Product Description
"Masterful story"-Library Journal **** "Magnificently detailed"-Chicago Sun Times **** The pristine city of Elysium floats on the water world of Shora, inhabited by 'immortals' who have succeeded in unlocking the secrets of life.****Outsider Blackbear Windclan wants to share the secret of immortality with his own people, but can he, and the City of Elysium, survive the corruption and decadence that immortality has bred into the ageless society. ****And what of the consciousness of self-aware nano-sentient servitorsand their quest for vengence?********"An enormously impressive achievement...A marvelous array of cultures presented in astonishing depth"-Kirkus Review **** "A thoughtful, well-crafted novel...Memorable...Intricate...Rich and Detailed...Touchingly Real"-Publishers Weekly ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

A gorgeous supplement to "A Door into Ocean"
Following a couple centuries after "A Door into Ocean", "Daughter of Elysium" revisits the planet Shora, home of the ocean-dwelling Sharers and the city-dwelling Elysians. Raincloud Windclan came to Elysium accompanied by her family to help avert a war. Her scientist husband was invited to assist in delving into the secrets of Elysians' longevity and in solving the Elysians' inability to bear children. The technologically superior Elysians live a pleasurable existence surrounded by their robot servants, who are slowly gaining sentience despite various precautions. In this epic sci fi tale, various threads entwine and produce a glorious and compelling exploration into compassion and humanity that fascinates as it entertains. Slonczewski deftly portrays the complex nuances of the bevy of characters, leading readers to explore their own human natures and giving us much to ponder.

Excellent cultures
Slonczewski does a fantastic job of creating different cultures in this novel.Many SF novels suffer from poorly thought out cultures;a particular problem is that of monoculture, when the various cultures presented in the book have only superficial differences.Ms. Slonczewski avoids that completely.There are, by my count, four main cultures in this book: the ageless Elysians, the Clickers from Bronze Sky, the Urulites, and the Sharers.There are also several other cultures which play a less important part in the book.

Each of these cultures is completely distinct from the others, with regard not only to manners, customs, and dress, but also some of their fundamental assumptions about how human society should be organized.The interplay between members of these cultures -- their conversations, arguments, and differing opinions -- bring to life a novel which might otherwise have been tedious.Excellent reading!

Unique
I am not a big fan of sci-fi books (mainly secluded to Kurt Vonnegut), but this book was engrossing.It wasn't a great literary feat, but it kept me interested. It is good FICTION.

Horrible book
I was given this book for Christmas. I read it and was terribly disapointed. It was too long, and as a former review put it, preachy. When I read the cover, I thought it sounded good. I was wrong. When I got to many parts, I was shocked. I am a Christian, and I didn't agree with thauthor putting all those gay couples in the book. As I was reading, Ithought it was bad enough that she was showing me they were married orwhatever they called it in the book. ........................... And all the Sharers were gay, too.Eventually that gets old! I don't recommend this book to anybody.

Terrible
I really despised this book.I thought it was boring and preachy.Don't waste your time on this one. ... Read more

Product Description
Only children can colonize the planet Prokaryon, genetically modified for a world whose chemistry kills unaltered adults. A colony of orphans struggle to survive, and find the planet hides strange secrets. ***** The Prokaryan landscape is ordered, as if by unseen gardeners, "hidden masters" no human has ever found. The weather behaves as though designed to meet the planet's needs. When fire threatens a forest, a rainstorm appears, only to dissipate when the fire is put out. ***** When a ruthless corporation threatens to terraform Prokaryon, to recreate it for "normal" humans, there is a sudden urgency to find the intelligent life form directing the planet. For only then can the colonists save their world-and reveal unexpected possibilities for the human future. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

The title doesn't do the book justice
The Children Star turned out to be surprisingly engaging.It seems to straddle the target reader market of teenagers and adults.I liked the concepts presented concerning biology, but wish some of the other characters had more detail and development. The Elysium world that Joan Slonczewski created has interested me enough to look at other books from her.

