI who has kidnapped her on behalf of an alliance of aliens who wish to understand the human race. There are, though, glimmers of something very special as the aliens' plan is revealed stage by stage.

This is unlike any sci-fi book I've read before and I really enjoyed it. Dialogue makes up most of this book, which may not be to everyone's taste, but I thought it worked well with the story. Most of the characters are well written, although some of the secondary characters started to blur into each other. Despite the slow pacing, I found this to be an engaging read throughout and I particularly liked some of the dialogue between August and Adam. Overall this is a thoughtful sci-fi book that I would recommend checking out.

This is a very different book from Erikson's fantasy works, but that's no bad thing. The premise of intervention on a global scale by an alien intelligence is a really interesting one, and Rejoice presents us with the views of a multitude of different perspectives from characters all around the globe. It makes for a thoughtful rather than action based book, and did make me think about what would happen if these events really took place, and the basic inequality that exists on this planet at the moment.

I thought it was a great idea to have one person as the only human who has a glimpse into what exactly is going on while the rest of the world stumbled around, and Samantha August was pretty well fleshed out as a real person with flaws and their own opinions that anyone could recognise.

While the subject is pretty serious, it's pretty obvious that the author was having a lot of fun writing this. Some of the satirical side of things came across as being laid on a bit thick, but it was obvious from near the beginning what you should expect. The obsession with a certain sci-fi programme was a bit indulgent as well, but fits with the rest of the novel.

This was a refreshing read, if there is a sequel I would happily pick that up, but I actually found the cliffhanger more amusing than frustrating when I reached the end. It would be very difficult to actually end a story like this, so I thought it was a good way to finish,

A unique look at First Contact. I've never seen a book, movie or TV show handle it in quite this way. I liked seeing all the different points of view, although like other reviews I thought there were a lot of people to keep track of.

I enjoyed this book and I'll happily read more in the series, because like many books nowadays it ended on an awful cliffhanger!


Receiving an ARC did not affect my review in any way.

It's a very interesting idea, a First Contact that thoroughly ignores the Prime Directive but never actually shows its face. It gets talky in spots, and there are a lot of characters to keep track of, some of whom seem to overlap; there's the guy who sold weapons and the guy who used the weapons, the world leader who blusters pointlessly and the world leader who accepts everything, the engineers who basically give up and the engineers who take everything they're given to move forward, and so on. Plus it ends, infuriatingly, on a cliffhanger.

But it is a brilliant idea, and I enjoyed it. So I'll look out for the next one. I'd like to see what happens next.