Shivering World (TYERS, KATHY)

Rating:
Summary: Super science fiction
Review: Earth is a wasteland because of the hole in the ozone layer allowing in the U.V. Rays. People live in domes and the wealthy live in space habitats. Terraforming of Mars and Venus has not been a complete success. The colonists of Goddard hire the Gaea Consortium to terraform the planet so they and their children will be able to live free of enclosed habitats. Dr. Graysha Brady Phillips works for Gaea because she needs the exorbitant salary to pay off her debts and she has heard rumors that they practice the outlawed science of genetic engineering.

Graysha suffers from Flaherty's Syndrome and will die at the age of fifty as there is no cure. She hopes that the geneticists on Goddard can fix her damaged chromosomes so she can have children that won't be carriers of the disease. Graysha's position is tenuous because her mother, as the head of the Eugenics Board, will carry out the law of irradiation and sterilization if the people of Goddard are practicing outlawed science on human beings. When Goddard is threatened Grayshya does her best to find the solution that will save the place and people she now loves.

This science fiction story is both believable and plausible and readers will find themselves so immersed in the action of the characters that they will finish this book in one sitting. The audiences care deeply for the heroine who knows that she will die at a young age but live each day to its fullest and doesn't feel sorry for herself. Kathy Tyers is a talented writer who is a fantastic world builder in the tradition of Karen Hancock.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Super science fiction
Review: Earth is a wasteland because of the hole in the ozone layer allowing in the U.V. Rays. People live in domes and the wealthy live in space habitats. Terraforming of Mars and Venus has not been a complete success. The colonists of Goddard hire the Gaea Consortium to terraform the planet so they and their children will be able to live free of enclosed habitats. Dr. Graysha Brady Phillips works for Gaea because she needs the exorbitant salary to pay off her debts and she has heard rumors that they practice the outlawed science of genetic engineering.

Graysha suffers from Flaherty's Syndrome and will die at the age of fifty as there is no cure. She hopes that the geneticists on Goddard can fix her damaged chromosomes so she can have children that won't be carriers of the disease. Graysha's position is tenuous because her mother, as the head of the Eugenics Board, will carry out the law of irradiation and sterilization if the people of Goddard are practicing outlawed science on human beings. When Goddard is threatened Grayshya does her best to find the solution that will save the place and people she now loves.

This science fiction story is both believable and plausible and readers will find themselves so immersed in the action of the characters that they will finish this book in one sitting. The audiences care deeply for the heroine who knows that she will die at a young age but live each day to its fullest and doesn't feel sorry for herself. Kathy Tyers is a talented writer who is a fantastic world builder in the tradition of Karen Hancock.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Kathy's best so far
Review: I recently finished Shivering World, and this book is guaranteed to make you think, laugh and cry. Grasha Brady-Phillip's life since she decided to go to the human colony planet Goddard is both intriguing and suspenseful. The back cover states "The colonists think Graysha's a spy. Graysha thinks the colonists are trying to kill her. They're both right..." Read about Graysha's struggle to gain their trust, all for the sake of finding a cure for the disease that is eating her away at the cellular level. A must read!

Rating:
Summary: Complex, colorful, and compelling
Review: Others have detailed the plot, so I won't do so here. I thought this was a terrific story. I'm very satisfied with the way Kathy Tyers rewrote her original "Shivering World." She writes so intelligently, I have to--I WANT to--read slowly to absorb and follow what's going on. She has SUCH an incredible grasp of sociology and politics and power struggles, it blows my mind. It makes the characters, their actions, and the storyline emminently believable. I'm also a biologist, so following how she imagines biological science will "evolve" in the future is intriguing to me.

Her novels are always incredibly deep and colorful and complex. The characters in this rewrite of the original story are rich and varied--each has something important to win or lose, which drives their actions. No one is two-dimensional. Well, except for the research technician with the three-sentence role. :-) The book ends on a satisfying note, but it also ends in a way that could segue into a sequel or a series like her Firebird trilogy. I hope that's in the works, I'd be totally excited. The characters she has created in this book have enough conflicts and chemistry to pull that off, I believe.

I'd buy this book for any science-fiction lover. The author has created a sweeping canvas with infinite possibilities in this fictional world and its characters. I am hoping she's writing more in this setting.