Book Review: Providence by Max Barry

Pros: interesting characters, asks some interesting questions

Cons: standard aliens, not the most charismatic crew

Jackson, Gilly, Beanfield and Anders are the human crew on the 5th Providence AI ship sent to battle against the alien “Salamanders”. But as their 4 year mission drags on they realize just how little the ship needs them, and how much the aliens seem to be learning from their encounters.

The chapters are told from the point of view of different characters, mainly Gilly, their Intel officer, and Beanfield, the Life officer (whose job it is to keep everyone sane). Things on the ship aren’t as they anticipated, and the characters have personalities that clash more than they complement.

I didn’t really like any of the characters for the first half of the book. Gilly seemed the most relatable, in certain ways. But as the story changed and you got POVs from all of them, their quirks became more understandable as you learned more of their histories and why they act the ways they do.

A lot of emphasis is put on manipulating people on Earth to pay for the war effort. Making videos showing how heroic the Providence crews are, risking their lives. I appreciated the extent to which psychology played a role in the book. There’s so much behind the scenes manipulation that the crew only become aware of as time passes.

The aliens, called Salamanders by the army, are the standard ‘bug’ that comes up in SF a lot. They have hives and appear somewhat intelligent, even if they mostly swarm ships en mass.

It’s an interesting read, with some good commentary on war, AI, and how humans manipulate each other.