The Idiot Reviews Eifelheim

I had originally intended this review to be done via video, but I've since realized that only a fully fleshed out blog post could do this novel justice (by the way, SPOILERS AHEAD).  To begin, I need to dissect the differences/conflict of Sci-Fi vs Fantasy.

What is Science Fiction or Fantasy?  For those who find the bottom side of rocks to be pleasant domiciles, I'll list a couple of examples. Science Fiction would be Star Trek or Star Wars, Fantasy would be Lord of the Rings.

Science Fiction, whether in movies, books or games, is one of my favorite genres.  It satisfies the intellect by presenting a well thought out, scientific view of the world, and while I appreciate that,  it's not without its shortcomings.  It also stifles the spirit with its usual denial of any force greater than science.  All too often, the methods of traveling the stars are detailed, but the stars and even the universe  are rarely given a satisfactory explanation that isn't answered "because science."  Fantasy, on the other hand, frees the imagination to bend scientific rules to suit the author's whimsy.  The science isn't always sufficiently explained, but the magic and even the theology (just look at Tolkien's Eru) are well thought out.  Both of these genres have their share of strengths and weaknesses.

So what happens when the two meet?

Eifelheim isn't exactly the perfect marriage of Science Fiction and Fantasy.  It is, technically speaking, Sci-fi/historical fiction, but the advantages of both aforementioned genres are present here.  The author, Michael Flynn, obviously did his homework, because both the science and the fantastic elements are complex and intricately interwoven.  The book takes place in two times, first as a story of two modern day scientists investigating the mysterious disappearance of a medieval German town, the second being the story of the town itself.  Personally, I found the modern bits boring, difficult to read, and ultimately lacking in its contribution to the overall story.  Considering that the first narrative is two people trying to figure out what happened in Eifelheim and the second is the actual account of what happened in Eifelheim, I found the latter of the two more engaging.

Ok, first the bad narrative. T_T

When I first began reading, I found the writing style wooden and unforgiving in its dedication to the setting.  For example, when I tried to read the chapters concerning the scientists, Sharon and Tom, my eyes glazed over.  All the technical, scientific terms I wasn't familiar with went flying over my head, and more than once I cocked my head and went 'huh?'.  Despite my title, I don't consider myself a dumb person, but these parts of the book made me feel dumb.  I disliked it, and I suspect that many readers would share that sentiment upon reading these chapters.  I found myself not caring about the drama between Tom and Sharon, I frequently skipped over the long techno babble conversations, and to the end of the book, I didn't care one bit about that story except for when it illuminated certain parts of the other narrative.

Which brings us to the good narrative! =D

Though I still suffered a little from the author's writing style, I greatly enjoyed reading about Pastor Dietrich, a priest in the quiet German village of Eifelheim.  Nearly everything about his character is flawlessly written.  He is intelligent yet humble, experienced with age but has all the inquisitiveness of youth, has a strong faith but is still open to new concepts.  Despite his knowledge and learning, he is very down to earth, likable, and morally upright.  His history is dark and the author shrouds it in mystery for long portions of the book, but we steadily learn more and more about his past and how it made him the man he is today, and that is part of what makes this book so difficult to put down once the ball gets rolling.

Flynn put considerable effort into making the language and writing of Dietrich's account historically accurate.  All the terms he and the villagers use are legitimate sayings of medieval Germany at the time of the Black Plague, and the manner of speech the author adopts is wonderfully German in style (I may have a slight bias here, being a lover of the German language).  The middle ages atmosphere is very believable and I found myself intrigued and drawn in by the culture.

But the historical accuracy and well written character of Dietrich are not the best parts of this book.  The most interesting aspect of this novel has to do with its Sci-fi, and that comes in the form of the Krenken.  The Krenken are oddly grasshopper like aliens that crash land in the woods outside of Dietrich's town.  They are fascinatingly human, despite their obvious quirks, and they remind me of the Geth from Mass Effect crossed with the Prawns from District 9 (fun fact: despite the many similarities between District 9 and Eifelheim, District 9 was released in 2009.  Eifelheim was first published in 2006).  Krenken do not understand the religious atmosphere of medieval Europe and initially have no appreciation for the charity that Dietrich preaches.  When Dietrich first discovers them in the woods, he can only think of them as demons.  How else could the medieval mind approach as foreign a concept as space aliens?

