Customer Reviews

Beholder's Eye

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I really enjoyed this book a lot. We see a lot of different worlds and races in it with a variety of characteristics, and Czerneda does a very good and convincing job of portraying them. She could write many more stories in this universe if she wanted to. Many books are predictable. Sometimes they surprise you. But much of the time, "Beholder's Eye" had so many possibilities that I had no idea what to expect next, and was often pleased with where it took me.

Esen, the main character, is a web being, a shape-changer, who takes on at least a dozen different forms over the course of the story, though she uses two of them for most of the story. In each form she takes on the instincts and emotions of whatever form she assumes, with some amusing results. Ragem, the primary human character, is quite intelligent but at a level we can easily relate to. The key characters. both good and bad, are smart enough to make the story all the more interesting. All around, an excellent read.

The other reviews of "Beholder's Eye" give a good description of the plot, so I would like to focus on the nature and development of the main characters, Esen-alit-Quar and her recent friend Paul-human, both of whom I found most compelling.

Czerneda has brought forth an entirely new (to me) being within the universe. In trying to understand the nature of that being I felt that the story started out a bit slow, but as my comprehension grew I became quite rapt and regretted that it was not longer.

Most exciting was the "personal" growth of Esen as her responsibility extended to the point at which she alone could meet and, hopefully, quell the ultimate threat to her kind. She takes numerous alien forms along her path, each one remarkably well portrayed and fleshed out. Her reluctant relationship with Paul Ragem inspires her to see and comprehend herself in a deeper and more compasionate way, and to learn to rely on her own personal understanding of her place in the scheme of things.

All in all, this excellent book was very thought provoking, compelling to the end, and it certainly whetted my appetite for more!

Beholder's Eye is the first novel in the Web Shifters series. Esen-alit-Quar is the most recent member of the Web of Ersh and the only member who isn't a product of fissioning by Ersh; Esen is an offspring of Ansky and her Lanivarian lover and the only one of their cubs who can shift. For over five centuries, Ersh and the others have trained her to function as an observer of sentient life, but Esen has also persisted in pranks and escapades that always get her into trouble. But now Esen is finally ready for her first independent assignment.

In this novel, Esen is taken to Kraos to observe the life and ecology on that planet. However, she spends weeks trying to work up the nerve to move among the population, first taking on the form of the sentient species and then cycling back to her Web form. After using most of the nearby living mass to energize the cycles, hunger forces her to shift into Lanivarian form and retain it. Pretending to be a native canine, she moves among the natives, eavesdropping, snooping and otherwise gathering the required information.

After 600 days into the assignment, she discovers that a Commonwealth First Contact team has arrived on the planet and contacted the natives. Two commercial missions have already disappeared on Kraos and she has learned that the natives also intend to capture this new ship and kill its crew. Two members of the First Contact team are killed and the third, Paul Ragem, is captured along with Esen in her canine form, but Paul and Esen managed to escape from a dungeon and warn the ship of the hostility of the natives.

Unfortunately, the First Contact team has a vid of Esen changing from her canine form to a Ycl to save Paul from a deadly fungus powder which was sprinkled on his body by the natives. Moreover, the stress of the interview with Senior Specialist and Acting Captain Lionel Kearn and Sas, the Modoren Security Officer, has caused her to explosively shift back to her Lanvarian form, causing minor damage to the personnel and fittings in Kearn's office.

Esen is in big trouble with the Web for violating security. After reviewing the events of this chain of fiascoes, and literally chewing her out, Ersh sends her back to learn the extent of the damage caused by these exposures. This time she takes on the form of a Ket, a very humanoid species with great massage skills.

This novel is mostly about the evolving relationship between Esen and Paul. In some respects, this novel is much like Heinlein's Star Beast from the point of view of the alien. Although centuries old and very knowledgeable, Esen is very young relative to her potential lifetime. All her forms are also young relative to the species (her human form is about ten years old). Thus, Esen sometimes seems very wise and other times incredibly foolish.

This novel, however, has plenty of action and plots within plots. One of the minor themes in this novel, and the whole series, is the very irritating behavior of bureaucrats. Another may be the vagaries of architects, both in expanding existing structures and in deconstructing existing structures to build new ones.

