It's been a while since my last foray into genocidal fungus so this is almost nostalgic.
The tale is told through a few different viewpoints, in a non-linear mode. We've got the Signalman, a shadowy government agent, Immacolata Sexton, a more shadowy agent with strange gifts with time and Chloe Stringfellow, a member of a rapture cult. The story is told across several decades, from humanity's first encounter with the strange fungus, through to the modern day and its involvement with a death preacher, through to the near future, in which it is slowly taking over the world.
The fungus has Lovecraftian overtones, waiting out past Pluto for humanity to show spaceflight capabilities so it can leap into action. It is here to transform us, both initially into spore spreaders and then further, to possibly serve our mycellium masters.
The book has an X-filesy feel, with interactions with agencies who know more than they're telling, and the agent in the crumpled suit trying to keep up with the world slowly falling apart. It always feels a little hopeless, the slow inevitably of death and decay being the hallmarks of fungi.
That's probably my major problem with the book, in that it doesn't feel like any of the actions being taken have power. The actors run around, but are mostly passive, unable to significantly impact the spread of the fungus. There are similarities to the excellent Supergod in the powerless nature of humanity.
The broken timeline felt a little more fractured than it perhaps should have (at least for my simple brain), with the leaping around meaning it took more thought than I enjoyed to reassemble the narrative. It also gave some tantalising hints of a far future that was often more thrilling than the contemporary material.
Perhaps in a longer form this could have shone more brightly, but part of me worries that would have almost turned into The Genius Plague. Maybe if we got more of what made Immacolata Sexton different. A novel with a Lovecraftian narrator (that is, the monster narrates) is definitely one I could get behind.
Tagged: Book Spy fiction Lovecraftian Novella Print