Lovelock (novel)

Lovelock, a 1994 science fiction novel, was co-authored by Americans Orson Scott Card and Kathryn H. Kidd. Its narrator, a sentient monkey, is named after James Lovelock, the scientist who developed the Gaia hypothesis—a concept central to the story.

The book takes place in a near future where humanity is preparing its first interstellar colonization ship, the Mayflower. A new scientific field called Gaiaology, rooted in the Gaia hypothesis, has emerged. The narrator, Lovelock, is a genetically and cybernetically enhanced capuchin monkey who tells his story in first person. He serves as a "Witness" for Carol Jeanne Cocciolone, tasked with recording every moment of her life. As the Mayflower’s chief Gaiaologist, Carol Jeanne oversees the terraforming of their new planet, blending Earth species with the local ecosystem. Like all Witnesses, Lovelock has been conditioned to love and obey his owner without question.

The story begins as the Cocciolone family—Carol Jeanne, her husband Red, daughters Lydia and Emmy, and Red’s parents Mamie and Stef—prepares to leave for the Mayflower. During the shuttle ride, Lovelock feels shame at his primitive fear of free-fall. Aboard the Mayflower, he meets a scientist who tries to communicate via sign language; Carol Jeanne admits she never taught him this, not wanting him "chattering" to her constantly. This triggers Lovelock’s first feelings of rebellion. He starts longing for a mate and offspring. After learning of cryogenically frozen capuchin monkeys, he steals a young female and hides her in the Mayflower’s low-gravity poles, but she grows up stunted and sickly. Fearing execution if caught, Lovelock begins writing his story in a hidden computer file.

Card has stated that Lovelock is the first book of a planned Mayflower trilogy. The second, Rasputin, is in progress, and the third remains untitled.

Publishers Weekly called the novel a "moral fable," praising the authors’ "passionate depiction of Lovelock's plight" and "insightful portrayal of the various human characters," but noted that aside from Lovelock’s enhanced intelligence, the science fiction elements are "drown(ed) out." Kirkus Reviews described it as "(s)o-so at best," "bloated and flabby," and criticized it for lacking "even a token ending." Other reviews include those by Gary K.