The first
two books in Ian McDonald’s Chaga
series, the eponymous novel (called Evolution’s
Shore in the US) and Kirinya,
both feature white main characters dealing with a strange alien invasion in
black Africa. While local characters do
appear as secondary, it’s fair to say much of the concerns of the continent are
filtered through Western eyes. Partially
righting the imbalance is “Tendeleo’s Story” (2000), a novella set in the colorful,
culturally tense milieu. Like another
short work in the setting, “Recording Angel,” it more concisely expresses
aspects of the series, but gains a significant degree of perspective from
someone locally dealing with the creeping crystalline invasion.
Tendeleo,
whose name means ‘early-evening-shortly-after-dinner’ in reference to her birth
time, is the teenage daughter of the pastor at an Episcopalian church in rural
Kenya. Village life comfortable, things
are turned upside down, however, when a chaga meteorite lands a few kilometers
from her home. Visiting the impact site
with her little sister and given a tour by a few of the UNECTA scientists
gathering data, Tendeleo has a part of her brain activated by the work,
advanced technology, and mysteries she witnesses there. But she never has a
chance to act on the interest. The chaga
taking over her village a short time later, life is spun out of control as she
and her family are placed in a squalorous refugee camp on the outskirts of
Nairobi. Taking life in her own hands,
the sacrifices Tendeleo subsequently makes break the heart, but prove worth it
in the end.
