ISBN: 0-451-45696-3 Order from: Amazon.com
This entertaining tale of xenobiological exploration on a deeply religious but interesting colony combines the classic adventure story with an unusual romance and a dash of politics.
Reviewed by David on August 08, 1999
Genre: Science Fiction (Biology, Intrigue, Religion, Romance, Aliens)
Synopsis: Dray's Planet has been settled by an interesting brand of religious fanatics. Vaguely Muslim, the culture allows unusual marriage arrangements. Leery of external contacts for lack of social contamination, the religious leaders reluctantly allow an external paleontologist to join an expedition when remains of an evolutionary remarkable animal are discovered in the desert.
Led by a devout and remarkable young woman, the exploration of the plantetary life turns into an adventure of biology, culture, politics and economics which threatens to overturn much more than the theories of local evolution.
Full Review: The tale is told from several viewpoints, but in general maintains good cohesiveness.
The heroine, the young, intelligent and slightly spoiled graduate student Marta, and the fascinating marriage customs lead to a couple of relationships that help make this otherwise conservative Islamic-sounding culture truly exotic and rather exciting. The McGuffin—the unusual creature found in the desert—is used as an excuse to expose political perfidy and start a quest of exploration, complete with exotic flora, perilous fauna and hints of alien mystery.
The plot is mostly taut, although at times slowing down noticably. The romantic subplots are interesting but uneven, with several episodes of irritating frustration. Marta herself is both remarkable enough to be interesting and flawed enough to be believable.
While the novel is complete, there are explicit hints of further adventures, and future books in this milieu are worth waiting for.
Overall: 5.5; Plot: 6; Characters: 5.5; Style: 5.5; World-building: 6.5; Originality: 6;
Copyright date 1999, Penguin Group (Roc), June 1999, Mass market paperback
ISBN: 0-451-45696-3 Order from: Amazon.com