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lionessramping's review against another edition
4.0
Beautiful, calm and literary sci-fi. While this book would be easy to corner as "gay fiction," it is so much more than that. It leaves you dreaming of a world where women live in cooperative community rather than the state of suspicious competition that this planet's society seems to demand.
While there is enough action and drama to keep the reader engaged plot-wise, the dreamy setting, literary approach toward the genre and society-building are what kept me absorbed in this book and left me sad to reach its end.
While there is enough action and drama to keep the reader engaged plot-wise, the dreamy setting, literary approach toward the genre and society-building are what kept me absorbed in this book and left me sad to reach its end.
slaytana's review against another edition
4.0
poetic writing, strong characters, interesting concepts... but not quite satisfying... maybe lacking in plot?
mediaevalmuse's review against another edition
4.0
This book has been on my TBR pile for a while, and I finally got around to picking it up. I hadn't read anything by Griffith before, so I was curious about her as an author. Overall, I like the way she writes and I think Ammonite works well in conversations with books like The Left Hand of Darkness. My 3.5 rating, though, is because there are some plot points that I'm not sure how I feel about; otherwise, this was a worthwhile read.
WRITING: Overall, Griffith's prose felt effortless and elegant, balancing showing and telling while flowing well. The pace was fairly quick, and even in the more drawn-out moments, I felt like Griffith made good use of the time for exploring character interiority.
At times, some of the terminology did get confusing for me, but Griffith helpfully provides a glossary at the back of the book.
PLOT: The main plot of this book follows Marghe, an anthropologist who is sent to a planet called Jeep. Jeep has an all-female population and colonists who set foot on the planet are infected with a virus that kills all men and 25% of women. Marghe arrives to not only study the people of Jeep, but to test a vaccine made by a private firm identified only as Company. As she encounters different residents of the planet, she begins to realize what matters to her and who she is meant to be.
One thing I appreciated about this book is that all the women felt varied. Griffith doesn't present women as all-peaceful, loving, druidic figures, and she also doesn't make them seem so strange that Marghe can't connect to them as humans. In that sense, it felt less like I was reading about aliens and more about multi-cultural humanity.
I also liked the subtle exploration of what it meant to be an immigrant to Jeep (could be colonist, but colonization doesn't actually happen), as well as how tradition and the refusal to change can lead to downfall. Not only is this message apparent in Marghe's personal journey, but it pops up in the story of the Echraidhe and the people of Port Central.
But even so, there were some things that I'm not sure about. For one, I'm not sure how comfortable I am with the part of Marghe's arc that has her negotiating the peace. It felt a lot like making the stranger to the world more effective than the Indigenous peoples, and she partially achieves her task by claiming to be a god. It felt a little icky, but I'm not sure of my gut reaction is correct.
There were also more minor things that were bothersome. For one, I don't think the goth were nearly important enough. Griffith seems to set up their presence as a sort of mythological tinge to the story, but the goth didn't haunt the narrative enough to make them feel deliberate. For two, I think Griffith could have made Marghe's role as an anthropologist more useful. As it stands, Marghe doesn't strike me as overly scientific or detached (like she claims), and she may has well have been a diplomat or something else for all the anthropology skills she uses. For three, I think the ending wrapped up too neatly, especially since there was so much violence. I didn't quite expect peace to come as easily as it did, so it felt a little too convenient. And lastly, I'm not entirely sure Company got enough flack. Maybe the point of this book wasn't to get into the weeds of capitalism and exploitation, or about how companies and governments can be in cahoots. But still, it felt like they were always in the background, lurking but unacknowledged.
CHARACTERS: There are a lot of characters in this book, so I'll take a look at a few individuals and then speak about groups more generally.
Marghe, our protagonist, was sympathetic in that she arrives on an unfamiliar world carrying a lot of baggage from her past. Not only has her mother died, but she has a strained relationship with her father and experienced mistreatment by Company on another planet. I wish more of her backstory was integrated into her character arc; it starts out ok, but after arriving at Ollfoss, there's not really any exploration of how Marghe's past becomes irrelevant or how it fuels her transformation.
