FicusFan
February 11th, 2005, 10:08 PM
I finally finished the book. I liked it, but it took me a while to get into it. I kept putting it down.
I liked the main character and the idea that she was a cop. I thought the Supressed Briefing was a wonderful idea and I like how it was used. I also wonder if we and Shan really know everything about it, and if it will in some way come back to control her (or try to) later.
I liked Aras, and thought he was a very interesting alien and a somewhat sympathetic mass-murderer. The parasite was also interesting, and of course making it contagious kept them from becoming super-heroes who could survive any damage or danger. I still have no idea what he or his un-colonized people look like.
I thought the colony was a bit odd. They seemed to go about their business with so little stress. Not only was the environment tough, but Aras could have wiped them out at any moment. I realize they had 'god' and all, but still you would expect to see some kind of social stress resulting from all that tension. Also not sure how casting off their troublemakers to die is actually following their religious teaching. If they are for a more old testament interpretation then why are they not happy with the destruction wrought by Aras ? I also thought there should have been more contact between the colonists and the Squid.
The Squid beached themselves to explore the air above, surely that same spirit of adventure would make them interested in the colony. And in all that time someone at the colony must have been curious about them. Seems a connection that could have been fleshed out a bit more. I thought they were very cool and interesting aliens.
I also am not sure how Aras' people end up, bascially acting with such religious zeal, protecting the Squid, and preventing the spread of the parasite. That sort of crusading seems to be against the pragmatic and matter-of-fact behavior and belief that the author says they have. I can see them not wanting the Insects to bother them on their world, or on any world they land on, but I don't see where they looked down from their moon and said that is our business. Or where they thought it was their job to save the universe from the parasite. They seem to echo the human colony in a secular religion that only seems to be fueled by ecology, but is more about power and control.
It seems the author had a bit of a problem with that part of the story. They said they were intervening to not only save the Squid, but to prevent the spread of the parasite, but it comes out later in the story that they only found out about the parasite once they had already intervened. Sort of chicken and egg problem.
I thought the level of ecological non-interference was not really believable in the story. Aras' people had to have had some impact on their environment when they were still developing. I don't think you can develop a civilization without some impact. Once they reached a certain level it makes sense for them to minimize it, and make a virtue of non-impact. I can even see many of their rules for the colony and the human camp -- but I think as an evolved race that had gone through it, they would have realized it was impossible for them to expect humans to live as impact free as they did.
I thought it was an interesting look at how we grant importance to those most like us, and it slides away the further out you get, so that if you are a Squid or an Insect you are fair game. I also thought it was very true and applies not just to us and animals, but to us and other people.
I liked the human camp and the soldiers and thought the scientists would probably have been tough to control. Though that whole group and the colonists were often rendered as stereotypes for the group they were representing. I thought the pregnant one and the journalist were probably the best of the characters outside Shan and Aras.
I hated that she kept calling the scientists 'payload'. She seemed to be much more sympathetic towards those who have embraced authority (police/military) or god than those who are enamoured of science or politics. She also had the journalist come off rather well.
I have to wonder what Perreault was thinking, in terms of Shan doing something important for her government, when she sent Shan out and knew it would be at least 300 years before she could get back. I suspect that will also be a surprise twist down the road.
I am not sure that I buy the whole gene bank as the motivator for the visit by the humans, or the reason that the matriarchs allowed the colony to survive. The old stuff in the gene banks, if ever planted back home, would probably be killed by the diseases that developed to prey on their successors. And Aras could have taken the gene bank, which he did in the end, and then killed all the human colonists, and left the Squids alone on their world.
Not sure I think it is a good thing for Shan to be infected. It seems a bit too cliched and set the story in a rather predictable course. It will be interesting to see what she does, and if she can redeem it.
All in all it was a good book, and I did enjoy it. While I can see there are several messages in the story, and though they are not subtle, I also don't feel hit over the head with them, either. I have the sequel and will read it as soon as I can schedule it.
I liked the main character and the idea that she was a cop. I thought the Supressed Briefing was a wonderful idea and I like how it was used. I also wonder if we and Shan really know everything about it, and if it will in some way come back to control her (or try to) later.
I liked Aras, and thought he was a very interesting alien and a somewhat sympathetic mass-murderer. The parasite was also interesting, and of course making it contagious kept them from becoming super-heroes who could survive any damage or danger. I still have no idea what he or his un-colonized people look like.
I thought the colony was a bit odd. They seemed to go about their business with so little stress. Not only was the environment tough, but Aras could have wiped them out at any moment. I realize they had 'god' and all, but still you would expect to see some kind of social stress resulting from all that tension. Also not sure how casting off their troublemakers to die is actually following their religious teaching. If they are for a more old testament interpretation then why are they not happy with the destruction wrought by Aras ? I also thought there should have been more contact between the colonists and the Squid.
The Squid beached themselves to explore the air above, surely that same spirit of adventure would make them interested in the colony. And in all that time someone at the colony must have been curious about them. Seems a connection that could have been fleshed out a bit more. I thought they were very cool and interesting aliens.
I also am not sure how Aras' people end up, bascially acting with such religious zeal, protecting the Squid, and preventing the spread of the parasite. That sort of crusading seems to be against the pragmatic and matter-of-fact behavior and belief that the author says they have. I can see them not wanting the Insects to bother them on their world, or on any world they land on, but I don't see where they looked down from their moon and said that is our business. Or where they thought it was their job to save the universe from the parasite. They seem to echo the human colony in a secular religion that only seems to be fueled by ecology, but is more about power and control.
It seems the author had a bit of a problem with that part of the story. They said they were intervening to not only save the Squid, but to prevent the spread of the parasite, but it comes out later in the story that they only found out about the parasite once they had already intervened. Sort of chicken and egg problem.
I thought the level of ecological non-interference was not really believable in the story. Aras' people had to have had some impact on their environment when they were still developing. I don't think you can develop a civilization without some impact. Once they reached a certain level it makes sense for them to minimize it, and make a virtue of non-impact. I can even see many of their rules for the colony and the human camp -- but I think as an evolved race that had gone through it, they would have realized it was impossible for them to expect humans to live as impact free as they did.
I thought it was an interesting look at how we grant importance to those most like us, and it slides away the further out you get, so that if you are a Squid or an Insect you are fair game. I also thought it was very true and applies not just to us and animals, but to us and other people.
I liked the human camp and the soldiers and thought the scientists would probably have been tough to control. Though that whole group and the colonists were often rendered as stereotypes for the group they were representing. I thought the pregnant one and the journalist were probably the best of the characters outside Shan and Aras.
I hated that she kept calling the scientists 'payload'. She seemed to be much more sympathetic towards those who have embraced authority (police/military) or god than those who are enamoured of science or politics. She also had the journalist come off rather well.
I have to wonder what Perreault was thinking, in terms of Shan doing something important for her government, when she sent Shan out and knew it would be at least 300 years before she could get back. I suspect that will also be a surprise twist down the road.
I am not sure that I buy the whole gene bank as the motivator for the visit by the humans, or the reason that the matriarchs allowed the colony to survive. The old stuff in the gene banks, if ever planted back home, would probably be killed by the diseases that developed to prey on their successors. And Aras could have taken the gene bank, which he did in the end, and then killed all the human colonists, and left the Squids alone on their world.
Not sure I think it is a good thing for Shan to be infected. It seems a bit too cliched and set the story in a rather predictable course. It will be interesting to see what she does, and if she can redeem it.
All in all it was a good book, and I did enjoy it. While I can see there are several messages in the story, and though they are not subtle, I also don't feel hit over the head with them, either. I have the sequel and will read it as soon as I can schedule it.