Rating: 
Summary: Splendid reading
Review: Suprisingly, the book seemed a bit thin, not filled in sufficiently perhaps. Was this because there was lots of action, or many plot twists to be told?No. It seems so thin because the book is a very deep, insightful look at some of the fundamental issues of life. Certainly, science is science, and there is much to explore. When, though, there is a world to explore by oneself, when science makes anything that is interesting to have, what is it that is worth having? Original thought of course. The culture of the survivors is interesting, and while it could be an easy throwaway, it is instead illuminating of values, and how they are shaped by the environment. Biology runs amuck, but when all is said and done, it is randomness that sets some above the other. Not randomness in the sense of sloppy thought, but luck. Perversity if you will. That is the true gift of life, where some rise above, and others remain mired on the bottom. And this small homily is illustrated in a story where there is action enough, and alien (human and otherwise) races and alien thoughts (ditto). Not to mention an interesting world, and the story of the struggle to survive in it. Read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Fun, fast read
Review: This is a great debut. The story is fast moving, the characters three dimensional, and the biology plausible. I particularly liked the image of humans from an alien point of view - and the alien in question, Subtle, was a delight. The ending left me hanging, however. There has to be a sequel in the works.
Rating:
Summary: Read this incredible book about the strange births.
Review: This is an awesome book that grabbed my attention everytime I read a chapter. The Author puts you on a joy ride in to the deep of the ocean to the peeks of the volcano's of the Typhon Planet. This planet has an island surrounded by complete ocean, just like Hawaii. Then one day an unexpected eruption occured, which destroyed most of the planets supplies and they are now suffering from defects on birth. This is something very mysterious, and it creeped me out. The story will never end until everything is back to normal or they can find a way out of the planet. You should pick up this book like me, if you are interested in the types of books that related to extraterestial life. This book can become funny sometimes but it is mostly serious and suspenceful. I really enjoyed reading this book at night because it keeps you from sleeping and keeps you reading to the end. I would recomend this book to all the wonderers out there who is dying to read about alienation that will occurs in every planet in life sometimes.
Rating:
Summary: Currents of Water and Ideas
Review: What a great book! It's not very often you get a science fiction story based on biology and genetics, and when you do, it's not often done well. But not only does Anzetti really seem to know her science, she has a great hand with characters and plotting. And the water world Typhon seems very real. You can almost smell the ocean, and feel the currents on your body. There are currents on land, too, as the remnants of the colonists struggle with the decisions they have to face about survival and the fate of their children. The children are also interesting characters, each of them a real person, and more than the handicap or deformity Typhon has cursed them with. The deaf girl Delani was the person I most identified with. Her handicap made her frustrated, but she kept on pushing through, and not always in a nice way! I know I've felt trapped like her sometimes in my life, and you just have to do whatever you have to, to make things right. She was very realistic, and admirable. Per, the scientist, was good, too, strong and complicated. There's a mystery behind him, and I hope we learn more about him in future books. It's clear that Anzetti is planning a sequel, and I look forward to it. I won't give the ending away, but I thought that the second half of the book, with the solution to Typhon's problem was exciting and intelligent. It was one of those stories where the ideas just keep getting bigger and bigger. I would recommend this book to anyone!
Rating:
Summary: Currents of Water and Ideas
Review: What a great book! It's not very often you get a science fiction story based on biology and genetics, and when you do, it's not often done well. But not only does Anzetti really seem to know her science, she has a great hand with characters and plotting. And the water world Typhon seems very real. You can almost smell the ocean, and feel the currents on your body. There are currents on land, too, as the remnants of the colonists struggle with the decisions they have to face about survival and the fate of their children. The children are also interesting characters, each of them a real person, and more than the handicap or deformity Typhon has cursed them with. The deaf girl Delani was the person I most identified with. Her handicap made her frustrated, but she kept on pushing through, and not always in a nice way! I know I've felt trapped like her sometimes in my life, and you just have to do whatever you have to, to make things right. She was very realistic, and admirable. Per, the scientist, was good, too, strong and complicated. There's a mystery behind him, and I hope we learn more about him in future books. It's clear that Anzetti is planning a sequel, and I look forward to it. I won't give the ending away, but I thought that the second half of the book, with the solution to Typhon's problem was exciting and intelligent. It was one of those stories where the ideas just keep getting bigger and bigger. I would recommend this book to anyone!
Rating:
Summary: Hugo, Nebula, Campbell award - or all 3?
Review: Wow! How about a contender for the Hugo, Nebula, and Campbell awards? "Typhon's Children" impressed me... a lot. The science fiction books and stories that make such a large favorable impresson on me are few and far between. "Lord of Light", "The Stars My Destination", "No Woman Born", "There Will Be Time", and "Tau Zero" all come to mind. Toni Anzetti's (apparent) debut is not about anything in any of those books, but her story of the failed colony from cold, dark, dry Skandia and their fate on the warm, wet, world of Typhon is comparable to them in impact and quality. It ranks as good, hard, science fiction without any expository digressions (thank you, Toni), a real plot, and characters and character development that most authors would kill for. She throws you in the deep end, hands you a skinsuit and a dive-mask, attacks you with tangleweed, a pod of ketos and a school of boogers and leaves you gasping (literally) and near death. And that's just the first scene. The colonists are near the end of their rope: disaster-struck, impoverished, apparently abandoned, dejected, gene-damaged, dying-out, combative, and neurotic. Then things get worse. READ THIS BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: Hugo, Nebula, Campbell award - or all 3?
Review: Wow! How about a contender for the Hugo, Nebula, and Campbell awards? "Typhon's Children" impressed me... a lot. The science fiction books and stories that make such a large favorable impresson on me are few and far between. "Lord of Light", "The Stars My Destination", "No Woman Born", "There Will Be Time", and "Tau Zero" all come to mind. Toni Anzetti's (apparent) debut is not about anything in any of those books, but her story of the failed colony from cold, dark, dry Skandia and their fate on the warm, wet, world of Typhon is comparable to them in impact and quality. It ranks as good, hard, science fiction without any expository digressions (thank you, Toni), a real plot, and characters and character development that most authors would kill for. She throws you in the deep end, hands you a skinsuit and a dive-mask, attacks you with tangleweed, a pod of ketos and a school of boogers and leaves you gasping (literally) and near death. And that's just the first scene. The colonists are near the end of their rope: disaster-struck, impoverished, apparently abandoned, dejected, gene-damaged, dying-out, combative, and neurotic. Then things get worse. READ THIS BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: Hugo, Nebula, Campbell award - or all 3?
Review: Wow! How about a contender for the Hugo, Nebula, and Campbell awards? "Typhon's Children" impressed me... a lot. The science fiction books and stories that make such a large favorable impresson on me are few and far between. "Lord of Light", "The Stars My Destination", "No Woman Born", "There Will Be Time", and "Tau Zero" all come to mind. Toni Anzetti's (apparent) debut is not about anything in any of those books, but her story of the failed colony from cold, dark, dry Skandia and their fate on the warm, wet, world of Typhon is comparable to them in impact and quality. It ranks as good, hard, science fiction without any expository digressions (thank you, Toni), a real plot, and characters and character development that most authors would kill for. She throws you in the deep end, hands you a skinsuit and a dive-mask, attacks you with tangleweed, a pod of ketos and a school of boogers and leaves you gasping (literally) and near death. And that's just the first scene. The colonists are near the end of their rope: disaster-struck, impoverished, apparently abandoned, dejected, gene-damaged, dying-out, combative, and neurotic. Then things get worse. READ THIS BOOK!
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