Axiom's End - Discussion Board Thoughts
BOARD: Axiom’s End by Lindsay Ellis
▽TOPIC: There’s a quote I read somewhere that says,“We do not see things as they are. We see things as we are.” It reminds me of the humans and aliens in this book. How does their communication and behavior towards one another show who/how they are?
NAOMI: Oh, I love this quote! You come up with and find the best discussion questions, Susette. I was fascinated by the communication aspect of the novel.
LISA: Right? The assumptions that the government entities made about the aliens’ communication style both early and later were great depictions about how humans in power like to assume the worst out of anyone different than the their norm.
T’RELL: And automatically put them in captivity.
CHESTER: Real. I was low-key angry while reading this book. Right on to Ampersand for holding onto his power and only letting Cora be his interpreter instead of enabling the technology.
MAXINE: That whole relationship between Cora and Ampersand… kind of had me feeling a little uncomfortable at times?
LISA: Definitely, Maxine.
NAOMI: Realistic, though, too. Very… well, alien-like, right?
SUSETTE: Yes! That’s what I was thinking, Naomi. Each species was trying to relate to the other in the ways they knew how according to their own species cultures and individual cultures.
LISA: That complexity was really well done.
CHESTER: The 2000’s Bush years, T’Rell. What music?
T’RELL: The author has a playlist! All authors should share those, btw. I’ve been jammin’ out to “Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drum” by A Perfect Circle
CHESTER: Searching for it now.
(J. Marie’s extra notes: great book that is the first in a trilogy. I loved it for the complex alien society, the art and science of communication, and the complex character relationships.)