Geoff Ryman isn’t an author who I’d read previously but this novel is so good that I feel like I’ve been missing out this whole time. The thing is his work doesn’t seem to get nominated for the Nebula and Hugo awards and I’ve long contended that there is a frustrating sense of sameyness in the works that do get nominated. This novel feels refreshing different and wears it more fantastical elements lightly enough that it could pass for a mainstream novel. But it is a solid science-fiction novel, not just in its use of novel technologies as a plot element but in its attitude towards change and progress.

In the near future, a mountain village in the country of Karzistan somewhere in Central Asia is the remotest place on Earth. One resident, Chung Mae, styles herself as the local fashion expert, an entrepreneur who sources dresses for the other women of the village. The age-old routines of the village are disrupted however the whole country is subjected to a trial of the new Air technology, which is something like the Internet but connects directly to the brains of everyone without additional devices. An elderly neighbor of Mae is so shocked by the experience that she dies due to an accident during the process. Her mind however becomes embedded in Mae’s brain who happens to be nearby. Mae doesn’t just become confused about her own identity, she gains memories of the town’s history and by delving so deeply into Air, gains powerful insights over how it works. Realizing that this changes everything, she becomes determined to stay on top of these changes and help her village adapt to these changes. But many in the village oppose these changes and Mae’s own life is upended as her relationship with her husband is tested by new emotions.

Though the book does make some effort to address the plausibility of Air technology and all the weirdness it entails, this is not a hard science-fiction book so all that must be taken with a grain of salt. It’s really interested in the sociological study of how a community must change as technology changes the world around it. It’s not just about how Air access enables Mae and her friends to market their products to the world though that is important too as the money it brings upends the existing power structures in the village. Mae realizes that it also ends the isolation of their village forever as information, values and tastes will be homogenized on a global scale. This would alter human identity so much that Mae puts it dramatically as her village as the last place with real humans in it since it is the last place to be connected to Air. The analysis here is surprisingly sophisticated as someone may be allies with Mae on one matter but opposed to her due to some other change that Air brings about. This extends outside of the village as even the government takes an interest in what happens there and the outside world becomes curious about the life and doings of this small circle of artisanal creators.

Even in the field of science-fiction, writers usually prefer to highlight the negatives of every technological revolution, painting a picture of an inevitable dystopia. Air does have that and indeed the presence of her neighbor Granny Tung inside Mae’s head serves as the arch technological luddite. Due to her advanced age when she died, she has been through more than Mae ever suspected including wars, lost loves and revolutions. But she is stuck in the past and holds a horror of any change at all, most especially Air technology. Mae on the other hand laments the passing of an era but recognizes that the change has already occurred elsewhere and it is unstoppable in her village. Therefore she is determined to learn all she can about the new technology and help her village take advantage of it. It’s a wonderfully balanced and nuanced approach that is aware of the best arguments on both sides and allows Mae to forge a path forward that takes all of that into account.

Air does have some idiosyncrasies that have frustrated some reviewers, most notable Mae’s very strange and impossible pregnancy. Then there is her hopelessly complicated love life and the highly uncomfortable suspicion that she is sexually attracted to her neighbor at least partly because of the memories of Granny Tung inside her and Tung’s love for her own son. I dislike these elements as well but I prefer to view it more charitably as the kind of thing that wouldn’t seem too out of a place in a genre book with a male protagonist. Why indeed must Mae be a perfectly selfless heroine? Why can’t she want things of her own? If she is able to make it work then more power to her. Some of the more fantastic events in the novel aren’t plausible even with the explanations provided but do make it get closer to the kind of magical realism we see more often in mainstream novels. Since the book is more interested in exploring the social changes wrought by technology rather than the technology itself, I think this doesn’t detract from its central point.

All of this makes Air a novel that I really like and admire, despite it not being the type of science-fiction that I usually prefer. It feels so qualitatively different from everything else that it’s even a little difficult to slot it into the usual established categories. From what I understand, Ryman has indeed done work for the UK government and this shows in its sophisticated understanding of how government agencies actually operate. I also really like how grounded it feels, set as it in a fictional but plausible country. Unfortunately while the novel won some acclaim when it was released, it seems to have mostly been forgotten by now. I honestly think this might have achieved more lasting success if it had been marketed as a mainstream novel. Highly recommended.