Ancient Light [Hardcover]

Mary Gentle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 24, 1989

In 1985, Mary Gentle exploded onto the science fiction scene like no other first author in years with the bestselling Golden Witchbreed. Now, after four years, she returns with Ancient Light, her most spectacular achievement yet. HC: NAL.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This gracefully written sequel to Golden Witchbreed powerfully depicts the impact of a high-technology civilization on a decaying planet. Ten years after having served as Earth's first envoy to Orthe, which is struggling to survive after a planetwide holocaust millennia ago, Lynne de Lisle Christie returns there as an advisor to PanOceania, one of Earth's giant multinational companies, which is seeking to discover the technological secrets of the Goldens, the ruling race that had destroyed itself while almost obliterating Orthe. Christie seeks to help the native people, some of whom have been her friends, some her enemies, but all closely bound in her memories and loyalties. Instigated by the last of the Golden, a madwoman seeking domination, war between the poor and starving hiyeks of the Desert Coast and the land-loving telestres of the north is aggravated by smuggled high-tech weapons. Christie, while holding a dreadful secret from the Orthe's past, attempts to mediate. Gentle creates moving, different, yet recognizable societies and people that catch the reader's emotions as they struggle to save themselves.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA-- This sequel to Golden Witchbreed (NAL, 1985) is well written and spellbinding. The planet Orthe is a post-technological society which has survived a holocaust; this plot revolves around the native Ortheans who resist the use of Earth technology to improve their lives. There is internal dissension as some Ortheans want the weaponry, if nothing else, to change the balance of power on this pacifist planet; and there is pressure from a multi-planetary corporation that wants to trade the technology for relics of Orthe's preholocaust technology. There is romance between Earthwoman Lynne Christie and Orthean Blaize Meduenin. The alien world comes to life as the planet Dune did, and readers will wish the book were longer.
- Dorcas Hand, Episcopal High School, Bellaire, TX
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 539 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult; First Edition edition (March 24, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0453006442
• ISBN-13: 978-0453006446
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,895,173 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ancient Light, July 26, 2002

By 

K. Freeman (Apple Valley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ancient Light (Paperback)

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.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Even better than the first, March 3, 2003

By 

C. Asher (Charlotte, NC USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ancient Light (Paperback)

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.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WONDERFUL, September 30, 1999

By 

Linda A. French (Los Lunas, New Mexico USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ancient Light (Paperback)

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.