Picnic on Paradise

Rating:
Summary: Strange, idosyncratic, yet seeminly realistic
Review: One of my favourites. The story of Alyx, a Greek woman from almost 4,000 years ago visiting our future. Her skills in living without technology are used to rescue a group of tourists from a vacation planet. This is a story about how time travel might occur, about culture shock, about mutual incomprehension, about the soft future and the tough-minded past, and even, surprisingly, about love.

This is Joanna Russ's first novel. A sequel, of a sort, can be found in "More Women of Wonder," edited by Pamela Sargent.

Rating:
Summary: A classic debut
Review: Picnic on Paradise was Joanna Russ's first novel, and it remains one of my favorites. It concerns Alyx, agent of TransTemp, and her attempt to get a group of civilians safely across a hostile landscape. The dangers faced are sometimes environmental but more often internal. The characters are vivid and fascinating (particularly Machine) and the story is surprisingly realistic and grounded. Definitely my favorite of Ms. Russ's books (and she's one of my favorite authors).