Daughters of an Emerald Dusk: A Novel [Paperback]

Katherine V. Forrest (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2005

“Do I sense the writing of a third book in this wonderful series? I sure hope so!”—She magazine on Daughters of an Amber Noon

Late in the twenty-second century, 4,000 women escape the tyranny of a male-dominated Earth and colonize the planet of Maternas. Katherine V. Forrest’s influential 1984 novel, Daughters of a Coral Dawn, told the story of this exodus. Her 2000 novel, Daughters of an Amber Noon, told the story of the women left behind on Earth. Now she returns to Maternas at last. Fifty years have passed, and the first generation born on Maternas has reached maturity. But their vision of a perfect world is very different from the vision of the founders of the Maternas colony.

Katherine V. Forrest is the author of 15 novels, including the Daughters trilogy, the Kate Delafield mysteries and the romantic classic Curious Wine. She lives in San Francisco.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Ever since Forrest's Daughters of a Coral Dawn (1984), its fans have anticipated sequels to that lesbian sf novel set some 200 years from now. One finally arrived in Daughters of an Amber Noon (2002), and this book continues the story. For newcomers and faded memories, Forrest provides highlights of the backstory: the departure of 4,144 members of the sisterhood Unity to make a home away from an Earth ravaged by resource depletion and violence in the twenty-first century, and the establishment of a colony in Death Valley by the remaining 2,011 members. Now the heroines of Amber Noon journey by space shuttle to the Unity colonists' new home on the planet Maternas and reunite with their birth family for the first time in the six years since the colonizers set out. The compelling tale unfolds via first-person accounts in the journals of Minerva, Olympia, and Joss, and includes piercingly poignant reunions, a wrenching leave-taking, and a suspenseful return to the ultimate mother. Whitney Scott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Katherine V. Forrest is twice winner of the Lambda Literary Award for best mystery, and has been recently honored with the Pioneer Award from the Lambda Literary Foundation.

Product Details

• Paperback: 196 pages
• Publisher: Alyson Books (April 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555838235
• ISBN-13: 978-1555838232
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #633,298 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Extraordinary Finale, April 27, 2005

By 

Deborah Peifer (San Rafael CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Daughters of an Emerald Dusk: A Novel (Paperback)

I've been a fan of Katherine Forrest's writing since I first read Amateur City in the mid 1980s. No fan of science fiction, I read Daughters of a Coral Dawn (the beginning of what would become a trilogy that included Emerald Dusk) only because of my respect for her writing. I did not expect it to become one of my favorite novels, but it did. Daughters of an Emerald Dusk is more than merely a worthy follower to that extraordinary book, and its superb successor, Daughters of an Amber Noon. It is a book in which Forrest's writing moves to a new level of skill and craft and artistry. I found myself rereading passages just for the pleasure of her prose.
Forrest's characters are always a vital part of what makes all of her writing splendid, but seeing these characters, many of whom we know from the previous books, face the challenges that do with wit and honor and bravery is an extraordinary experience.
I won't say anything about the plot except that it took me to places I would never have imagined without once betraying the reader with cheap tricks and flashy games.
Daughters of an Emerald Dusk may just be Katherine Forrest's best novel to date, and that is saying something.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I was warned., July 14, 2011

By 

Book Kat - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Daughters of an Emerald Dusk: A Novel (Paperback)

I loved the first book in this series, Daughters of a Coral Dawn. It will always remain at the top of my read again list and my copy is now worn and tattered. My best female friend and girlfriend warned me not to read this one. I should have listened.

This story has none of the magic of Daughters of a Coral Dawn. The old characters make a cameo apperance, but in a disappointing way. I really didn't care for the new characters at all. The new characters have no charisma like the original ones in this series.

The plot was just out and out weird. It seems the daughters and granddaughters of the original Maternas settlers are mentally connected to the planet and their behavior is strange. Also, there are some rather disturbing physical changes that left me saying "Ewww". It seems the author was trying to make this novel into a science fiction mystery to discover why the younger populace of Maternas were acting so strange. Maybe she was. I was looking for a romance like Daughters of a Coral Dawn.

For you who like a good romance as in Daughters of a Coral Dawn, forget it. You won't find it here. As for the love making scenes. Nada. The author did write something that was supposed to be sexual. I think it was supposed to be sexual, but it was so far out there it left me scratching my head and going WTF. The conclusion, to me, was disappointing. I won't give away the ending since many of you will read this anyway. Just remember, you've been warned.

5.0 out of 5 stars Daughters of an Emerald Dusk, March 10, 2010

By 

Virginia L. Stewart (Colorado Springs, CO United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Daughters of an Emerald Dusk: A Novel (Paperback)

Katherine Forrest has finally written a sequel! Emerald Dusk stands up to her high caliber writing and cannot wait for the next sequel.