Hannah Danner, the acting commander of Port Central, has a few chapters details her side plot with the spy. I found her to be sympathetic in that she is very aware of her responsibilities and struggles with who she might be if she wasn't part of the military. I also found her plot to be a little weak in that the spy stuff didn't really resonate with me emotionally, but I did like how her personal anxieties about adapting to like on Jeep fit with the themes of change.
The Echraidhe are a tribe of women who live in the cold parts of the region. They are fairly "traditional" and put tribe before individual, which causes some problems both with Marghe and with one of their own. I liked that there was internal conflict within the tribe; Aoife, who is essentially Marghe's jailer, recognizes the dangers posed to her tribe and yet tries to protect Marghe. She was perhaps the most interesting of the bunch and I liked the complexity of her emotions.
By contrast, the family Marghe joins in the north is very kind and affectionate. I loved the way she bonded with Gerrel and Thenike, and I also liked the tension with Leifin. Their varied personalities made the world seem richer and less archetypal.
TL;DR: Ammonite is a fascinating look at the necessity of change and what it means to belong, focusing on the story of one woman on an alien world. Though some of the plot was questionable, this is a good addition to sci fi novels about gender and learning to adapt to other cultures.
WRITING: Overall, Griffith's prose felt effortless and elegant, balancing showing and telling while flowing well. The pace was fairly quick, and even in the more drawn-out moments, I felt like Griffith made good use of the time for exploring character interiority.
At times, some of the terminology did get confusing for me, but Griffith helpfully provides a glossary at the back of the book.
PLOT: The main plot of this book follows Marghe, an anthropologist who is sent to a planet called Jeep. Jeep has an all-female population and colonists who set foot on the planet are infected with a virus that kills all men and 25% of women. Marghe arrives to not only study the people of Jeep, but to test a vaccine made by a private firm identified only as Company. As she encounters different residents of the planet, she begins to realize what matters to her and who she is meant to be.
One thing I appreciated about this book is that all the women felt varied. Griffith doesn't present women as all-peaceful, loving, druidic figures, and she also doesn't make them seem so strange that Marghe can't connect to them as humans. In that sense, it felt less like I was reading about aliens and more about multi-cultural humanity.
I also liked the subtle exploration of what it meant to be an immigrant to Jeep (could be colonist, but colonization doesn't actually happen), as well as how tradition and the refusal to change can lead to downfall. Not only is this message apparent in Marghe's personal journey, but it pops up in the story of the Echraidhe and the people of Port Central.
But even so, there were some things that I'm not sure about. For one, I'm not sure how comfortable I am with the part of Marghe's arc that has her negotiating the peace. It felt a lot like making the stranger to the world more effective than the Indigenous peoples, and she partially achieves her task by claiming to be a god. It felt a little icky, but I'm not sure of my gut reaction is correct.
There were also more minor things that were bothersome. For one, I don't think the goth were nearly important enough. Griffith seems to set up their presence as a sort of mythological tinge to the story, but the goth didn't haunt the narrative enough to make them feel deliberate. For two, I think Griffith could have made Marghe's role as an anthropologist more useful. As it stands, Marghe doesn't strike me as overly scientific or detached (like she claims), and she may has well have been a diplomat or something else for all the anthropology skills she uses. For three, I think the ending wrapped up too neatly, especially since there was so much violence. I didn't quite expect peace to come as easily as it did, so it felt a little too convenient. And lastly, I'm not entirely sure Company got enough flack. Maybe the point of this book wasn't to get into the weeds of capitalism and exploitation, or about how companies and governments can be in cahoots. But still, it felt like they were always in the background, lurking but unacknowledged.
CHARACTERS: There are a lot of characters in this book, so I'll take a look at a few individuals and then speak about groups more generally.
Marghe, our protagonist, was sympathetic in that she arrives on an unfamiliar world carrying a lot of baggage from her past. Not only has her mother died, but she has a strained relationship with her father and experienced mistreatment by Company on another planet. I wish more of her backstory was integrated into her character arc; it starts out ok, but after arriving at Ollfoss, there's not really any exploration of how Marghe's past becomes irrelevant or how it fuels her transformation.
Hannah Danner, the acting commander of Port Central, has a few chapters details her side plot with the spy. I found her to be sympathetic in that she is very aware of her responsibilities and struggles with who she might be if she wasn't part of the military. I also found her plot to be a little weak in that the spy stuff didn't really resonate with me emotionally, but I did like how her personal anxieties about adapting to like on Jeep fit with the themes of change.
