Mike Resnick
A Chronicle Of A Distant World

Novels like this are rich in arguments that constitute true geopolitical and social analyses that are timeless and placeless. "A Chronicle Of A Distant World" (1989), published in Italy under the title "Paradiso Remoto," is the first novel of a dedicated trilogy in which Mike Resnick tackles a delicate theme such as the colonization by humans of planets inhabited by other species.

The story told in this novel is the story of the planet Peponi, a planet once fertile and rich in natural resources, populated by an alien species that the terrestrials disdainfully call "blue-gills" or "lovely alien gentlemen" aka "aga." We find ourselves in a time distant from our own and in a future where mankind has already widely colonized space and encountered other extraterrestrial species, more or less advanced, in the same universe where Resnick set the famous cycle dedicated to the adventures of Wilson Cole.

The "pepon," historically divided into different tribes and often hostile to each other, lead a simple life in harmony with nature, engaging in sustenance activities like hunting and fishing. A primitive and essential lifestyle that will be completely disrupted after the arrival of humans through processes that Resnick reproduces in a science fiction context, echoing the historical pages of European colonialism in Africa and Asia.

The protagonist of the novel's events (besides Peponi itself) is Matthew Breen. After interviewing an old hunter named August Hardwycke for a research on lossodons, an animal species once widespread on Peponi but now extinct, Breen becomes increasingly interested in the planet's history and the changes brought about by the terrestrial colonization. Gathering information and direct testimonies from people who have left the planet, he writes interplanetary bestselling books about Peponi, earning him a direct invitation from the legendary Buko Pepon. The "father of liberty," and the planet's president, is a person of extraordinary charisma and intelligence and was appointed directly by the interplanetary government of Deluros VIII to resolve a severe crisis and the violent clash between terrestrials and pepon. From the very beginning, he aims to establish a balance between the two species, but many terrestrials, having lost their privileged position, abandon the planet. This constitutes a further loss for Peponi in a situation that for Buko Pepon is an impossible mission: the planet's natural resources have already been largely devastated by humans, who have simultaneously imposed their way of life on the population with effects that have radically altered their customs, priorities, and expectations in a context where the necessary wealth to ensure well-being for everyone is evidently lacking. After his death, the situation will definitively degenerate with the exacerbation of social tensions and the clash between different tribes, leading to the imposition of autarchic and dictatorial governments.

"A Chronicle Of A Distant World" is simultaneously a kind of "sociological essay" and an adventure novel: yet another great work from a prolific and highly awarded author (he has won the Hugo Award five times out of an impressive thirty-seven nominations!) who has also directly addressed the theme of colonialism, writing about Kenya and the Kikuyu ethnic group. Highly recommended.