Book Review: The Radiant Dark by Alexandra Oliva

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“We are not alone.”

📚

It’s early 1980, and Carol Girard lives in a small Adirondack town with her burgeoning family. Struggling to adjust to life as a new mom, her future seems clear cut until strange flickers appear in the sky: communication from a mysterious planet eleven light-years away that kickstarts a long-term message exchange and tests humankind’s ability to adapt and understand. Who are they, what do they want, and are they friendly or hostile?

Spanning five decades, The Radiant Dark follows Carol, her son, Michael, and her daughter, Ro, as they navigate an ever-shifting reality. The novel is primarily rooted in realism, while sci-fi aspects form a fantastic backdrop that both engages with and propels the storyline. The characters are layered and flawed, the narrative a compelling and believable exploration of the fraught and complex nature of humanity.

So many plot points are relatable and familiar, from familial struggles and panic-induced supply hoarding to irrational beliefs tipping over into extremism and widespread division, along with mankind’s ego, careless planetary destruction, and more. Unique facets such as the creation of the “Beacon generation” and associated slang add depth and nuance, producing an engrossing study of mortality, the passage of time, and the movement of light.

Human hardships — physical, mental, and emotional — take center stage, as does the search for place, purpose, and meaning, forming an addictive story that masterfully tackles universal topics and questions, including love and loss, marriage and motherhood, trauma and tragedy, and ambition and self-discovery.

• Book That Came to Mind While Reading: Booth by Karen Joy-Fowler (review here)

While Booth and The Radiant Dark vary in subject matter and era, they’re both family sagas that follow two families through generations, illuminating challenges, difficulties, fate, and tragedies. Each rotates around a specific event — President Lincoln’s assassination in Booth; alien contact in The Radiant Dark — and evokes the same page-turning immersion and examination of time’s progression and the finite, fragile essence of life. Booth is straight historical fiction, while The Radiant Dark melds historical fiction with sci-fi, speculative, and literary elements.

🖤Amanda

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