Recommended for Czerneda fans and anyone who enjoys tales of young aliens becoming friends with humans.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Czerneda seems to have done it again. Many have written books about "shapeshifters", but none like this! The story is compelling, and at times, leaves you breathless. There's a new surprise around every corner, as Es transforms from one alien form to another to accomplish her mission. Once again, Czerneda has produced strong characters that leave you feeling you would like to find out more about what makes them tick. Unique alien lifeforms, captivating settings, and a sprinkle of humor in just the right places. I'd love to see what the latest "morphing" technology could do with Es and her ever-changing body!

If you missed Julie Czerneda's debut novel A THOUSAND WORDS FOR STRANGER, you missed a grand tale and should remedy the situation immediately! But don't let it delay you from reading BEHOLDER'S EYE, which offers new perspective and point of view in a universe far in humankind's future.

This is a story of first contact, and extended unobserved contact, but told from the "alien's" point of view. It is a grand adventure, in the classic science fiction sense, filled with page turning excitement and written with a thoroughly modern sensibility. From the first few pages, the reader is captured by both the plot and the characters, and the developing friendship between the protagonists is both poignant and fascinating to watch develop.

There is obsession and passion here as well. Esen-alit-Quar is not your classical hero, but Captain Kearn is a "Captain Ahab" of classic proportion. And most of all it is a wonderfully told tale that will keep you entertained from beginning to end. Highly Recommended!

"Beholder's Eye" is one fantastic novel.

Esen is an alien shapeshifter with a twist; her race shares memories quite literally, by eating of themselves. It's rather disgusting to contemplate, but that's what they do -- and they're used to it.

Thing is, Esen wasn't expected. The rest of her race happened by fission; she happened through sexual experimentation with a different race, which might be why she's different than the others. Although all are female, she's younger, more nervous, more innocent, and much more childlike overall.

During her first "assignment" elsewhere to pick up new information for her people (all six of them), Esen finds a human man in trouble. She liberates him, and gets him away; this causes immediate problems for him, but also opens up a world of possibilities.

While they're getting to know each other in a sort of father-daughter way (she's much too young for him), a big, bad version of something similar to her own race happens by. They're doing bad things, for bad reasons; her own people aren't pleased.

The rest of the novel basically shows what Esen and Paul try to do to keep the situation from escalating any further, while continuing to deepen their relationship.

Very strong start to a new series. Highly recommended.

This is the first (and the best) in Julie E. Czerneda's 'Web Shifters' trilogy. Esen is the youngest of her kind, a web consisting of only six of these shape shifters in the known universe. Although several hundred years old, by the standards of her kind she is merely a child. Like a child, she tends to get into scrapes very easily.
The 'web' has a cardinal rule, that no-one must know of their existence. This hasn't been difficult up to now as the web are all shape shifters and able to take on any form they wish in order to study other species while keeping their existence secret. However, Esen managed to break that rule when Paul Ragem, a human, discovers her abilities.
This is a lightweight book; there is no hard science to baffle the reader. It is more a story of the development of a youngster and her attempts to form relationships. Recommended for a quick, enjoyable read.

I read a lot and I read Fantasy & SciFi almost exclusively. This means that once in a while I pick up a book I've read before in a bookstore and start it before I'm sure I've read it already. Sounds silly, I know, but I did that recently with Beholder's Eye and recognized very quickly this was a re-read.

Guess what - it didn't matter! Some books depend on a twist ending or have greater impact on the first read - this one is a just a good read all the way through. Good characterization, novel concepts and a universe I like to read about.

In her WebShifter series, Julie manages to do something truly remarkable; she avoids the use of gratuitous sex, violence, language and implied vulgarity that so many contemporary SF novels rely on to drive sales. Rather than try to shock or disgust you, she lets Esen's marvelous "voice" take you through the story and use your imagination to fill in the details. The plot isn't earth shattering, but there are more than enough intriguing races (Panacia, Kraal, Lanivarian, etc., - not to mention Es's own species!), character interactions and imaginative details that you can't help but sit back and enjoy the romp. Esen is incredibly alien, all the while having an emotional element that is so human, it's hard not to like her.

This is the first book in a long time I'd happily recommend to teenagers, let alone other adults. Bravo, Julie! Give me more!

This is one of those books that will keep you up all night -- telling yourself, "I'll just read one more chapter and then I swear I'll go to bed." And the next thing you know it's 4 in the morning.

Esen is one of the most fascinating characters I've read about in a long time. She may be 500 years old, but she is still just a "'tween" as her siblings keep reminding her. The way she grows and learns and comes to realize that family is what you choose for yourself -- it's a journey many of us are familiar with.

I sure hope Ms. Czernada gives us a sequel to this book. It doesn't need one, but I sure would like to read more about these characters.