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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
Through-out the course of this book I was thinking of giving it 2 stars. Till the last 20 pages are so. That so rarely happens in bookreading, that the end somehow pulls it all together? That's what we all hope for when reading a book that drags, we stick with it, and so often we are never rewarded for our readers diligence.
Greedy resource seeking humans land on another planet, and get to work in leaching all the natural resources from it. The planet they land on, is comparable to a Rainforest, there are different levels, each with their own variety of predators. Most of the "human" life there has never been to the higher or lower levels, and if they have, so few have come back alive that they avoid them.
Except Born, he's a little mad and reckless, and tends to travel farther from the Home tree and deeper into the levels then the others. Along with is trusty furcot, a sentient, six legged, creature that has a symbiotic relationship with a human (all have one), Born finds a destroyed skimmer, along with two living inhabitants.
He takes them back to his Home tree, and they learn about the local flora/fauna as it repeatedly tries to kill them. Once at the Home tree they make their plans to return to their own central spaceship. Born and his alpha Male competition Losting go along with him.
It's a familiar premise, high tech humans who are helpless in the wild, but still manage to deride their "primitive" native guides, are fragile, needy, and argumentative. The guides are not very communicative, which makes their actions all the more primitive seeming. Along with a manipulative greedy company, that tries the "we'll trade you these cheap beads for your land and livehood" trick on said uncivilized humans.
And at this point, the unexpected happens. This movie is reminiscent of Avatar, but instead of banding together animals and natives into an all out war, with wooden spears against automatic riffles and lasers. Born smiles, nods, and.....And it is awesome, and got this book to 3 stars.
Greedy resource seeking humans land on another planet, and get to work in leaching all the natural resources from it. The planet they land on, is comparable to a Rainforest, there are different levels, each with their own variety of predators. Most of the "human" life there has never been to the higher or lower levels, and if they have, so few have come back alive that they avoid them.
Except Born, he's a little mad and reckless, and tends to travel farther from the Home tree and deeper into the levels then the others. Along with is trusty furcot, a sentient, six legged, creature that has a symbiotic relationship with a human (all have one), Born finds a destroyed skimmer, along with two living inhabitants.
He takes them back to his Home tree, and they learn about the local flora/fauna as it repeatedly tries to kill them. Once at the Home tree they make their plans to return to their own central spaceship. Born and his alpha Male competition Losting go along with him.
It's a familiar premise, high tech humans who are helpless in the wild, but still manage to deride their "primitive" native guides, are fragile, needy, and argumentative. The guides are not very communicative, which makes their actions all the more primitive seeming. Along with a manipulative greedy company, that tries the "we'll trade you these cheap beads for your land and livehood" trick on said uncivilized humans.
And at this point, the unexpected happens. This movie is reminiscent of Avatar, but instead of banding together animals and natives into an all out war, with wooden spears against automatic riffles and lasers. Born smiles, nods, and.....And it is awesome, and got this book to 3 stars.
medium-paced
I enjoy Foster’s Humanx Commonwealth books. This one had a pretty great premise.
This is a book of fantastic imagination,with a strong environmental message that is woven throughout. The characters are ones that will live with you long after the book is finished.
A parable about arrogance and colonialism
There are those who have spotted parallels to the movie Avatar, and it's possible James Cameron read this and used some of it as a basis. However linking it to Avatar does this book a disservice as it's much better.
There are those who have spotted parallels to the movie Avatar, and it's possible James Cameron read this and used some of it as a basis. However linking it to Avatar does this book a disservice as it's much better.
It's an inverse, plant-based, Independence Day.
Born's hanging out on the home-tree with his ursine hexapod, miffed that buff Losting is about to steal his girl, when Born's natural curiosity leads him to discover that there's a whole universe out there, which leads to a sort of first contact in reverse with the humans showing up in a flying saucer on the planet of the "aliens".
Foster occasionally writes like he's being paid for the trips you make to the dictionary, or at least assumes that you know plants and plant anatomy well. And it's the world building that is the star of the show here on an overly verdant world. There are weird predators and fantastical visions, and great sci-fi thinking about how you would perceive things on a planet like that. The plot is sharp and while the characters are a bit antiquated, Foster plays with the tropes here to produce unexpected results.
My gripe is with the message, which is covered without subtext, from the narrator, within dialog, and in internal character thought. Now, I'm not here to tell you that bulldozing forests is a good thing, actually, but I am going to say that it's a particular sort of 60-70s environmentalism. I am onboard with the sentiment that man is part of nature, and must act that way, but some of the big showdown scenes lost their steam for me when it felt like a dueling pair of straw men. Not, again, out of the author's intent to provide a bad argument but because there are years of additional discussion, sadly, and some of them hold less water.
Born's hanging out on the home-tree with his ursine hexapod, miffed that buff Losting is about to steal his girl, when Born's natural curiosity leads him to discover that there's a whole universe out there, which leads to a sort of first contact in reverse with the humans showing up in a flying saucer on the planet of the "aliens".
Foster occasionally writes like he's being paid for the trips you make to the dictionary, or at least assumes that you know plants and plant anatomy well. And it's the world building that is the star of the show here on an overly verdant world. There are weird predators and fantastical visions, and great sci-fi thinking about how you would perceive things on a planet like that. The plot is sharp and while the characters are a bit antiquated, Foster plays with the tropes here to produce unexpected results.
My gripe is with the message, which is covered without subtext, from the narrator, within dialog, and in internal character thought. Now, I'm not here to tell you that bulldozing forests is a good thing, actually, but I am going to say that it's a particular sort of 60-70s environmentalism. I am onboard with the sentiment that man is part of nature, and must act that way, but some of the big showdown scenes lost their steam for me when it felt like a dueling pair of straw men. Not, again, out of the author's intent to provide a bad argument but because there are years of additional discussion, sadly, and some of them hold less water.
Not as good as the Icerigger series, but fun nonetheless.
adventurous
reflective
medium-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
I really enjoyed this one, kind of want to read the whole series. Feels like the kind of science fiction Poison Ivy would enjoy.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No