Customer Reviews

Don't Bite the Sun

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Together with it's sequel, Drinking Sapphire Wine, this is one of the best books I've ever read. Set in a post-apocalyptic future where all work is performed by robots and androids, citizens are expected to spend their entire existance (which will last however long they want it to) sampling meaningless experiences and having fun. The predominiately female heroine (you can change your sex, body, appearance, etc. anytime you choose to) finds herself bored and searches for something that will give her life meaning. In the process, her discontent manages to alienate her from society, with its extremely rigid unwritten rules of behavior underlying an "anything goes" appearance. The robots (who are programmed to serve humanity's needs) are at first confused by her desire to do something important and ultimately threatened by her antisocial behavior. In the end, our heroine (we never learn her name) succeeds in escaping the sterile environment of the mega-city and recreates a new world for herself in the process. Tanith Lee (my all-time favorite author) offers a scathing satire of today's emphasis on fun and games, while writing a startlingly sensitive account of one woman's attempt to give her life meaning. You will be amazed by the simplistic beauty of Lee's writing, with prose that often reads like poetry. With just a few, well chosen words, she paints a vivid picture that you will never forget. Lee's style in these books is light and gay, fitting the world her heroine is expected to conform to. The ultimate message of the books lurks palpably just below the surface of the words, waiting for the reader to discover it.

"Don't Bite the Sun" is the first book in this series. It pretty much illustrates life in Four Bee, the domed city where the nameless protagonist and her circle of Jang (teenage) friends live. (She might have a name, but I don't recall ever seeing it.) Here you can assume any gender or body just by "suiciding". Nothing's taboo in Four Bee--well, almost nothing. Murder, for one, is against the rules--and if it's forbidden, then this daring Jang will certainly find a way of committing it (...).

There are a few other no-no's besides murder in Four Bee. For starters, you can only kill yourself so many times before you're put on "probation". (Poor Hergal.) Just like in our own society today, teenage pregnancy, casual sex, and even May/December romances are frowned upon. After awhile, Four Bee doesn't seem like such a hedonistic place; it feels more like a prison or a bubbled cage.

If you like Tanith Lee's writing style (and especially her sci fi novels), then I would recommend this book. But I wouldn't recommend the sequel, "Drinking Sapphire Wine"; it's not as good as this one.

You can find these two novellas ("Don't Bite the Sun" and "Drinking Sapphire Wine") in one complete edition: "Biting the Sun".

I first read this years ago, but still remember the world of "jang"(hedonistic teenagers) that is the focus of this book. The unnamed protagonist's journey to self-reliance is the ultimate rebellion against a society that encourages and rewards mindless pleasure-seeking, vanity and consumerism. The sequel, DRINKING SAPPHIRE WINE, is amusing, but not as good as DON'T BITE THE SUN. A classic in the sci-fi genre, no bookshelf should be without a copy.

The first Tanith Lee book I've read that matches up to her epic "The Birthgrave" in terms of quality, in overall style it couldn't be more different. The storyline concerns an enormous, sanitized, hyper-futuristic, domed city called Four-BEE and its "jang" (roughly the equivalent of teen-agers) residents, who are very cliquish and are able to change bodies and/or sex on a whim if they so desire. They are unable to die, so a quick way to get a new body (there is an imposed time-limit on how long one must remain in one body) is merely to commit suicide, get taken to "Limbo", and choose a new body. Since the "jang" period of ones life lasts the equivalent of a hundred years or so, one can understand the despair and boredom felt by the protagonist (who is unnamed, and is both female and male in the course of the book). The book is told from his/her point of view, and has the feeling of a personal diary. A clever condemnation on the shallowness and sanitization of modern city life, it's also ripe with bright humour. Recommended.

I liked both of the books Don't bite the sun and drinking Sapphire wine, but I have to admit that I liked Don't bite the sun a little more. It dealed more with her struggle for identity and survival, and it brought across easier how someone who actually lived in that culture would think and feel. Every little detail was amazing, and Tanith Lee carries the story across like she actually vacationed in Four Bee , 4 boo, 4 Baa. At the end of the book, I felt like I had went there. This book is expertly planned out, not to mention incredibly witty. It had a very strong voice and I felt like I could hear the narrator speaking. Read this book, you have no idea how good it is.

well the future comes to this: man lives to enjoy himself
& procreate.Nothing special happens in the main characters
life so she embarks on a self discovery tour where she
learns that there is more to existance than pleasure.
our hero's sorounding is semi surreal.she commits suicide
several times and is brought back in the inferno she
changes her apperance & sex ( she runs out of suicidal
credits and wants to die from boredom but that scares the
shit of the supervisiors).She wants a child but cand find
someone to be a good creator so as a male she/he donates
sperm and it all explodes.

this is only a small fraction of her quest for understanding
but she learns at the end.
although i read a translation into hebrew i liked the fact
the the book has it's own slang ( dictionary included ).
cool things happen throughout the book and you get to
know our young & troubled hero. ( she doesn't have a name )

While this novel cannot stand alone and must be read with "Drinking Sapphire Wine," together they are a powerful vision of the dangers of technology run wild.
It is also technically interesting in that the viewpoint character is never given a name, which in this case actually works to draw the reader into identifying with the character. Along with "Silver Metal Lover," I consider this one of Tanith Lee's best science fiction novels.

This early Tanith Lee novel showcases her flair for fantastical settings and characters, but it's not one of her best when it comes to plot or excitement. Granted, Lee was ahead of her time with her main science fiction concept here – technology that allows people to replace their bodies and transfer their personalities. This motif started showing up in a lot of sci-fi and cyberpunk a good ten or fifteen years after this book. Here, the characters are roughly equivalent to countercultural teens, and they frequently change bodies and even genders as a way to fight boredom in their sterilized future high-tech society. At this early point in her career, Lee was already adept at wonderfully visual settings and backgrounds, thanks to her very colorful language. However, the problem with this book is that Lee does not utilize her concepts to their ultimate potential, as the characters occasionally muse on what it really means to be male or female or human, but these intriguing themes are not explored very fully. Also, there is very little plot here for the reader to latch onto, as once again Lee introduces some intriguing developments for the unnamed lead character, such as her desire to become a parent and finding nature outside the domed city, but once again these are not explored very well amidst the fun of Lee's characters and settings. Lee would really hit her stride a few books down the line from this one. [~doomsdayer520~]

I loved this book and its sequel. I just wanted anyone who might be out there looking for it to know that it's now printed under the title "Biting the Sun" (that book contains both "Don't Bite the Sun" and "Drinking Sapphire Wine" under one cover). "Biting the Sun" is available here on Amazon, and my review of the books is under that one. I love these books. I think they're awesome.

... it would be like "Don't Bite The Sun".

The teenage energy pours out of the book. One of my favourites.

I wouldn't bother with the sequel "Drinking Sapphire Wine" though. It adds nothing to the story and is more pedestrian and traditional.

"Don't bite the sun traveler, you may burn your mouth."