Customer Reviews

The Children Star - An Elysium Cycle Novel

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The Children Star tells the story of newly discovered planet from a both a biological and political perspective. The plot itself is surely one any sci-fi reader has read before, but its perspective and characters are original and thought-provoking, written with an eye for both the beautiful and ugly aspects of humanity.

Slonczewski portrays aspects of modern society as species of the "Fold", cleverly having them play out a modern day drama in the discovery of the new planet Prokaryon. The immortal Elysiums (the wealthy) in cahoots with the profit minded Proteus Corp. (big business) combine to find a new home for the overpopulated L'li that doesn't involve the refugees cluttering up the home world of the rich and powerful. These pathetic L'ils, like poverty stricken populations of our third world country, even take desperate treks through space on overcrowded starships to crash land on planets where they have no home, no money and no hope for survival. The fact that Prokaryon is already teeming with inhabitants, perhaps intelligence ones, does little to hinder the Fold's plan to create a new colony for the sick and poor. Money and influence quickly win and a tense struggle to save the indigenous species ensues.

This story unfolds around a religious colony struggling to co-exist with the planet, where young orphans live off the land, taken care of by sentient machines who have found their calling in the "Spirit". The author's play of species off species, including sentient machines that earn their freedom through consciousness and work furlough, was fascinating. While I just skimmed through the biology lecture sections of the book, I didn't feel that took away anything from the story, and some may find it enhances it for them. I haven't read the other books in the Elysium Cycle (Door into Ocean and Brain Plague) but I plan to now. I'm hoping they have less bizarre alien physiology and more inter-galactic policy.

I simply love Joan Slonczewski, and I wish she authored more books! Alas, I suppose she's busy with her hard-core research (she's a biology professor). So I will wait with baited breath until another installment of the Elysium cycle hits. The Children Star is a must-read introduction to the microscopic world of Prokaryon! Very imaginative, and alltogether possible (if we ever colonized other worlds, that is). The first 2/3 of the book are well-written, but rather slow. The last 1/3 is worth waiting for, as the story picks up rapidly and comes to a satisfying conclusion. You MUST read Brain Plague after reading The Children Star. I originally read Brain Plague first, so the Children Star was a bit like a pre-quel. I re-read Brain Plague afterward, and appreciated it even more than I had the first time (and I loved it the first time). Bravo Dr. Slonczewski!

The Children Star turned out to be surprisingly engaging. It seems to straddle the target reader market of teenagers and adults. I liked the concepts presented concerning biology, but wish some of the other characters had more detail and development. The Elysium world that Joan Slonczewski created has interested me enough to look at other books from her.

I read this 10+ years ago when it was serialized in Analog. I kept reading month after month, mainly because I liked Brother Rod's story, where the rest of the universe didn't make the most sense. He realizes that he's changing, both spiritually and physically, and addresses these transitions well. I learned later, that this was the third in a series. One of these days, I'll find the other volumes and give them as shot. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to have them turn up as one of my buck-a-book finds.

This science fiction novel, written by a biologist, gives us an unusually thorough description of an alternate biology. The flora and fauna of the imaginary world Prokaryon are intriguing, particularly when they begin to reveal a hidden intelligence. The visitors to Prokaryon are diverse, including different sorts of humans and intelligent machines, all communicating effortlessly with each other. Medical nanotechnology sends microscopic probes through bodies to remove unwanted organisms. Less inventive is the ubiquitous nanoplast, a substance that shapes and reshapes according to need but is never explained. Neutrinograms allow faster than light communication, another version of an old science fiction device. The densely written story, involving a large number of human and non-human characters, is laborious to read. Only dedicated science fiction fans will make it all the way through.