The Descent by Jeff LongMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
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The writing itself is very good. The horror/agony scenes are very realistic. Reading the book I realised that all of the languages used to describe 'the others' have been used by colonizers before. They are savages, they have no respect for human life (correction they have no respect for people like us i.e homo sapiens and why should they?) they are literally evil. So we are justified in marching with our armies and killing them while 'exploring' and benefit from the hidden wealth we might discover. And don't tell me that this wouldn't be the case; Americans marched on Iraq for their oil - oops sorry I meant to protect themselves against the non-existent nuclear bombs the Iraqis had. Does that sound familiar? The pilgrims saved native Americans so much that only 5 million of them survive. The British brought civilization to India; the best Briton of all times, Winston Churchill was responsible for more than 2 million deaths by famine. And don't get me started on how King Leopold treated people of Kongo.
The only way colonizers felt empathy for those other than themselves was when the 'others' suffered the trials of Job. Look at Uncle Thomas hut. It's thinly veiled torture porn. So this other species murders our kind at will. Our guns and technology can't help us. Well, they must be fallen angels and evil reincarnate for not wanting us to colonize them and treat them like we have all the 'others' before grudgingly accepting that they are humans too and might deserve human rights. Therefore we will exploit them in different ways, via economic sanctions etc. Oops, we cannot do that because they are a bunch of homicidal maniacs that are going to eat us, literally. Well, good for them. I am rooting for the devil this time.
The scientists above ground are looking for the leader of the Handals - Satan - above the ground. Ok, this story has officially been derailed. I think the whole Satan story arc could have been omitted.
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