As every year, the Colección Nova of Ediciones B publishes the winning book of the UPC Short Science Fiction Novel AwardThis year the winning book is “The Centaur's Harvest" by Eduardo Gallego and Guillem Sánchez.
Like all the books in the NOVA Collection, the book includes a presentation by Miquel Barceló (without detracting from the content of the books, the presentation by Miquel Barceló is one of the best things about this collection). This book also includes the lecture he gave Lois McMaster Bujold at the UPC awards ceremony. Even so, I missed the fact that they also published some of the finalist works and the winning work in the UPC student section… normally they are interesting and different works, and in previous editions they were published in the same book together with the winning work… could it be the crisis?
Let's talk about the book:
The plot takes place in the distant future, when our galaxy is colonized by humans, but by two separate groups that had lost contact with each other. Those on one arm are more developed in engineering and have good spaceships, long lifespans and combat androids (with feelings) and are physically indistinguishable from humans. In the other arm of the galaxy, biology is the science that has developed the most, and its inhabitants are capable of creating buildings from the natural development of trees and plants. They are peaceful and sociable, and despite being able to colonize planets in different systems, they do not have ships that rival those of the humans on the other arm.
Just by developing the “first encounter” and the subsequent relationship between the two groups of colonizers of the two arms, the book already promised to be interesting, but the authors have not been satisfied with this and have included in the plot a powerful alien species that is dedicated to sowing life on various planets, and that later returns to “harvest” its harvest.
Continuing with this argument, some of the planets pending harvesting are located in the human zone of the arm in which biology has developed the most, and the imminent danger that the appearance of these aliens entails causes the representatives of the two human societies to unite to collaborate and solve the mystery of the harvested planets.
As it is a short novel, the book can be read in a couple of days and leaves you wanting to know more about human colonies and the interaction between the two.
About the authors: Eduardo Gallego He is a biologist and professor of mycology at the University of Almería. Guillem Sanchez He is an economist and a fan of war history. Together they make a good team. I had not read anything by them until now, even though Miquel Barceló indicates in his prologue that both are well-known in the world of Spanish Science Fiction, so I will try to correct my mistake and read more books by these authors.
In short, a highly recommended book that leaves a good taste in your mouth and allows you to spend an entertaining weekend.
3 responses
The story may continue, but I don't think we'll be extending what's already been written. We like stories that "get to the point."
All we have is science fiction (except for "Shadows of Honor" which is an epic fantasy).
You can download some stories for free on my colleague's website. Go to: http://www.ual.es/personal/egallego/unicorp.htm
You go to the “articles” section and there are some stories like “After the disaster” or “I thought I saw a cute kitten”, free to download, that I think you might like. We recently published an anthology called “Perverse games” where some anthropologists travel the galaxy and encounter societies with strange customs.
Guillem, I was surprised when I saw your comment!
I loved the book and as I mentioned in the post, now that I have discovered you I am going to read everything you have written (as long as it is Science Fiction ;-).
By the way, have you thought about turning this short novel into a long novel?
Wow, what a nice surprise! I came to your blog, which I usually follow with interest, and found a review of my latest book. I'm glad you liked it, and I hope that the next one you read doesn't disappoint you.