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Eifelheim by Michael Flynn
01/05/2007 . Source: Simon Cooper 
pub: TOR/Forge. 320 page hardback. Price: $25.95 (US), $34.95 (CAN). ISBN: 0-765-30096-6. pub: TOR-UK. 320 page hardback. Price: £7.46 (UK). ISBN: 978-0765319104. Buy Eifelheim in the USA - or Buy Eifelheim in the UK  check out website: www.tor-forge.com and www.booksattransworld.co.uk
In his latest book, Michael Flynn, winner of the 2003 Heinlein Award, transports the reader to medieval Germany. An alien ship has crash-landed in the Black Forest near the village of Eifelheim.
The nature and culture of the aliens, the Krenken, is thrown into sharp relief by the narration of Dietrich, the local priest. At the same time, Flynn opens up the medieval world to our inspection.
The book begins with Pastor Dietrich's narration. We are introduced to the village of Eifelheim and some of its inhabitants during an 'unnatural' storm which is later revealed to be the alien crash landing.
It is an evocative opening. Flynn creates a sense of claustrophobia in the detail of the setting. The pastor's prayers, the candlelight, the carved religious figures on the wooden church combine to remind us that the past is indeed foreign to us. Flynn takes his time here, but it is worth it. The claustrophobia recedes and village life opens out in all its human good and bad. The nuts and bolts of this always feel real and are interesting, though at times there was a little too much detail for me.
As events unfold, the narrative switches to present day America where an historian, Tom, is researching the disappearance of the village of Eifelheim. It had been depopulated after the Black Death but should have been resettled. Instead it was shunned as a home of devils. Sharon, his domestic partner and a cosmologist, shares the up-to-date narration. Her own research is coming up with some startling theories that hint at the possibility of interstellar travel.
For me, the book is less successful in these present day sections which are based around a novella, published in 'Analog' magazine and nominated for a 'Hugo', but for me they lacked drama. Although they are important in providing the possible science of inter-stellar travel and also the story's ending, I expected more to happen.
I personally was always itching to get back to the medieval side of the book. The memorable characters of this time captured my interest and emotion considerably more.
In this respect, Pastor Dietrich was particularly successful. Although now a priest in a backwater like Eifelheim, he is a man of considerable learning with a chequered past. Because of this and his passionate Christian beliefs, he accepts the Krenken when they are discovered. Despite their alien appearance, he is able to see them as mortal beings in need of help, not the demons some take them for.
Flynn handles the culture clashes of Human and Krenken expertly. Dietrich's narration is put to good use as we see everything through his medieval eyes. The spaceship is but a barn, the Krenken, foreign pilgrims of some sort. This use of limited viewpoint is extended when the Krenken produce a translation device. The device has to learn German before the two cultures can communicate effectively. Of course there are severe shortfalls in the medieval vocabulary - there just weren't the words for fibre-optic cable then!
It is one of the books most enjoyable aspects, overseeing this half-way house of meaning and interpretation. It is intriguing trying to decide if the Krenken understand Dietrich's religious expositions any more than he does their technology. However, what understandings each arrive at are pivotal.
As the novel draws to its finale, the emotional punch is evident. Though at times I felt Flynn laboured too much on characterisation through the book. I certainly felt for the villager's fate by the end. The tying up of the modern sections with the medieval is also neatly done.
Overall, this can be a demanding read. Theoretical physics, philosophy and linguistics are all on the menu, sometimes in the same paragraph. But the experience is worth the effort and the memory of life in Eifelheim lingers long after the final pages.
Simon Cooper
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