The Echraidhe are a tribe of women who live in the cold parts of the region. They are fairly "traditional" and put tribe before individual, which causes some problems both with Marghe and with one of their own. I liked that there was internal conflict within the tribe; Aoife, who is essentially Marghe's jailer, recognizes the dangers posed to her tribe and yet tries to protect Marghe. She was perhaps the most interesting of the bunch and I liked the complexity of her emotions.
By contrast, the family Marghe joins in the north is very kind and affectionate. I loved the way she bonded with Gerrel and Thenike, and I also liked the tension with Leifin. Their varied personalities made the world seem richer and less archetypal.
TL;DR: Ammonite is a fascinating look at the necessity of change and what it means to belong, focusing on the story of one woman on an alien world. Though some of the plot was questionable, this is a good addition to sci fi novels about gender and learning to adapt to other cultures.
zilliah's review against another edition
3.0
What a strange book. the story was very interesting and the writing was lyrical and dreamy, but it just didn't quite click for me. I felt like it skipped over aspects I was interested in and focused on things I didn't care about as much, though I can't really be specific about what either of those were.
I'd recommend it if you like more literary science fiction and are fine with some aspects remaining fairly abstract. if you're looking for a similar premise and a more boots-on-the-ground execution, I'd recommend Jane Fletcher's Celaeno series, which I personally enjoyed a lot more.
I'd recommend it if you like more literary science fiction and are fine with some aspects remaining fairly abstract. if you're looking for a similar premise and a more boots-on-the-ground execution, I'd recommend Jane Fletcher's Celaeno series, which I personally enjoyed a lot more.
grayjay's review against another edition
5.0
Marghe is an anthropologist eager to arrive at the quarantined planet Jeep to study the inhabitants who have been cut off from Earth for several generations and mysteriously consist of only women.
A few years prior, "the Company" sent a team to colonize the planet but visitors were infected by a local virus that killed all men and 78% of women.
Marghe is received by the Commanding Officer of the remaining quarantined Company colony and sent out to study the natives and discern the mystery of their survival for generations without men.
I saw some similarities between Ammonite and The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula le Guin. Both feature an outsider arriving on a planet inhabited by a lost human offshoot with variant gender distribution. The visitor in both have agendas that are abandoned as they become more sympathetic to the cultures they are studying.
This novel definitely challenges the notions of gender roles. She successfully imagines a world inhabited soley by women and avoids dividing them all into the roles traditionally assigned to men and and women.
Griffith is brilliant at character development. Her characters have psychological depth. The reader understands them and their motives, so when the characters are transformed, you know how much it means to them.
A few years prior, "the Company" sent a team to colonize the planet but visitors were infected by a local virus that killed all men and 78% of women.
Marghe is received by the Commanding Officer of the remaining quarantined Company colony and sent out to study the natives and discern the mystery of their survival for generations without men.
I saw some similarities between Ammonite and The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula le Guin. Both feature an outsider arriving on a planet inhabited by a lost human offshoot with variant gender distribution. The visitor in both have agendas that are abandoned as they become more sympathetic to the cultures they are studying.
This novel definitely challenges the notions of gender roles. She successfully imagines a world inhabited soley by women and avoids dividing them all into the roles traditionally assigned to men and and women.
Griffith is brilliant at character development. Her characters have psychological depth. The reader understands them and their motives, so when the characters are transformed, you know how much it means to them.
reading_tea's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
jessicabowering's review against another edition
3.0
I found this... ok. The story was interesting and kept me reading. But I always felt like I was being told what happened, not drawn into any emotional connection with the characters or events. And I found the spiritual metaphysical discoveries boring - again it seemed like I was being told those discoveries were significant but I didn't find them persuasive in themselves or connect with why they were important to the characters. I'm making it sound like this book was horrible. It wasn't. It was fine.
justanother_alan's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
dlberglund's review against another edition
3.0
A flat-out science fiction book, set on an alien planet several centuries in the future, with space travel and the whole thing. It was good, a fun read. Did I mention that there's a virus on the planet that kills off nearly all human men? It's not as bad as it sounds, and the author has an interesting history herself.
suzylit's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5