Through the book, both Dietrich and the Krenken learn more about each other, usually in the form of a discussion, not unlike the conversations Commander Shepard might have with his crew in the Mass Effect series.  Dietrich forms an unlikely friendship with a Krenken he names Johannes von Sterne (John of the Stars) or Hans for short.  Hans comes from a background of scientific appreciation.  He understands all the concepts we take for granted, like spaceship, blaster or the structure of solar systems.  Dietrich, however, has no conception of these things because he is still following an outdated Aristotelian scientific view, but even though Dietrich is lightyears behind Hans, the priest still uses his logic to great effect in grappling with complicated issues like how space travel might work, the nature of time, and the importance of culture. When I put effort into understanding Tom and Sharon's stories, I noticed that sometimes they were discussing the very same topics, only in terms of science and not philosophy.  I realize that there are those who feel about the philosophical terminology much the same way I do about scientific techno babble, so perhaps this was the author's way of communicating the same concepts to two different camps.

One of the main themes of this book (or so I observed) was examination of an age old question: what makes a person a person?  To use an example from the book, anti-semitism was not uncommon during the time of the Black Plague.  Many openly blamed the Jews for being the cause of it.  Dietrich does not believe this himself, but he still bears the mark of his culture when confronted with the bloody history of Judaism.  At one point, a he has a long conversation with a Jew who he finds pleasant.  At their departure, he exclaims that before their meeting, a Jew was only a Jew to him, not necessarily a person.  Upon closer examination of this Jew, he finds that there are ultimately few differences between them beyond their outward appearances and their different upbringings.  The same can be said of the Krenken.  By the end of the book, they are seen in a very human light.

Dietrich has a young ward, a girl named Theresia.  When the Krenken first landed and Dietrich told people to beware of the woods because of the "lepers" there, Theresia wanted to help them.  She delighted in the healing arts and wanted to do what she could for them in good Christian charity.  However, once it is revealed that the Krenken are not lepers, she refuses to go anywhere near them and calls them demons.  When the winter comes, she even throws snowballs at the Krenkish children, yelling at them while she does it.  Her attitude changes from one of charity to one of disgust. More than once, I was a little disgusted with her myself.

As Dietrich continues to learn more about the Krenken, the Krenken learn more about his beliefs, and through a series of events, Hans and a few others openly admit their desire to become Christians.  Dietrich, convinced by now that they are not demons, consents and baptizes them.  When the Christian Krenken begin attending mass regularly, Theresia stops going.  Throughout the book, Dietrich pleads with her to come to her senses, but Theresia will hear none of it.  At one point, Dietrich argues that "-in Christ there is no Jew or Greek, no slave or free, no man or woman, how in Christ can I bar anyone from the table?"  Some of the townspeople adopt Theresia's outlook, calling the Krenken demons and only begrudgingly allowing them to stay until their ship is repaired.  Others embrace them, and some of the most heart warming moments in the book come from their friendly sentiment.

But no good thing can last forever, and the feared Black Plague comes to the village.  The author's descriptions of the symptoms are visceral and horrifyingly detailed.  The mass death of humans coincides with the slow starvation of the Krenken, since they are stranded and have no food from their homeworld.  I believe this shows that no matter the differences between peoples, they all are united in death.  Even though humans and Krenken are incredibly different, death still comes to them all.  The end is grim but hope perseveres , even to the end.

Eifelheim is inherently Christian, but in a very mature way.  It isn't simply science fiction with a Christian spin, but almost a justification of Christianity's continued existence even in an age of space travel.  At one point in Mass Effect, I had a discussion of what it means to believe in God even when technology makes it so easy to cast belief in him aside.  I bring this up because I feel that in the Science Fiction genre in general, the most you'll see of God is a brief cameo, if that.  It is almost a foregone conclusion in Science Fiction that religion will be unnecessary in the future.  Eifelheim challenges that conclusion in a very mature way, and I respect it for that.  When the Krenken are first discovered by the villagers and Dietrich defends them, and I believe his statement was the same one that the Church should make in the event that we encounter intelligent life in space.  The basic message is that the Krenkish presence should not discourage Christian faith, but rather strengthen it, and that if a person is a person, that person should be welcome in the Church.  For just as Dietrich said above, "-in Christ there is no Jew or Greek, no slave or free, no man or woman," and I dare to make the assertion that there is no human or alien in Christ either.

I don't recommend this book to just anyone.  It's hard to read at times and it's extremely involving.  But in the end, it is not just a good book, but a great one.  Readers who are brave enough to go through the first few chapters will be fascinated by the foreign nature of the Krenken, the development of the characters, and the intellectual stimulation of the discussions.  While I found the ending lackluster and disappointing, I still want to see the film version of this book (though I'd cut out the modern bits with Tom and Sharon).  If you want something with substance that will leave you thinking, read Eifelheim.

Well, that's all I've got for now.  Till next time, this is the Idiot, signing out.

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