This book just crossed my mind
I read this 10+ years ago when it was serialized in Analog.I kept reading month after month, mainly because I liked Brother Rod's story, where the rest of the universe didn't make the most sense. He realizes that he's changing, both spiritually and physically, and addresses these transitions well.I learned later, that this was the third in a series. One of these days, I'll find the other volumes and give them as shot.Maybe I'll be lucky enough to have them turn up as one of my buck-a-book finds.

Morality and Biology on Prokaryon
The Children Star tells the story of newly discovered planet from a both a biological and political perspective. The plot itself is surely one any sci-fi reader has read before, but its perspective and characters are original and thought-provoking, written with an eye for both the beautiful and ugly aspects of humanity.

Slonczewski portrays aspects of modern society as species of the "Fold", cleverly having them play out a modern day drama in the discovery of the new planet Prokaryon. The immortal Elysiums (the wealthy) in cahoots with the profit minded Proteus Corp. (big business) combine to find a new home for the overpopulated L'li that doesn't involve the refugees cluttering up the home world of the rich and powerful. These pathetic L'ils, like poverty stricken populations of our third world country, even take desperate treks through space on overcrowded starships to crash land on planets where they have no home, no money and no hope for survival. The fact that Prokaryon is already teeming with inhabitants, perhaps intelligence ones, does little to hinder the Fold's plan to create a new colony for the sick and poor. Money and influence quickly win and a tense struggle to save the indigenous species ensues.

This story unfolds around a religious colony struggling to co-exist with the planet, where young orphans live off the land, taken care of by sentient machines who have found their calling in the "Spirit". The author's play of species off species, including sentient machines that earn their freedom through consciousness and work furlough, was fascinating. While I just skimmed through the biology lecture sections of the book, I didn't feel that took away anything from the story, and some may find it enhances it for them. I haven't read the other books in the Elysium Cycle (Door into Ocean and Brain Plague) but I plan to now. I'm hoping they have less bizarre alien physiology and more inter-galactic policy.

Inventive science, difficult fiction
This science fiction novel, written by a biologist, gives us an unusually thorough description of an alternate biology.The flora and fauna of the imaginary world Prokaryon are intriguing, particularly when they begin to reveal a hidden intelligence.The visitors to Prokaryon are diverse, including different sorts of humans and intelligent machines, all communicating effortlessly with each other.Medical nanotechnology sends microscopic probes through bodies to remove unwanted organisms.Less inventive is the ubiquitous nanoplast, a substance that shapes and reshapes according to need but is never explained.Neutrinograms allow faster than light communication, another version of an old science fiction device.The densely written story, involving a large number of human and non-human characters, is laborious to read.Only dedicated science fiction fans will make it all the way through.

Fine environmental SF
The Children Star is a far future tale about the ethical problems involved in extending human civilization.Like Slonczewski's earlier novels Still Forms on Foxfield, A Door into Ocean andDaughter of Elysium, she takes on such accepted science fictional tropes asterraforming and weather control, opting for adjusting human biology forthe specific planet humans plan to settle.Unfortunately, this medicaltechnology is still in its infancy and those best suited for the processare infants because their body chemistry adjusts most quickly to theconditioning.Thus, the arsenic-based planet Prokaryon has been settled bya small colony of refugee orphans established by an ancient Holy Ordercalled the Spirit Callers.The orphans are cared for by Brother Rhodonite,once a professional soldier and two sentient robots, Reverend MotherArtemis, a nanoplastic nana with tentacles and multiple breasts and BrotherGeode, a six limbed, multicolored tarantula-like farm and mining machine. The characterization is well developed and believable. The plot revolvesaround an attempt by a corporate conglomerate to uproot the colony and burnoff the planet with a terraforming white hole.Fighting this project is ahardy band of environmentalists who want to protect the unique Prokaryonecosystem which is based on prokaryotes, or Cheerio-shaped chromosomes. Will the researchers be able to prove their claims of planetary sentiencebefore time runs out and the conglomerate is allowed to destroy theecoysystem?The story is exciting and Slonczewski, a workingmicrobiologist, has done an excellent job in developing the hard scientificbasis for her worldbuilding.Highly recommended for science fictionreaders and environmentalists. ... Read more

