From Publishers Weekly
The setup may sound all too familiar?a ship of colonists from high-tech Earth is heading for apparently low-tech Arbroth, the colonists happily anticipating abundant land and native labor; a young Earth lad, Troy, appalled at the prospect, establishes telepathic contact with Eth, a young woman of Arbroth. The two are going to work together to foil the greedy Earthians, and will simultaneously triumph and discover their love for each other, right? But Lawrence (The Patchwork People) is beyond such cliches. The people of Arbroth have unexpected skills in their "dream-weaving" abilities and not only can deal with the invaders themselves but use their presence to solve a problem of their own; Troy and Eth's story has a similarly unanticipated and satisfying conclusion. However, the author advances an overly pointed agenda, as expressed in the use of dream-weaving to heal unhealthy (violent and controlling) people; in the contrast between Arbroth's destructive patriarchal past and peaceful gynocentric present; and in discussions of such topics as "The renunciation of violence is an essential part of our culture." The target audience may be too sophisticated for such obvious sermonizing, but this still compelling story could well be embraced by slightly younger readers. Ages 14-up.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From School Library Journal
Grade 6 Up?Troy Morrison, 17, is about to embark on a one-way journey through space when he has a vision of a beautiful, dark-haired, orange-eyed girl. Ten-year-old Eth, a native of Arbroth, a world that has forsaken a violent past to live in peace by any means necessary, dreams of a blue-green planet and a blue-eyed, fair-haired boy unlike anyone she has ever seen. Troy, on a spaceship taking 3000 wealthy people toward Arbroth, is concerned that the colonists, leaving Earth in droves because of the imminent destruction of its environment, will repeat their errors. The local Dream-Weavers' Guild inducts Eth into their ranks and she is trained to dream-walk, projecting herself into different planes of existence and using her abilities to influence others. As Troy passes most of his seven-year journey in cryogenic suspension, Eth grows and matures. Her superiors use her powers to try to track and divert the approaching ship, but she is torn between her desires to protect Arbroth and to bring Troy to it. Power and its uses and abuses are at the center of most of the conflicts in this novel. While the secondary characters tend to fit standard stereotypes, especially the greedy colonists, Eth and Troy and their immediate associates are complex and interesting. The story starts slowly but builds to a conclusion that is not unpredictable but still delightful, uniting many loose ends and leaving ample room for a sequel. In all, an intriguing combination of philosophical science fiction and fantasy.?Susan L. Rogers, Chestnut Hill Academy, PA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.