Book review by Anne Stevens
In the middle of the 20th century, there were two remarkable developments with world-changing potential.
They were the aqua-lung, an autonomous diving system, and the writing of the first successful artificial intelligence programme.
These two developments form the basis of Richard Power’s latest novel, Playground.
The third and final ingredient in this story of the ocean and its creatures is Makatea — a coral atoll in the Pacific remarkable for its limestone formations and potable drinking water.
Playground kicks-off as Makatea is steadily regenerating, the bush and forests spreading over the ruined landscape, and the fish and birds returning to the reefs.
Just 82 people live on the island — one of them 92-year-old Evie Beaulieu, a world-renowned oceanographer and author of Clearly it is Ocean.
She is diving in what she calls the Makatea Spa, where she can observe creatures of the sea that would normally be prey working collaboratively to clean and feed off larger sea creatures.
She watches these ad hoc mutualistic communities of many species for hours, hoping to write one more book before she dies.
Another resident is Rafi Young — a philosopher, teacher and a conservationist who left the university where he taught literature in America to be with the love of his life, Ina.
Finally, there is Todd Keane — a multimillionaire and owner of a computer software company that creates and develops AI.
He and Rafi met at college and, by the time we meet them, have had a massive falling out and not seen each other for many years.
Makatea residents are made an offer by the company, a chance for economic salvation if they agree to a seasteading project to build floating modules which will be launched and maintained from the atoll.
The ocean is the last place on Earth to colonise, and Playground questions whether ocean colonisation will be as damaging as colonisation has been on land.
It is a tense and challenging read with wonderful insights into the ocean and its creatures great and small.
Anne Stevens KC is a Dunedin barrister