Product Description
The most successful new microbiology text in a generation.Microbiology: An Evolving Science, Second Edition, provides students with the tools they need to understand the rapidly advancing field of microbiology by enriching foundational topics with current research examples. The readable and authoritative text is paired with a stunning and unified art program that helps students visualize key microbial processes and structures. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Information overload in an unstructured format
Of all the science texts I have needed to read to date, this textbook is easily the worst. I say this as a solid "A" post-baccalaureate student, and as a former writer/editor in the trade journal business. It's almost impossible to read more than a few paragraphs of this book at a time. As soon as an idea is introduced, the book distracts us with highly esoteric "examples", diagrams, illustrations, breakout boxes, and case studies. Often within these are yet more examples, diagrams, illustrations or breakout text. Sometimes the breakout boxes fill one page and spread onto the adjoining page, where only a paragraph or two of core chapter text is presented thanks to additional diagrams outside the breakout box on what's left of that page. It's all just too much; the sheer abundance of visual and textual data distracts from any kind of presentation of core principles or key concepts that should be imparted to the reader. By contrast I am taking a higher-level genetics class where the book (nearly 300 pages shorter than this one!) is succinct, well-written and far easier to to comprehend (Introduction to Genetic Analysis - Griffiths et al.). Sometimes less really is more, and the Slonczewski text is absolute proof of that axiom.

Excellent
Great book! I've been enjoying the reading. This book has great images and it's just an overall excellent product!

Microbiology as a learning tool
Its easy to read sections, clear diagrams, and summary reviews makes this microbiology text book an essential tool when learning about microorganisms. This book was recommended to me by my professor at the University of Minnesota, and was well worth the price. I believe it would be a useful product for anyone learning this subject both in and out of a classroom setting.

Excellent Condition
My book came faster than I expected. I was also brand new. No complaints from me!

Didn't get the book
I did not actually receive this book.A day or two after I ordered it, I received an email telling me that the order could not be completed and I would be receiving a refund.I gave 1 star b/c I was told in enough time for me to find another book before I needed it and I received a refund. ... Read more

Product Description
A Door into Ocean is the novel upon which the author's reputation as an important SF writer principally rests. A ground-breaking work both of feminist SF and of world-building hard SF, it concerns the Sharers of Shora, a nation of women on a distant moon in the far future who are pacifists, highly advanced in biological sciences, and who reproduce by parthenogenesis--there are no males--and tells of the conflicts that erupt when a neighboring civilization decides to develop their ocean world, and send in an army. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

Unexpectedly Great
I heard about this book at an eco-feminism talk, and my advisor who is male read it first and raved.Don't let the all-woman society scare you away.This book is unexpectedly good, especially if you look into it a little deeper.Their language, how they name themselves, the Sharer society has a lot to share about life as great sci-fi books do. Get past the first chapter and you won't put it down.

Philosophical Science Fiction Literature, (Focuses on Sharing, Feminism, Environment)
This book details how a culture based on sharing interacts with a culture based on war. While reading, I never forgot the Lifeshapers of Shora could engineer a killing plague and destroy the entire empire of Valedon. At will. Their levels of bioscience are only matched by their maturity, their drive to share healing rather than fear. Slonczewski doesn't tell us, she shows us this, and amazingly captures the frustration and emotions of the main characters.This is why the novel is amazing.

This work has been compared to Dune from a philosophical standpoint. The culture of Shora transcends science fiction and become literature.

The book isn't perfect, and over-uses themes at the story's expense. Dramatic action scenes and brutality are glossed over in favor of focusing on theme of sharing.It is my opinion Joan went too far in this direction, cutting suspense in favor of philosphy where it wasn't warranted.I still *liked* the philosophy, but I think the book would have been better with a tighter structure.

The final overused theme is feminism.Simply, too many 'moments of feminism.' They interfere with the plots.The author uses too much thematic repetition; she came off as sacrificing more interesting aspects/questions of the novel in favor of 'Girlz Power!' Not a big flaw because I gave five stars, but as a man, I would have enjoyed the story more if Joan S. had toned the feminism dial down between love-sharers.

