ISBN: 0-06-105795-9 Order from: Amazon.com
A view-hopping, rather confused plot, lightly drawn and mostly 2-dimensional characters, and a fuzzy mystical message add up to little entertainment in this tense but unsatisfying novel.
Reviewed by David on July 04, 1999
Genre: Science Fiction (Aliens, War, Military, Intrigue)
Synopsis: Years ago, a well-known xeno-anthropologist Professor Ellicot went native studying a primitive but fascinating Cassuel culture. Now, he has a chance to regain his reputation and self-respect in studying a new but hauntingly familiar alien race.
Fighting a war against the genocidal and technically advanced Remor, the human nations are wracked by paranoia, political wrangles, and the increasingly militaristic Interstellar Defense League.
In this environment, primitive and fragile alien cultures are in grave danger, especially when there is evidence linking them to the Remor. Ellicot has lost much in his search for truth, but this search may cost immesurably more: the life of his friends, and the balance of the war may depend on it.
Full Review: The menacing aliens are appropriately alien: mysterious, dangerous, and inexplicably hostile. However, it is the humans that seem to be the most viciously evil characters in the novel. Many of the human actions appear designed to invoke baffled outrage, contempt or disgust. This not only makes for a lack of sympathetic characters, but a gravely flawed plot: malevolent stupidity seems out of place in high-ranking interstellar officers. Combined with a multitude of views, most of the book has little ability to create or maintain suspense.
The space battle scenes are competent but unexceptional, and the mystical enlightenment seems fuzzy and incomplete.
All in all, this is a rather unsatisfying space opera.
Overall: 5; Plot: 4; Characters: 4; Style: 5; World-building: 5; Originality: 6;
Copyright date 1999, HarperCollins (HarperPrism), July 1999, Mass market paperback, 537 pages
ISBN: 0-06-105795-9 Order from: Amazon.com