ISBN: 0-553-57703-4 Order from: Amazon.com
A novel of survival and discovery in a world of alien life and alienated humans, with a plot stressed by fuzzy introspection and unappealing characters.
Reviewed by David on February 14, 1999
Genre: Science Fiction (Biology)
Synopsis: A colony destined for the Earth-like T'nan runs into a terrible surprise when they find that the environment has changed radically in the previous fifty years. Prepared for oxygen and water, the colonists find toxic atmosphere and microbe-teeming liquids. Locked in a claustraphobic structure controlled by the ship's AI, the original colonists desperately seek for a way to terraform the unexpectedly hostile world, while the new generation dream of establishing settlements in portable shelters.
When the controlling AI suddenly crashes, the young Kalypso is caught in a world spinning out of control. The only way to stabilize their fragile habitat is to determine what attacked her friend, the AI. However, while the computer intelligence seems incapable of helping control and protect the colony from the vulcanic activity underneath, other, more human plots threaten the colony from without. However, it is the terrifying suspicion of an alien influence behind the disasters that feeds Kalypso's and her friends' nighmares.
Full Review: Kalypso appears to start strong, but spends most of the book being a powerless and clueless victim of mysterious events. Most of her relatives and neighbors, including the heads of the colony appear lacking in common sense, histerical, or both.
The lack of competence in these characters, when added to long passages full of distressed introspection by the protagonist, add little appeal to the plot. The fuzzy, mystical imagery used to hint at the unusual biology and organization of the planet does not make the relatively simple secret of the world particularly intriguing.
The political struggles in the exotic, dangerous environment do not approach the complexity or the passion of, say, Dune. The friendship of Kalypso and the AI is not developed; and the unusual relationship between her and the disurbed "villain" holds little attraction for the reader.
This book uses a simple, but potentially intriguing science fictional idea surrounded by a gloss of stress and emotional muddle. Unfortunately, this makes for little enlightenment or entertainment.
Overall: 4.5; Plot: 4; Characters: 4; Style: 5.5; World-building: 6; Originality: 6;
Copyright date 1998, Bantam Books (Bantam Spectra), May 1998, Mass-market paperback, 401 pages
ISBN: 0-553-57703-4 Order from: Amazon.com