Overall, "The Door Into Ocean" is a triumph of what it means to be a human adult.The focus on independence yet sharing is unique to literature. Buy and read the book. Highly Recommended.

It doesn't get much better than this.
Not since reading Ursula Le Quin's The Dispossessed has a book drawn me in to what a "Realistic Utopia" could be like. The attempted invasion of Shora by a militaristic galactic empire is a beautiful study in cross-cultural inability to communicate. The author's use of language to reflect culture and culture clash reminded me of Suzette Haden Elgin's Native Tongue. A must-read.

When Worlds Collide
A Door Into Ocean revolves around the interaction between two worlds - Valedon and Shora.These two worlds are vastly different - more so than different cultures on our own planet.Shorans are all women who live on living rafts floating on an ocean moon.The web of life, a belief of balance and harmony, and nonviolence define who the Shoran's are (like Native Americans).Valedon, like Earth, is comprised of men and women, greed, social inequality, over-indulgence, prejudice, and "justified" violence.

A Door Into Ocean successfully, and realistically, explores and highlights different ways of "being" and how fear of the unknown - of unknown ways of living - leads to violence.

The previous reviewer says that the lack of detail describing violence is a flaw.I, however, appreciate the lack of detail; sometimes it's nice when the writer engages the reader in a two-way "conversation;" that is, one in which the reader has to think and use his/her imagination.The message contained within this book isn't the violence; therefore, it isn't glorified.

One of those books that make you think
Story:
The ocean moon of shora orbits the planet valden on the frontier of the patraichs empire. For a thousands of years no one knew that there was life on this planet until a group of traders landed look to see if they could expand there trade or find more resources to sell. To their suprise they found the ocean to be inhabited by the raft dwelling shorans, who are all female and blue skinned, who live a peaceful if different life among the endless waves. Forty years later the the empreor's envoy comes to valden and shora to determine whether or not the shorans should be allowed to join the empire or whether they should be wiped from the face of thier planet for practicing "forbidden" life arts,which they use to keep thier rafts floating and help themselves with sickness and injury. When the empreors envoy decrees that the shorans should be brought into the empire whether they like it or not it sets in motion a series of events that will test the shorans committment to thier way of life and that of the invading valdens as well.
======
This is one of those books that can make you think. There isnt a lot of stuff that gets blown up or raging gun battles, the battles in this book are more of the mind. Toward the later part of the book, once the valdens move in, the focus is on how the non-violent ways of the shorans make the valdens questions themselves and how they go from being gung-ho "catfish" killers to almost committing mutniy to remove a commander they belive to be to harsh among other incidents.I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a different approach to the standard alien invasion books and to any one who likes self contained new worlds to explore since this book stands on its own. m.a.c ... Read more

Product Description
Brain Plague is the new hard SF novel by Joan Slonczewski, set in the same future universe as her award-winning A Door into Ocean and The Children Star (a New York Times Notable Book). An intelligent microbe race that can live symbiotically in other intelligent beings is colonizing the human race throughout the civilized universe.And each colony of microbes has its own personality, good or bad. In some people, carriers, they are brain enhancers, and in others a fatal brain plague, a living addiction. This is the story of one woman's psychological and moral struggle to adjust to having an ambitious colony of microbes living permanently in her own head. This novel is one of the most powerful and involving SF novels of the year.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Please write more books Joan!
IMHO, Joan is one of the best fiction writers ever.I've read all of her books, including this one.I have not read a mediocre one yet; the characters and landscapes are interesting, believeable and engaging.Her scientifically-based plots are supurbly conceived and flawlessly executed (yeah I know that sounds cheezy).

I keep checking Amazon periodically in hopes she publishes something else.Someday maybe I'll luck out and find she has given up 'real science' in the 'real world' to focus on her incredible gift.In case you are ego-surfing Joan my message to you is-you gotta retire sometime and you gotta do something interesting when you retire-so how about some creative writing, please?

