38 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another fine tale from a gifted writer, July 11, 2001
Ever since I read Julie E. Czerneda's A THOUSAND WORDS FOR STRANGER, I have looked forward to each of her new novels with their unique perspective and insight. BEHOLDER'S EYE was phenomenal as well and established Czerneda as one of the brightest new writers to come along in many years. IN THE COMPANY OF OTHERS continues to show the author's substantial talents through a tale of human galactic expansion and "first contact" of a most original type.
The hefty tome of this latest novel is a bit intimidating at first, and I must admit that the first 200 pages were extremely challenging to read, and made for a slow start. Perhaps it was the author's desire to explain her well created universe in a bit too much detail, or perhaps it just needed one healthy edit by someone who wasn't afraid to cut text that was neither necessary for character development or for the plot to move forward.
With that said, I must applaud Czerneda on creating some of the most "alien" of aliens in science fiction today. Her "Quill" are enigmas par excellence, and "first contact" becomes an event of intrigue and fascination. There is a hearty dose of cultural anthropology here told through a xeno-biological perspective, as well as a healthy dose of hard speculative science backing up every paragraph. What may be missing in "action" is certainly made up for in ideas. Ideas about the future in science, politics, ethics and human relations.
IN THE COMPANY OF OTHERS is highly recommended, and I will continue to look forward to Czerneda's unique writing talents filling my shelves for years to come.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
slow start, but a good read overall, August 28, 2001
I liked Julie Czerneda's "In the Company of Others" well enough, but it's not a book I need to read again. I found two of the three main characters somewhat boring and annoying, the story too slow until the crisis point, and the ending a bit abrupt.
"In the Company of Others" has an extensive backstory, which is revealed in varying degrees of grace. It goes like this: in the future, humans have invented space travel (it's FTL, as is the communications tech, but is never discussed; this is a character, sociology, and xenobiology story) and have terraformed many barren worlds. However, these world were contaminated by the Quill, a formerly harmless alien species that has now become deadly; people on terraformed worlds die instantly, for no discernable reason. Tens of thousands of immigrants (immies) and many spacers ('siders) are trapped on space stations originally intended to house only a few thousand people. Earth has imposed a near-total quarantine on the stations, and has stopped space exploration and terraforming.
A generation after the Quill incursion, Dr. Gail Smith has a theory that the Quil on the terraformed worlds are genetically linked to the chief terraforming engineers for each world. She wants to test her theory on Pardell, a world whose coordinates were known only to Susan Witts, the chief of all the terraforming engineers, and the one who gave Quill as presents to the other terraformers. Gail comes to Thromberg Station, searching for Aaron Pardell, Witts's great-grandson, and his ship, the Merry Mate, which holds the only known record of Pardell's location. Pardell is more than just an anonymous 'sider, however; he was born on Pardell, and is the only person to survive an encounter with the Quill. He, however, doesn't know this.
The story follows Aaron, Gail, and Hugh Malley, Aaron's best friend, as they travel from Thromberg to Pardell, learning about each other and the Quill. The plot is fairly intricate; I won't attempt to describe it, because the Quill are supposed to be a mystery. (That said, I do think it's odd that nobody, Rosalind in particular, ever realized the source of Aaron's odd medical condition.) The chief supporting characters are interesting and well-drawn, and the Quill are satisfactorily alien aliens. However, I found Gail and Malley somehow flat, and often skimmed their sections, wanting to get back to Aaron. (To be fair, Gail does improve in the second half of the book.) There is a nicely understated love story, and a lovely conclusion. However, for some incomprehensible reason, Czerneda added a brief epilogue that completely threw me out of her world. It was completely unnecessary, and very grating.
"In the Company of Others" is a bit thick and intricate for light summer reading, but not especially deep or difficult. It's entertaining, with many good ideas and scenes, and probably worth a read.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well-paced adventure with good characters and ideas, June 12, 2001
Crowded Earth has terraformed new planets. Before the colonists landed, the pristine new worlds have been contaminated with a deadly organism--the Quill. As would-be colonists wait in crowded, failing space stations, the Solar system has been sealed against the alien contamination.
A novel of exploration, biological peril, desperation and sacrifice, this is also a novel of hope, courage, affection and occasional humor. The author mixes emotions well, and produces real conflict with no villains. The plot moves along at a high clip, but without being choppy. The adventure is combined well with speculation, but the likable characters provide the real attraction.
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