James Patrick Kelly has written in many different formats, including the usual (novels, essays, novellas, etc.) and the not-so-usual (a planetarium show). He’s won the Hugo Award twice for novelettes (I don’t exactly know what the difference is between a short story, a novelette, and a novella, but rest assured that there is one), in 1996 and 2000. He’s also edited several collections and has two weekly podcasts; he’s currently the vice-chair of the Clarion Writer’s Workshop. Burn won the Nebula in 2007 for Best Novella (it’s 81 pages in the PDF format on the author’s page; 52 parts on Daily Lit); subsequently Mr. Kelly released it as both a Creative Commons PDF and also a podcast in four parts; the podcast is still available on his website.

Spur (Prosper Gregory Leung) lives on a world called Walden; it was founded by a wealthy entrepreneur who wanted to recreate a world of small farmers and simplicity that he thought was the absolute height of human civilization. Spur’s family raises apples and other fruit trees. There’s a conflict between those who think that the partial terraformation of the planet with forests overtaking is an awful idea, versus those who love the simplicity of Walden, though. So the pukpuks (against the forest) have been setting the trees on fire. Spur has been a firefighter on the planet for a few months, and when we meet him he’s rehabbing in a hospital. While in the hospital, he realizes that he can contact offworlders, and he ends up contacting a boy genius who supposedly produces luck on another planet. Then that boy wants to visit. Even if he doesn’t produce luck, the presence of an offworlder will change things — but how?

Spur and his pseudo-civilization are quite interesting; obviously most people who read this aren’t exactly going to agree with the Chairman who started the whole idea. Civilization complete with technology and high population density has its own benefits, and Thomas Jefferson’s idea of a nation of gentleman farmers ignores some greater points about the reality of human existence and economics. Of course, that’s a given; Mr. Kelly, I’m sure, knew that, and has shown us a world where, although there are certainly problems, there’s also the great human need to protect one’s way of life, no matter what it takes. Different people naturally have different ideas of what constitutes protection, and how it should be carried out.

I found the various characters very interesting. In such a short format, we only get a snapshot of their lives; the majority of the book takes place over about three or four days. Spur, of course, being the main character, is always in the spotlight; we see his wife, Comfort, only briefly, but she makes a very strong impression. The offworlders are moderately flat characters, but I liked them; the Allworthy Memsen was probably slightly more interesting than the crew of child geniuses whom she accompanied, even including the High Gregory. Spur’s father, Cape (Capability), was very solid; although he and Spur had their differences, it was next to nothing in the face of great danger or worldwide conflict, and Cape displayed amazing amounts of strength in danger.

Overall, I quite enjoyed this entry into Mr. Kelly’s works. I like the novella format, not the least of which because that gives me an opportunity to finish it and review it more quickly. I’ve always admired authors who are willing to write novellas or short novels, rather than attempting to inflate them into full-length novels; brevity doesn’t always mean a lack of coherent world-building or incomplete characters, as was so aptly demonstrated in this work. I’d recommend it for fans of Ray Bradbury; no, the book isn’t remotely related to burning books, but it has a bit of the same feel as some of Bradbury’s short stories. I’d also say that fans of Michael Swanwick might enjoy it, although the horror aspect of burning things is definitely downplayed. 4.5/5 stars.