Fascinating concept, with abit of a nit
I loved the idea, and I loved the libertine Eleutherian community and their nightclubs. Now the microbes experience an entire lifetime in the equivalent of human weeks. Hence my nits. Chrys, God of Mercy,experiences conversation with her various people in her 'real time', yet, so apparantly do the Eleutherians. Shouldn't a conversation be taking place over a span of Eleutherian days? Or weeks? She closes her eyes for 2 minutes to punish people with an eclipse lasting months(?). Yet she sleeps, waking every 2 hours so her people won't start misbehaving - Is that not the equivalent of decades 'without the sun'?

Hardly as original as Blood Music
And the micros are psychologically too much like people.But it does raise a number of interesting points, and it's a fun read.And I wanted to give it 3 stars, but Amazon is insisting on two.

Great Book!
I really love the idea of a symbiotic relationship with a civilization of microscopic organisms. The book explored this complex topic without becoming more technical than any average reader can understand. I liked the universe the author had set up so much that I read all the other books part of the Elysium universe, and they were just as great as this one.

The realistic element of still having corruption, violence, and abuse in society made the story seem more life-like rather than having it as a perfect future where society is self-sufficient and without crime.

This book had everything I could want in a science fiction novel: adventure, conflict, character development & interaction, as well as that undefineable element of a good story that won't let you put the book down until you're done reading it.

I highly recommend this and other books by this author to any Science Fiction fan.

Powerful, lyrical story about technology, art, & being human
Brilliant, powerful, beautiful -- at times terrifying, at times humourous -- with finely developed characters from the human protagonist to the generations of microbial creatures developing in her brain. The story is deep without being pretentious, fast-paced and thrilling but with an attention to detail. I picked this up, of all places, in a supermarket, because the cover caught my eye. I have not read any of this author's previous work, but I'm looking forward to reading anything else available. It's been a long time since a story captured my imagination so completely that I would give up a night's sleep to read it through to the end. Dawn is nearly here, I've turned the last page, and my very first thought was to write a review.

The protagonist, Chrysoberyl, is an artist who creates moving sculptures of light, and the author paints each creation in vivid description. The story deftly moves the reader from the infinitesimal world in Chrys' mind, through the various environments of the "outside" world, through art galleries and slums and mansions and soup kitchens and nightclubs. Chrys' story plays out in a relatively short space of time, while that of the microbes she interacts with spans hundreds of their generations. In contrast, in the outside world there are humans, unlike Chrys, whose lifespans are centuries long. All the varying cultures maintain a faltering balance, threatened by the "brain plague" of uncontrolled nano-infestation, the victims of which are scorned as "vampires." When Chrys volunteers to become host to a presumable benign colony, she finds herself at the thin line between "carrier" and "vampire."

Cybertech is not my usual reading choice, because it often feels impersonal to me, more about ideas than humanity, but this story is as human as it gets, examining the impulses that make us creative, loving, hate-filled, loyal, worshipful, petty, just.The integration of human brain with this sort of nanotechnology is rushing toward us ever more quickly -- with its advantages and disadvantages, its benefits and threat of brain plagues. It may be a long time before every facet of our livesisare ruled by nanotechnology, but this book gives us a glimpse of what we might hope or fear to become, and a solid story, as well. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Where there is life...
is there hope?The Earth is recovering from a atomic war that was carried out twenty years earlier.And right after the missiles exploded the aliens came and protected some of the towns and cities with the Walls.The Walls kept the people in, while they watched the rest of the world die.The Walls kept them in but allowed the radiation in.
But some babies lived and some animals and plants survived (inside the Wall).Now humans must try to keep living, planning for a future, a future for their children and mankind.
To have a future, they must understand their past and also come to understand the aliens.Did they start the war?Why did they come and build the Walls?What plans do they hace for mankind or are they just collecting what is left of mankind for a zoo?
A must for any sci-fi library.

Life Goes On
This story was well enough written, but it lacked some pizzazz or something.

