Missionary in space

Peter leaves behind his beloved wife Bea to become a Christian missionary on the distant planet of Oasis in Michael Faber's strikingly original 2014 novel The Book of Strange New Things. He is not there as a chaplain for his fellow settlers, who show little interest in Christianity, but rather for the benefit of the native inhabitants of the planet.

The settlers cannot get their own crops to grow on Oasis, meaning that, except for rare shipments from earth, they must get their food from the Oasans. These odd but peaceful beings want two things in exchange: someone to teach them about The Book of Strange New Things, their name for the King James Bible, and any excess pharmaceuticals available. It is not clear why they want the drugs, for their diseases are nothing like those of humans, but the drugs are regularly delivered just the same. And soon Peter is going and returning with the drug deliveries, finding the Oasans amazingly receptive to Christian ideas and quick to learn English.

While this novel may sound like science fiction, Faber clearly has no interest in science. The planet is described as a billion miles from Earth, yet the trip takes a matter of days, and communication between Peter and Bea takes just minutes. And all this happens in the 21st century, not the distant future. Humans living on this distant planet listen to the likes of Frank Sinatra and Patsy Cline, as if it were an even earlier century.

Peter desperately misses Bea, especially as he is drawn to Grainger, the female pharmacist who transports him back and forth. The messages Bea sends from England become more and more disturbing. Natural disasters strike with increasing frequency, even as civilization rapidly crumbles around her. Nothing works anymore, not businesses, not government, not even the hospital where she works as a nurse.

This dystopian novel, viewing the collapse of human society from a billion miles away, may disturb readers. Yet Oasis is hardly paradise, as becomes more clear the longer Peter stays. The Oasans, with their beloved Book of Strange New Things, seem to be the only ones who have it together.