Customer Reviews

Califia's Daughters

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Unlike most gender-issue post-apocalyptic novels, Califia's Daughters shows a world where men have been nearly wiped out. Also, unlike most women-run worlds, there is no serious claim that the disaster was men's fault. Rather, the book deals with some of the issues that arise without painting men or women in a moral light. I would have preferred to have seen the issues addressed in greater depth, however.

This paragraph has a bare-bones summary of the plot. It's minimal but may contain minor spoilers. The story begins when a small valley community (200+ women, 20+ men) is approached by representatives of another community. The strangers make a proposal that has serious implications for the valley, and introduce the threat of war in the region. The valley's leader, Judith, feels that the strangers are concealing something vital. Judith sends her sister, Dian, to secretly investigate the strangers' settlement to see what they are hiding. Dian goes to investigate, having assorted adventures along the way. Upon arrival, she discovers that the strangers have a secret that will shake the foundations of her own people's way of life!!! Then disaster strikes, Dian drops her quest, goes to another town and does a bunch of unrelated stuff. She never actually talks to the strangers about their differences or even gives them too much thought. At the end of the book, the author doesn't bother to explain what happened between the two peoples.

On the whole, I enjoyed the book. It was moderately unusual, had some romance, some humor, some adventure, and other essentials. In particular, it included some good bits of drama. However, I am left with the sense that the plot got sidetracked. The author raised issues in the beginning of the book that were never addressed. We never know what impact the strangers have on the valley's way of life, and there is a looming war that is never addressed. A sequel would greatly improve the course of the story, but lacking a sequel I feel somewhat cheated.

If, like me, you don't read many fantasy books, this book might actually be good enough to lure you in.

In a not too distant future when a couple of bio-hazard accidents wipe out much of the population and even more of the technology, the human race struggles to survive. With a gender ratio all out of wack, Califia's Daughters -- the women of what was once California -- struggle to farm the land, feed and protect their communities, and above all protect the fragilest flowers of them all, the males of the species who have trouble surviving to reproductive adulthood.

Leigh Richards is a pseudonym the author's note tells us for Laurie R. King, author of several award winning mysteries. It's no mystery why the writing and plotting here are smooth, engaging, and a joy to read.

I'm a fan of these end of the world or women-run world fictions. This book, however, reads like two books. The first is about a community whose world we see through several different eyes. The second is the story of Dian who travels to investigate another community who have asked to be allowed to move into her valley. The problem is that a lot of the characters from the first "book" are left hanging after the reader gets interested in them and the focus in the second "book" honestly isn't very clear -- after reading it I'm still not sure why Dian does what she does and why there's not time spent on the fact that when she first visits the foreign community it looks radically different than when she returns just a few months later -- they've been invaded I assume but that isn't clear and it seems like everyone has been living a very military life there for a long time. Overall I was disappointed.

This book reads as though two different people wrote it - the first having more skill and discipline than the second. For 180 pages the author adequately sets up her post apocolyptic world, fleshes out the main character, and presents the dynamic situation that the main character is responsible to resolve. Then the meandering begins. At this point I felt as though I was riding with someone who had lost track of her destination. The all-important secret that motivates the main character's dangerous journey is unimaginative and disappointing. And the end of the story is so superficial and disjointed that it feels as though the author's deadline was moved up and she had to rush to finish.
I felt as though this was an author's first attempt and that some professional guidance and much more time would have resulted in a story that actually has something to say.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this, but I really enjoyed it. Not a particularly deep read, and less about sexual stereotypes than you might think. It's a densely plotted adventure story, about a woman who pushes herself to physical, emotional, and moral extremes.

This book is really awesome. For a stand alone book this one is great! Everyone should read this. The main character Dian has no magic, and does not necessarily make a great hero at all points in the book.

The book is about a group of women (200 ish) who live in a world where men nearly all died. This means the men are expected to not work and are treated as "women" who cannot do much. The women do all the hard work and all the work so that the men will not get sick or hurt or etc and therefore die.

Dian goes to investigate war in an upper region in the area and is gone over a year. She returns with 3 extras and a very changed woman!

I came to this book expecting very little but actually really enjoyed it alot! I actually wrote her and asked about sequels, i loved this book so much! Unfortunately she didn't say much about sequels! However, I really hope Laurie King writes a sequel to this eventually!

It started out well with a good premise and interesting characters, then switched gears halfway through focusing on just one character. The plot wandered and died as though the author ran out of inspiration.

I am a great fan of Laurie King but did not know this book was by her until I had finished it. It was a real pleasure to experience her spare writing style in science fiction and I am really sad that there is no sequel to this great book. I thought Dian was a very sympathetic character and I loved the dogs. Laurie King seem to like to explore the "standards" by which women are judged and this scenario was a fascinating one.

I picked this one up by chance, because I liked the cover. I was pleasantly surprised! The book was well paced, and held my interest throughout. There were some sketchy details that I wished she had filled in better--how the fall came about, more detail on the badlands, etc., as well as little more depth on a few of the characters--but overall, very satisfying. The last page was a bit confusing, but that just may have been poor editing.

She left the end wide open for a sequel, and I can hardly wait!

In a world with few men, Dian is the explorer seeking to ensure the safety of her village. She and her huge dogs adventure away from her country village to two cities of the future. These include a friendly city behind walls with science appopropriate to the future and to another city that is militaristic and oppressive. Her travel adventures as well as the time in these villages are entrancing. The author does leave a few story lines dangling but hopefully sequels will fill these in.