It told the story of a community after the nuclear holocaust, people are protected by some advanced species.The proctectors can only communicate in pictures and, therfore, not very complex ideas.

The story revolves around a young girl, coming of age, who is rebellious, but can not really find anything to rebel against.The people are well enough off and have freedom within the confines of their community, but they cannot go beyond a certain distant away.

The be all to end all is that she gets to know their captors better and grows to see them as protectors.I think there is an allogory to pregnancy and birth in here also, but I did not look or think too hard about it.It is a pretty good story.

Very Good and Unconventional Science Fiction
This book is an interesting combination of pacifist-Quaker tract, coming of age novel, and post-holocaust science fiction.The story is set in a near future after a nuclear holocaust-nuclear winter.There are small colonies of survivors in communities maintained by enigmatic aliens, whom some survivors suspect of triggering the holocaust.The main character is a young woman coming to maturity in a community of survivors in Pennsylvania, a community where many survivors are Quakers.The point of the story is the necessity of pacifism and Quaker respect for life beliefs.The characterization is convincing and the author's depiction of this future is equally convincing.The quality of writing is very good. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Creative
This is an unusual and solidly written novel.The plot is the rediscovery of a small Quaker colony on Tau Ceti by a technologically advanced and somewhat intolerant Earth society.The confrontation between Quaker quietism and the Earth society is handled very well. Particularly good, however, are the unusual aliens that the author introduces as a crucial plot element. These are some of the most creative non-humans ever featured in a science fiction novel. This novel, like several of Slonczewski's books, deserves to be known better.

An interesting "prophetic" book ...
I remember reading this back in the 80's, some time after reading True Names, and thinking that she not only published earlier but likely got closer to true prophecy.I've reread it recently, and found that it stands up.In fact, its predictions of a wired world are just now coming true, though she wrote about them as happening centuries in the future.The main plot is about an isolated Quaker commune on another planet that is suddenly faced with an arriving ship full of people from Earth, who start handing out a piece of jewelry that is a combined health monitor and comm device, putting them in instant contact with all other humans who exist.The story is partlyabout their struggle for survival on a planet not designed for humans, and their coming to terms with an interesting alien species (a sort of intelligent plant with a hive mind). Meanwhile, they now are faced with the impact of full electronic contact with some very friendly humans who are by now nearly as alien as the aliens, who don't understand them or the local aliens, and are more concerned with assimilation than with understanding.And, as a bonus, there are feminist (and lesbian) subplots to complicate matters.

It's not space opera.But if you want psych-social ideas, alien contact, and an early concept of the Net that may come true in the next decade or so, this is a book you might want to find. Too bad it's out of print.

Not what I expected or wanted.
I guess I was expecting Simak style science fiction. Meaning quiet, lowkey, rural, spiritual, pacifist, & even unabashedly sentimental. Astory of a colony of Quakers being "discovered" set me up forthat. Lesbian-feminist aspects & a sort of angriness underneath ruinedthat. Also the author gave a "kill all the men" philosophy morecredence then it deserved. Why does it have to be women in charge or men incharge can't we be equal, while respecting the differences? I think thebook's message is egalitarian, but she argued "Women good, Menworthless" better. The Quaker stuff was good, although she has somestyle problems. I hate to trash a book someone else loved, so I'll stopthere. Except to say I probably had wrong expectations & maybe I'd"get it" if I were a woman. (Although I like books to be a littlemore universal than that)

a wonderful book, let me know if someone has enjoyed it too
This book introduced me to Joan Slonczewski. It is not a great, trumpets-and-drums sort of novel. It actually consists of a very strange mix of science, belief, and emotion. But it made me think, and enjoy myself while doing so. It is a very refreshing read, it does not tire you out. I've read it numerous times and it still retains its charm. If there's anybody existing who has also read this book, or would want to, please let me know. I wouldn't want to think that I am alone in my appreciation of Foxfield. ... Read more

Product Description
Never HIGHLIGHT a Book Again!Virtually all testable terms, concepts, persons, places, and events are included. Cram101 Textbook Outlines gives all of the outlines, highlights, notes for your textbook with optional online practice tests. Only Cram101 Out ... Read more

