Daughter of Elysium - An Elysium Cycle Novel [Paperback]

Joan Slonczewski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 14, 2009

"Masterful story"-Library Journal **** "Magnificently detailed"-Chicago Sun Times **** The pristine city of Elysium floats on the water world of Shora, inhabited by 'immortals' who have succeeded in unlocking the secrets of life.**** Outsider Blackbear Windclan wants to share the secret of immortality with his own people, but can he, and the City of Elysium, survive the corruption and decadence that immortality has bred into the ageless society. **** And what of the consciousness of self-aware nano-sentient servitors and their quest for vengence? **** **** "An enormously impressive achievement...A marvelous array of cultures presented in astonishing depth"-Kirkus Review **** "A thoughtful, well-crafted novel...Memorable...Intricate...Rich and Detailed...Touchingly Real"-Publishers Weekly

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Like its predecessor, A Door into Ocean , this thoughtful, well-crafted novel is set on the ocean world of Shora. Shora's original settlers, the Sharers, are peace-loving women who live in close harmony with nature. They now share their world with the 12 floating cities of Elysium, a society of nearly ageless humans who live surrounded by wealth and advanced technology. The Windclans, a family hailing from a pastoral, underpopulated world where children are highly prized and women revered, come to work in one Elysian city. But as they try to adapt to the Elysians' unfamiliar ways, family members find themselves caught up in the political intrigues among the Elysians, the Sharers and their friends and enemies on neighboring planets--culminating in a confrontation with a potentially lethal adversary from within Elysium itself. Slonczewski's settings and alien cultures are rich and detailed, her characters memorable and often extremely endearing. Even against such an intricate plot and exotic backgrounds, her depictions of relationships, especially family life, are touchingly real.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

A fistful of cultural conflicts centered on the ocean-covered planet Shora, where a thousand years have passed since the actions described in Slonczewski's hardcover debut novel, A Door Into Ocean (1986). Sharing Shora with the raft-dwelling, all-female, genetic-whiz Sharers are the floating cities of Elysium; the Elysians, immortal but sterile, are the leading bankers of the scattered human colonies of the Fold. Hearing disquieting reports of nuclear missiles on Urulan, a planet of warlike barbarians, the Elysians have invited translator Raincloud of the volcanic planet Bronze Sky to visit the Elysian city Helicon, to research Urulan goings-on; Raincloud's doctor husband, Blackbear, will help with Elysian research into reproduction and longevity. Numerous long-standing problems eventually threaten the status quo: a new supreme ruler emerges on Urulan, whence Raincloud must journey to defuse a threatening situation; various Heliconian secret banking projects become public knowledge, and the Sharers show their disapproval in traditional, nonviolent protests; the ubiquitous machines of Helicon, having become sentient and self-willed, make a bid for independence; meanwhile, a volcanic eruption on Bronze Sky wipes out most of Blackbear's family. A marvelous array of cultures presented in astonishing depth: an enormously impressive achievement, despite Slonczewski's inability to dramatize events rather than simply report them. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 356 pages
• Publisher: Phoenix Pick (September 14, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1604504447
• ISBN-13: 978-1604504446
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #371,791 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joan Lyn Slonczewski is a microbiologist at Kenyon College and a science fiction writer. Her novel "The Highest Frontier" shows a college in a space habitat financed by a tribal casino and protected from deadly ultraphytes by Homeworld Security. According to Alan Cheuse at NPR, her book invents "a worldwide communications system called Toy Box that makes the iPhone look like a Model-T Ford."

Slonczewski's classic book, "A Door into Ocean" (Campbell Award) depicts an ocean world run by genetic engineers who repel an interstellar invasion using nonviolent methods similar to Tahrir Square. In her book "Brain Plague," intelligent microbes invade human brains and establish microbial cities. She also authored with John W. Foster the leading microbiology textbook, Microbiology: An Evolving Science (W. W. Norton).

Author blog: ultraphyte.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book, but less brilliant than its predecessor., June 28, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Daughter of Elysium (Paperback)

For anyone who has read Joan Slonczewski's "A Door Into Ocean", finding another book by the same author is extremely exciting. The reader, however, is in for a few minor shocks if he/she actually reads this next book. First of all, don't expect a sequel to the sci-fi classic "A Door Into Ocean". Daughter of Elysium takes place long, long, LONG after "A Door Into Ocean". There is a whole new dimension added to the already complex Shora, as a civilization of beings which never grow old has settled on the ocean moon and is coexisting peacefully with the Shorans. If you're wanting more of the Shorans themselves, this book is only sometimes for you -- the text is interwoven with some "ancient" Shoran history, namely what happens after the end of "A Door Into Ocean". On the whole, both the history and the new plots are intriguing and well-written. It's the kind of book that you can't put down -- as much as for its own greatness as for that of the one which came before it. It's a must-read, but don't expect it to be QUITE as dazzling as "A Door Into Ocean"

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gorgeous supplement to "A Door into Ocean", February 26, 2004

By 

"blissengine" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Daughter of Elysium (Hardcover)

Following a couple centuries after "A Door into Ocean", "Daughter of Elysium" revisits the planet Shora, home of the ocean-dwelling Sharers and the city-dwelling Elysians. Raincloud Windclan came to Elysium accompanied by her family to help avert a war. Her scientist husband was invited to assist in delving into the secrets of Elysians' longevity and in solving the Elysians' inability to bear children. The technologically superior Elysians live a pleasurable existence surrounded by their robot servants, who are slowly gaining sentience despite various precautions. In this epic sci fi tale, various threads entwine and produce a glorious and compelling exploration into compassion and humanity that fascinates as it entertains. Slonczewski deftly portrays the complex nuances of the bevy of characters, leading readers to explore their own human natures and giving us much to ponder.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gripping tale, bad Kindle formatting, February 10, 2011

By 

Mel B. "Mel B." (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Daughter of Elysium - An Elysium Cycle Novel (Kindle Edition)

I loved this book in its print version, so much so that I needed to get a Kindle version. The story itself is gripping -- a struggle of foreigners on a world full of nearly immortal people. A tale of cultures, feminism, grown technology and growing sentience, as well as the differences between the poor and the rich, the ageless and the short-lived.

I'm actually writing this because the Kindle version has a serious formatting issue about a third of the way through -- everything starts underlining. It's detracting from my otherwise happy enjoyment of the story of Raincloud, Blackbear, their children and the world of Shora.

(This would be 5 stars except for formatting. The book itself should be 5 stars, and perhaps the formatting should be a 2)