Customer Reviews

Ammonite

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Nicola Griffith, in her first novel, Ammonite, makes the claim that change is the death that requires courage. Each character in her story finds that death, the required change, in an individual challenge, and sources the courage from a unique strength. Very real, very human dilemmas placed in the storyteller's rhythm that draws you deeper into her story. Ms. Griffith's science is instructive. She has stayed within the boundaries created by theoretical probabilities, extrapolating the present into the future - weaving scientific explanation and the processes of our human spirit into an impelling story. Her vision for the potential of what our society names "alternative methods" in the healing professions is believable and powerful. A review on the book jacket claims that Ms. Griffith has "a very interesting take on gender." The book is potent in its ability to convey that in our essence we are gender-more as well as gender-less. Environmental circumstances in her story create a female population, but the human questions, conditions, and challenges remain constant. The attitudes and actions of her characters contain qualities of what we currently identify as feminine or masculine. Ms. Griffith translates for the reader the inner balancing of each character's feminine/masculine energies, changing the gender concept into something else. Readers who enjoy a book which takes today into the future, relates science in ways which teach, and characters that explore the depths of human character will find value in this book. It is a book you experience as well as read. Ammonite stays with you after you have finished the last page. At first, you wish it had been longer and given more information. Then you start to appreciate its simplicity and uncluttered-ness. You want to read it again, unhurried now, because you know the stopping point of the story. Ms. Griffith is a viajera. If you wish to know what that is - read the book.

Science fiction has never appealed to me. Perhaps this is because I had always associated it with things like "Star Trek," and people dressed in spandex saying things like, "Android Vortex reporting for duty Sir." Ammonite, by Nicola Griffith is nothing like what I had feared, I would recommend it as a wonderful first venture into reading within the genre of Science Fiction. Science fiction intrinsically allows for stimulating social commentary and Nicola Griffith does so skillfully. While envisioning alternate perspectives on issues of gender, sexuality, reproduction, and most other aspects of society, she also tells a story which utilizes the elements of drama in a most engaging way. The author's use of exposition to both provide the background information needed to follow the story and to slowly guide the reader from that which is known, to the world where the story will play out, is subtle and feels quite effortless. Ammonite takes place in the distant future on the planet GP, nicknamed "Jeep" by those who have traveled there from Earth as part of a corporate mission of the Durallium Company. The company has only one interest in the planet and that is its potential financial yield. There are several conflicts in Ammonite which drive the story forward. One is the internal conflict within the main protagonist, Marghe Taishan. An anthropologist sent by the Durallium Company to GP to test a vaccine, which Company hopes will eliminate a deadly virus which has prevented Company occupation of the planet, Marghe is soon torn between loyalty to the Company and curiosity about the new world she is inhabiting. Concurrently, conflicts between Marghe and the society she encounters, and between the inhabitants and Company are also taking place. The exploration of the planet as well as the societies which exists on it causes an immersion in these alternative societies which Griffith has created and from this immersion comes an appreciation for the simplicity of the people, their customs, their whole way of life and a desire to see it all preserved, and a disappointment that the fantasy ended.

This is a fantastic blend of lots of different science fiction elements: a quest story, a huge planetary landscape, anthropology, sociology, viruses and galactic political intrigue. It's populated by humans of all descriptions--flawed, complex, with good and bad intentions. It's a beautifully written book about people and how they respond to crisis and to change. I'm recommending it to all my friends and will definitely be looking for her other work.

Ammonite was an interesting blend of various themes, from the Wise Woman traditions to various concepts of hard SF. The basic premise, a personal awakening set within the backdrop of a women's only garden of eden, worked pretty well.

The text has many layers, and draws from many different sources. For example, Greek and Norse myth provide the plot, setting, and names and archetypes of the characters. A thorough critique of colonialism, militarization, globalization and corporate control are skillfully handled within this futuristic setting. Elements of the utopia theme of SF figure prominently in the story. New Age and eco-hip beliefs also find their way into the story, particularly in the heroine's ultimate choice of calling in life. Even the Garden of Eden (a planet where women can be womyn), complete with the Serpent(technology, or the cure to the virus), of biblical fame makes an appearance. These are but a few of the disparate ideas pulled into the story's orbit, and they work well here.

One element of the story, however, was weak. Spontaneous meiosis without a conjugating event is thoroughly unsupported by current science. This element of the storyline deviates significantly from the author's attempt to bring hard science to bear in making the story seem more real. The virus as vector (and possible conjugating element) would not be plausible, as viral genomes are way too small for such tasks. But this is a minor point, and in passing, much of the 'science' in SF classics we all know and love actually in many instances came to be realized. Still, female-only self-fertilization is an interesting idea, and may well be possible, if the gene jockeys can get around the self-imprinting problem.

I liked the story on the whole, and was surprised that someone could pull something this complicated off. The author even made the concept of Grrl Power interesting and viable. This book is a great entry in the SF genre.

Ammonite reminds me a lot of Sheri Tepper and Ursula K. Le Guin. It's a tale of Marghe, an anthropologist sent to work on the Company-owned planet Jeep. Jeep is inhabited by group of Company forces, the original colonists and a deadly virus that kills all men and quite a few women as well. There's no proven vaccine, either.

Marghe sets out to understand the world and the people who live in it. The mysteries of the virus and the colonists (if they're all women, where do the babies come from?) offer a tempting challenge to an anthropologist, despite the resistance from the Company commander.

It's a good story. It's well written, beautiful as the planet it describes. Marghe's journey is packed with action, adventure, romance and exploration. For those seeking lesbian themes or strong female characters in science fiction, this is a must-read book, and I'd recommend Ammonite to anybody who likes science fiction with sociological or anthropological leanings.

I did not know what to expect, but a book of this quality from a new author, makes me want to weep. The talent to pull off such a well thought out and introspective tale is rare. I often find myself reading the same authors for years, only to discover they have used up their imaginative fire early on. I look forward to reading more from this talented woman.

The author does an outstanding job in the creation and description of planet GP (Jeep). It came to life in this reader's mind, and it was beautiful, wild, and dangerous. The characters were rich and well developed. The story itself was nowhere near as strong as the setting or the cast. While the virus aspect is interesting, it doesn't make any real sense, so the reproductive aspects of the Jeep natives are little more than wishful thinking, making what would have been a solid scifi story into a wishy-washy one. Cloning would have made much more sense.

The author's focus on the roles people take for themselves in society, and how they deal with how well or ill those roles fit, is what makes this book so special. Ms. Griffith makes you think about yourself and all the people you interact with, while telling a tale that is impossible to put down. The only thing I disliked about this story was that it had to end!

Before this book I never even contemplated the science fiction genre. This book is just amazing. And it's so much more then just a story about lesbians, because there really isn't any overt lesbianism until about half way through the book. However, the story deals with a lot of themes. Such as belonging, trust, heritige, change and love. I'd definantely reccammend this book

I enjoyed Ammonite as much as Slow River, the book that won more critical acclaim. In particular, it solves my biggest complaint with Slow River, the one dimensional nature of the male characters, by doing away with all of the male characters. Ammonite is a nicely paced book with some interesting ideas.