Product Description
CONTENTS: ~ ~~ ~ SERIAL: The Children Star (Part 2 of 4) [Joan Slonczewski]; NOVELETTES: The Sword Unswayed [Stephen Goldin]; Yellow and Orange Blues [Amy Bechtel]; SHORT STORY: The Human Touch [H. G. Stratmann]; ARTICLES: In Memoriam: G Harry Stine; Bio Hazards and Medical Care in Space (Part 2) [H. G. Stratmann & G. David Nordley]; Snakes or Paychecks: IS That the Question? [Stanley Schmidt]; The Permanent Alternative [Jeffrey D. Kooistra] ... Read more

Product Description
Word count: 1360. ... Read more

Product Description
"Fascinating, flawlessly developed, meticulously detailed."-Kirkus Reviews **** "In Joan Slonczewski's Brain Plague...a starving artist on the planet Veledon agrees to let a colony of "brain enhancers" occupy her skull. These microscopic creatures live in the brain's outer linings, causing bursts of genius-or irreparable harm. The creatures themselves are like tiny human beings; one of their greatest concerns is getting their young to breed."- The New Yorker **** "Slonczewski's world building is magnificent"-Booklist ... Read more

Product Description
Only children can colonize the planet Prokaryon, genetically modified for a world whose chemistry kills unaltered adults. A colony of orphans struggle to survive, and find the planet hides strange secrets. ***** The Prokaryan landscape is ordered, as if by unseen gardeners, "hidden masters" no human has ever found. The weather behaves as though designed to meet the planet's needs. When fire threatens a forest, a rainstorm appears, only to dissipate when the fire is put out. ***** When a ruthless corporation threatens to terraform Prokaryon, to recreate it for "normal" humans, there is a sudden urgency to find the intelligent life form directing the planet. For only then can the colonists save their world-and reveal unexpected possibilities for the human future. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Imaginative!
I simply love Joan Slonczewski, and I wish she authored more books!Alas, I suppose she's busy with her hard-core research (she's a biology professor).So I will wait with baited breath until another installment of the Elysium cycle hits.The Children Star is a must-read introduction to the microscopic world of Prokaryon!Very imaginative, and alltogether possible (if we ever colonized other worlds, that is).The first 2/3 of the book are well-written, but rather slow.The last 1/3 is worth waiting for, as the story picks up rapidly and comes to a satisfying conclusion.You MUST read Brain Plague after reading The Children Star.I originally read Brain Plague first, so the Children Star was a bit like a pre-quel.I re-read Brain Plague afterward, and appreciated it even more than I had the first time (and I loved it the first time).Bravo Dr. Slonczewski! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fascinating Adult Fiction
Still Forms on Foxfield is set on the alien planet Foxfield, settled by Quakers who were afraid of World War III destroying humanity.The protagonist Allison is in charge of the technology center of her settlement town (one of five), and she re-establishes contact with the rest of humanity.The basis is the UN charter agreed to by the founders of the colony.The big twist is Foxfield is home to the commensuals, an alien proto-plasm like race which base their thinking on a quantum level.They helped the colonists survive in the earlier years and are now thought of as another part of living in Foxfield.

The novel explores themes of pacifism, cultural integration, adulthood, personal choices, and the Quaker interpretation of Light.It is not space opera; I'd call it more a psychological novel.I found the science backdrop held up well in 2008 (for a novel written in 1980), and as a main character, Allison had developed emotions.She is a change for the better from the normal cardboard characters in the science fiction genre.

Still Forms comes off well as a whole novel, and it is highly recommended if you like science fiction and can handle open-minded speculation regarding future cultures.It has a slight feminist bent, but this helps builds a unique voice.

I could see this being required reading in an 8th grade curriculum given the spectrum of issues covered by the novel.Note that Slonczewski randomly spends a few paragraphs on the influence/existence of homosexuality in her future society.Not even close to the focus of the novel, but probably why I didn't find this excellent work in my school library.
... Read more