Paradise by Mike Resnick

Mike Resnick has written at least three science fiction books that are basically about Africa, despite the denials in the front of the book. The titles are paradise, purgatory and inferno. I read Purgatory, which is about/not about Zimbabwe, and just finished Paradise, which is about/not about Kenya.

I don't really understand Resnick's coyness. Perhaps he thought it would be more interesting if he took the history and politics of these countries and situated it in a science fiction realm. In Resnick's worlds (galaxies?), these African countries are literally different worlds, which Man has decided to colonize for different reasons. The inhabitants of the planets are usually strange creatures, often compared to snakes or fish (gills, slitted eyes, etc.). The wildlife is given names but seems a great deal like the wildlife in sub-saharan Africa (Landships are elephants, Bush Devils are some sort of wild boar, etc.) In truth, the worlds are not that much different from the countries in Africa he purportedly doesn't write about, except for the whole alien thing and a few futuristic elements like binoculars that adjust to your specific eye problems like nearsightedness, or "dilating" doors (I still don't really understand what this means).

Resnick's main character in Paradise is a human writer who begins a long relationship with the planet Peponi, first through interviews of human ex-colonists of the planet, who have a lot to say about Peponi's beauty, the inability of the natives to maintain it, and why they no longer live there but wish they did. Later the writer is contracted by the president of Peponi to write a biography of his life. The president, Buko Pepon, is an interesting character, alternately portrayed as a benevolent father of the country (he is the first president after Peponi's independence), and at the same time intolerant of opposition (he kills any pretenders to the presidency). Through the main characters' interactions with these people he learns more and more about the history of Peponi from colonial times to uprisings to independence.

Resnick's main point in Paradise and his other books (I think) is to portray the downfall of post-colonial Africa. To his credit he takes a fairly balanced look at this, discussing the impact of colonialism and the resulting chaos once the humans pulled out. In Resnick's view, everyone, natives and humans alike, is to blame for the mess the other planets are in. The point is not exactly "everything would have been great if the stupid humans wouldn't have come," but close. Paradise, for example, discusses the decimation of the native flora and fauna as a result of hunting and planting foreign crops. I would have been interested to know a little more as to why humans decided to start colonizing other planets. Was Earth completely destroyed? How? The human characters are a bit one-dimensional, either sympathetic to the native's cause or extremely indifferent. Interestingly, it's the alien characters that are more nuanced and enigmatic. Paradise and the other books are quick reads, and take a unique otherworldly perspective of post-colonial Africa. However, I'm not sure they add anything new to the discussion.