Set on a planet humans have dubbed “New Amazon,” which is filled with more bizarre, wondrous creatures than they can ever hope to definitively catalogue, and that is soon to be wiped clean (along with all life currently on it) by the process of terraforming, in order to make it fit for human habitation, Philip Palmer’s Red Claw reads like a mashup of 1950s B monster movie, space opera, and Douglas Adams–at times it is hysterically funny (and loaded with sci-fi easter eggs and in-jokes), other times cringingly disturbing, and on some occasions, even quite upliftingly awe-inspiring. Above all, Red Claw is a vicious satire of humanity at its worst that also posits the ability for growth and change on the part of an otherwise cruel species.
What is particularly impressive about Palmer’s novel, though, is that humans are not depicted as being any crueler than any other species. The denizens of New Amazon, which include plant-animal hybrids, Godzillas, carnivorous rodents, and gryphons, are almost all dangerous predators, many of whom are not only violent but shockingly so. The gryphons, in particular, perform actions the likes of which would be deemed sociopathic at best, by human standards. One of these actions, in fact, is part of how they procreate. Most worryingly, the gryphons are intelligent enough to perhaps one day be just as much a threat to the universe at large as humans. Other science-fiction works have grappled with man’s destructive nature and how the species as a whole has destroyed vast swathes of nature and beauty, but few have been just as unflinching in their depiction of other members of the animal/alien kingdom.
As previously mentioned, Red Claw presents classic sci-fi film tropes, such as monsters, killer robots, mad scientists, and fascistic soldiers, and does so with skillful prose full of an unexpected amount of wit and panache. It also doesn’t satisfy itself with being a simple pastiche, nor with simply retelling the standard scientists-or-evil-corporations-playing-god tale. Most of the characters begin as one-note cliches but, just as the novel deconstructs 1950s sci-fi pulp, so do most of the characters reveal themselves to have far more depth than short descriptions of their personalities would suggest. The characters become more human as the story proceeds, and so does the story itself, growing from a well-told yet well-worn tale into a rather unique entity: a science-fiction tale that depicts a dystopic society coming into contact with the wilds of nature on a planet where even the rain is deadly, and perhaps being changed for the better by the experience. Imagine if the film version of Starship Troopers were crossed with a Michael Crichton novel, and you might have some idea of the effect of the collision between acidic satire and suspenseful thriller with overtones of awe.
In Philip Palmer’s world, a society rotten to the core confronts untamed alien life, as well as deranged technology, and might just emerge more human (in the best, and at times, worst senses of the word) thanks to the encounter. Call it cynically optimistic or optimistically cynical, but, by all means, do read it.
“Red Claw” is available through Orbit Books. Click here to purchase.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for this review; I was curious about this novel and now I really want to read it. I like this idea of starting at some B-movie/pulp level and fleshing out the characters and the narrative’s aspirations. Sounds like a promising read.
I’m a sucker for old syfy. The killer robots put me over the line. I will read it.