Drowning World

Rating:
Summary: "Cold War" in outer space
Review: Because it seems to never stop raining, the planet Fluva has been nicknamed THE DROWNING WORLD from members of the Commonwealth. On Fluva, the wettest spot is probably Viisiiviisii Jungle where the combination of constant torrents with extreme humidity has led to one of the Commonwealth's greatest natural treasures. Exotic flora and strange animal life abound here and not anywhere else.

When bioprospector Shadrach Hasselemoga disappears while on a biological expedition on Fluva, an irritated Commonwealth Chief Administrator Lauren Mathias puts together a team to rescue the missing fool lost somewhere in the jungle. Though the right species make up the squad to include an ape-like native and a Deyzara, the rescuers vanish too. At about the same time of the second disappearance, the Sakuntala make a play for power with one goal being the genocide of the Deyzara leadership. As Deyzara refugees flee in terror, Lauren wonders whether the Sakuntala are involved in the vanishing or is her paranoia justified that the enemy reptilian empire is causing the disturbances?

Move the 1950s and 60s confrontations through third world nations between the US and the USSR into outer space and one will understand the premise of the Commonwealth series. The alien races appear real and fully developed. Few writers make other species seem so authentic as Alan Dean Foster does. The exciting story line will delight fans of the series that will enjoy the latest strife between empires through surrogates.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: "Cold War" in outer space
Review: Because it seems to never stop raining, the planet Fluva has been nicknamed THE DROWNING WORLD from members of the Commonwealth. On Fluva, the wettest spot is probably Viisiiviisii Jungle where the combination of constant torrents with extreme humidity has led to one of the Commonwealth's greatest natural treasures. Exotic flora and strange animal life abound here and not anywhere else.

When bioprospector Shadrach Hasselemoga disappears while on a biological expedition on Fluva, an irritated Commonwealth Chief Administrator Lauren Mathias puts together a team to rescue the missing fool lost somewhere in the jungle. Though the right species make up the squad to include an ape-like native and a Deyzara, the rescuers vanish too. At about the same time of the second disappearance, the Sakuntala make a play for power with one goal being the genocide of the Deyzara leadership. As Deyzara refugees flee in terror, Lauren wonders whether the Sakuntala are involved in the vanishing or is her paranoia justified that the enemy reptilian empire is causing the disturbances?

Move the 1950s and 60s confrontations through third world nations between the US and the USSR into outer space and one will understand the premise of the Commonwealth series. The alien races appear real and fully developed. Few writers make other species seem so authentic as Alan Dean Foster does. The exciting story line will delight fans of the series that will enjoy the latest strife between empires through surrogates.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Interesting world but simplistic solutions
Review: It rains all the time on the dismal world of Fluvan, and fast-evolving parasite forms make survival an always dubious proposition. But that doesn't stop the natives from wishing to get rid of the fast-breeding Deyzara. Generations before, the Commonwealth, imported the elephant-trunked Deyzara to handle the work that the proud Sakuntala natives refused to undertake. Now the Deyzara run the shops, own the businesses, and enjoy closer relations with the human overlords than do the Sakuntala themselves. Genocide will bring down horrible consequences, yet simply ignoring the threat will lead to improverishment and eventual elimination of the Sakuntala from their own world.

Human Administrator Lauren Matthias has her hands full. Not only is the decades-old animosity between Sakuntala and Deyzara threatening to break into genocidal warfare, a human bio-prospector has been lost and his ship, impossibly, isn't sending signals. Finally, her hormones are being stirred to a tizzy by hunk prospector Sethwyn Case. Of course, the Commonwealth's enemies, the Aann, are always willing to take advantage of any problems, and problems Matthias, and the entire planet, have in plenty.

Author Alan Dean Foster creates an interesting world with Fluvan and its ultra-competitive life forms. By switching back and forth from the political (in the person of Matthias) and personal (in the person of the lost prospector and the Deyzara/Sakuntala rescue team sent to find him), Foster lets the reader see the world's problems at multiple levels.

In many ways, the political scenerio being played out is reminiscent of several earth-conflicts (the plight of the Indians brought to the African continent and abandoned by the Imperialists who brought them there comes to mind), raising the power of DROWNING WORLD, but also increasing Foster's responsibility in dealing with the problems in a convincing way. Instead, the Deyzara refugee camps become minor annoyances with bad smells, the issue of Deyzara population growth is never dealt with, and a timely discovery manages to defuse much of the tension.

DROWNING WORLD starts out strongly, delivers an interesting world with emotionally compelling parallels to our own recent history, but finally shortchanges the resolution.

Rating:
Summary: World Gone Wet
Review: One reason to explore the worlds created by Alan Dean Foster is the way he effortlessly weaves the passages of exposition -- explaining a never-seen lifeform, dissecting the evolution of a new species -- into the narrative of his stories. He's very heavy on description, and the vividness of his details actually helps bring his worlds to life "in the mind's eye."

DROWNING WORLD stands on par with his other works -- a solid cast of characters placed in an otherworldly situation forced to find compromise despite their cultural differences -- and he delivers in that respect. Lauren Matthias (sp?) serves as the head of a space-based United Nations-like "Commonweath" force trying to bring peace and commerce to Fluva, but saboteurs to the peace-process make her job more and more difficult. The downing of not one but two hovercraft in the heart of the ViisiiViisii (the Fluvian jungle), and the survivors -- each of a different species -- must find a way to work together, despite all predatory obstacles and another lifeforce (unbeknowst to them) that might also be secretly working to end their survival as well.

Presenting a message for our times in a futuristic or non-Earth setting is one of the benchmarks of science fiction, and DROWNING WORLD wades through these waters with ease. To some, it might seem simplistic, but the message is as timeless today as it will be once man ventures into the stars and discovers a world like Fluva.

Rating:
Summary: It Just Did Not Do it for Me
Review: When I was young I read every Alan Dean Foster book that I could find. I devoured his Commonwealth stories and constantly searched for books that I had not read. It has been about twenty years since I last read one of his books, so I was quite excited when I saw Drowning World on new books shelf in my local library.
Sadly the excitement did not last past the first few chapters. The book felt stilted and lacked the sense of adventure that Foster's
books have had in the past. The story was well written, and the situation was plausible and clearly thought out, but I never found myself caring about the people in the book. Perhaps my expecteations were too high, or perhaps this is simply not one of Alan Dean foster's better works. Either way I will still eagerly
read his next book, but I doubt that I will ever reread this one.

Rating:
Summary: It Just Did Not Do it for Me
Review: When I was young I read every Alan Dean Foster book that I could find. I devoured his Commonwealth stories and constantly searched for books that I had not read. It has been about twenty years since I last read one of his books, so I was quite excited when I saw Drowning World on new books shelf in my local library.
Sadly the excitement did not last past the first few chapters. The book felt stilted and lacked the sense of adventure that Foster's
books have had in the past. The story was well written, and the situation was plausible and clearly thought out, but I never found myself caring about the people in the book. Perhaps my expecteations were too high, or perhaps this is simply not one of Alan Dean foster's better works. Either way I will still eagerly
read his next book, but I doubt that I will ever reread this one.

Rating:
Summary: Foster's Humanx Commonwealth keeps getting better
Review: With each book Foster writes, the texture of his flagship Humanx Commonwealth milieu keeps getting richer and more complex. Characters and places that were mentioned in passing in one opus become central to another, and vice versa. And like all good fiction, Drowning World manages to make a statement without ever becoming preachy.