The islanders manifestly need a staple, and the island being too small for their agriculture to support their population, their only option is trade, and they decide to contact the tribal civilizations they expect to find in England, in order to do this.
A good part of the Nantucket islanders' technological advantage comes not from their modern technology, but from their libraries which allow them access to all the societies of history, and to pick and choose from their solutions to common problems. Stirling acknowledges that their technology represents real and situation-appropriate innovation, and when they encounter the industrial technology of the islanders, quickly grasp its use and usefulness. The one thing it does well at is not condescending to the Bronze Age inhabitants or their technology. It occasionally does very well at not being fucking offensive, only to make it extra obvious when it falls off the wagon. The book is both a gleeful style pipe-dream of how one might adapt modern knowledge to stone-age resources, and an imperialist fantasy in a slightly self-consciously progressive language. This includes making contact and political agreements with the peoples around them, as well as their scramble to adapt their silicon-age technology to the bronze-age resources available to them. The book covers Nantucket's efforts at self-preservation and adaptation to their new reality. Luckily for the islanders, the coastal waters include a Coast Guard ship, the Eagle, and her captain, Black lesbian Marian Alston, who is plenty competent to organize the transportation needs of the island (which, given the island is not agriculturally self-sufficient, are legion.) One spring night, the island of Nantucket (with several miles of coastal waters) is inexplicably transported into the bronze age. In order to discuss it, first, an overview of the plot:
Warning for sexual violence, weird race issues, and general ookiness. This book is technically fairly well executed, but politically leaves me cross-eyed.
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