THE SCENT OF DISTANT WORLDS

In
County’s (Oasis at the Bottom of the Sea,
2015, etc.) sci-fi yarn, a scientist on a deep-space mission to exploit a
distant planet discovers that alien plant groves may be sentient, intelligent,
and hostile.

On a future, overpopulated Earth, exobiologist Cassie
Clearwater, the granddaughter of a Seminole shaman, joins the first
interstellar space expedition. The ship, called the Far Traveler, uses a revolutionary, superfast propulsion drive,
provided by the powerful MicroWeight Corporation, to visit a habitable planet
12-and-a-half light years away. Its profile suggests diamond-rich geology and
colonization potential. Cassie must establish whether the alien life there is
intelligent, which would render the world off-limits. But there’s greed and
subterfuge afoot on the Far Traveler.
Even Cassie conceals a secret—her pregnancy by fellow astronaut Jonas
Jefferson, son of ruthless MicroWeight tycoon Tobias Jefferson. After landing,
the team does find diamonds—but also groves of mushroom-shaped growths and
burrowing creatures that spit powerful acid. When something pulls Jonas into a
mudbank, the remaining humans prepare for hostilities. The narrative then shifts
to tell the story from the perspectives of the alien plants. They are indeed
sentient, with a rich heritage to match that of humanity, whom they regard as
grotesque “monsters.” When Jonas reappears, resurrected and altered, only
Cassie is brave enough to avert a tragedy for both species. County offers a
bouquet of twists in this novel, with a botany-focused plot that suggests an
intricate rethink of Murray Leinster’s classic 1946 short story “The Plants.”
The author includes clever whodunit aspects, as well as the worldview of a
rooted, chlorophyll-based society that communicates via odor and chemical
secretions. Some may find it overly precious that plant characters bear the names
of herbs (Pepper, Sage, Tarragon); also, the human characters include a gangster-ish
Russian and a libidinous, Asian dragon lady caricature. However, the book asserts
that MicroWeight calculatingly loaded the Far Traveler with
international ethnic stereotypes as a public relations move: “Reverse political correctness. A blatant appeal to the
sensibilities of the masses instead of the intelligencia.” Aspects of Native American
mysticism make an unsteady entrance but pay off well.