Arrival

by Ryk Brown

This is a very slow-paced novel, with long descriptive chapters of ordinary settler activities broken up by heavy action scenes that contribute to the slow pace by being dragged out for chapters and chapters.

Great chunks of the planet description—the animals, plants, and challenges the characters face—sound so ordinarily Earth-like you wonder why it is classified as science fiction at all. Besides the obviously science fiction elements of the space crafts and space travel, the author takes a long time getting to the real alienness of the planet. It is interesting, but many readers might lose interest before they even get to those later parts.

Sense of wonder index = pretty low for most of the book.