Ancient Light

Rating:
Summary: Stunning, wonderful, fantastic, and utterly engrossing
Review: I found this book to be topped only by it's predecessor, Golden Witchbreed. Mary Gentle has brought Orthe to life in these books. I find myself wishing I could visit for real. I recommend both books, Golden Witchbreed and Ancient Light to all Sci-Fi fans. They are well worth the price. A hint of caution to those taking classes: make sure your assignments are done before you pick up this book.

Rating:
Summary: Ancient Light
Review: It's almost impossible to assign this book a numerical rating. It's an intelligent book, a book of good qualities, but it's also something I wish I hadn't read.

Ancient Light marks the return of Christie "S'aranth" to Orthe, now in the pay of an exploitative vaguely John Company-esque corporation. Will Witchbreed technology be rediscovered? What harm will the Company do post-holocaust Orthe? And how will Christie reinvent her relationships with her former friends and rivals?

Hampered by a slowly unfolding, jerkily paced and overly complex plot, this is at times a powerful book. It's powerful enough, especially taken with its wonderful prequel, to make me care; to make me care a lot.

And that's why I wish I hadn't read it. Without wanting to spoil the ending... to say that it's depressing is an understatement. It hurts. I suspect the book is a parable about interference and exploitation. It's not an unintelligent treatment. But it's not, by any stretch of the imagination, fun to read.

Rating:
Summary: Even better than the first
Review: It's hard, if not impossible, for any sequel to live up to a really good book, but this one succeeds wonderfully. In this book, the human Lynne Christie returns to Orthe as an employee of an exploitative multinational company looking to make Orthe it's new market. Christie is hoping to minimize cultural disruptions to a people she came to love.
The book is darker than the first, with a much different pace. It's a serious look at how destructive culture clash can be, and in this case the results are total. Be warned : if you like happy endings, this one's not for you. But it's a remarkable book, and it deserves a spot on your shelf.

Rating:
Summary: Even better than the first
Review: It's hard, if not impossible, for any sequel to live up to a really good book, but this one succeeds wonderfully. In this book, the human Lynne Christie returns to Orthe as an employee of an exploitative multinational company looking to make Orthe it's new market. Christie is hoping to minimize cultural disruptions to a people she came to love.
The book is darker than the first, with a much different pace. It's a serious look at how destructive culture clash can be, and in this case the results are total. Be warned : if you like happy endings, this one's not for you. But it's a remarkable book, and it deserves a spot on your shelf.

Rating:
Summary: Almost a masterpiece
Review: This is a big novel of human disruption of an alien culture that they don't really understand. At one level it can be read as a political parable of First World interference in other cultures on our own planet, but it has many levels, and many complex engaging characters both Orthean and human. There are minor problems with it especially in small inconsistencies that get lost in the twists and turns of the poltical intrigue in the plot. The influence of Frank Herbert's Dune sequence seems clear as is that of Ursula Le Guin, but the book is all the better for that. Overall, definitely worth reading, but not quite entirely satisfying.

Rating:
Summary: WONDERFUL
Review: What a terrific book! In fact, I'm sorry I read it because I can find no other works like it, and I would so enjoy repeating the discovery. Gentle's alien world is spellbinding and her prose is solid. You won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: WONDERFUL
Review: What a terrific book! In fact, I'm sorry I read it because I can find no other works like it, and I would so enjoy repeating the discovery. Gentle's alien world is spellbinding and her prose is solid. You won't be disappointed.