Customer Reviews

Glory Season

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

In truth, i read this book and did little else for a couple days (and i have two small children, one big dog, and a husband for which to care). David Brin is among my favorite authors partly because he knows the science he that one can always found weaved deftly into his science fiction. There's almost nothing more off-putting to me then to read some really wrong science "fact" in a scifi novel. Brin always gets his science right AND he is amazingly creative in the invention of his worlds, such as the one he created here, and populated with real-seeming people.

This book has some lovely bits in it. For example, the part about Maia finding the truth of her and Leie's names was such a cruel blow and was incredibly well-written as well as furthering the book in an important manner by allowing Maia to begin cutting the strings binding her to the childish dream she and Leie shared.

I felt cheated with the ending, however, and wondered if he simply needed to finish it in a hurry. That ending seemed to pat, too easy, dealing death too conveniently, to be the result of careful planning and strategy. The person who died didn't have to, shouldn't have. The conflict and tension between that character and Maia should have been worked out another way.

_Glory Season_ left me wishing and hoping i'll stumble across another of Brin's books, unread and unknown to me, soon. Maybe he's finishing another one now ..

This is an excellent book. Brin imagines the kind of world that would result from a very carefully designed human colonization effort. The Founders of Stratos wanted their world to be pastoral - to have people for the most part using tools that could be crafted by hand, to have them abandon spaceflight. They accepted that economics and politics would sometimes lead to unrest and violence, so they crafted the culture of the planet so that lethal force was considered taboo. They saw mankind's obsession with physical love, and the strength and temperment of men, as major flaws in the species. Finally, they chose a location for the colony that would be likely to be overlooked by the rest of humanity.

The colonists of Stratos are genetically modified so that both genders have "rutting" seasons, much like other mammals. However, these seasons are offset from each other, so that whenever one side is interested, the other could care less. This causes procreation to be much more a matter of barter and economics than love, impulse, etc. Also, the women are capable of conceiving normally or of bearing a child that is a clone of themselves.

From these premises, Brin builds a fascinating culture - one that is conservative and enduring.

Set against this backdrop is a familiar storyline, of a smart young innocent setting out on her own, witnessing things that were meant to remain secret, and getting swept up in the midst of intrigue and adventure. Given the low tech level of Stratos, the story often feels like a standard adventure set in pre-industrial times. However, the depth of the setting, and the differences in attitude and philosophy of the characters, keeps the whole thing feeling novel and interesting.

The ending was a bit anticlimactic, but I think that was part of the point. Even after all the remakable things that the main character learns and sees, her world doesn't change very much...for now. Since the ending was so appropriate, I didn't have the same dissatisfaction with it that others did.

My one complaint with the book was that parts of the plot began to get predictable. Any time the main character gets close to figuring something out or achieving something, she invariably gets hit over the head or nearly drowns. She then spends some time either recovering or in captivity. Repeat as necessary.

Overall, an intriguing read, more because of the setting and character development than due to the plot. Excellent science fiction.

Ok, I'm imagining a drinking game--every time David Brin uses the words "route" or "ululation," take a drink. Every time the heroine of Glory Season, Maia, goes unconscious, take a drink. After a few chapters, you and your friends will be too blind to read any more.

Science fiction is not about the future, but about the present, and Brin likes to push buttons on 20th century issues with his books. in Earth, he tackled environmentalism, in the Uplift books, he allegorically ponders racial diversity and tolerance. In Glory Season, Brin has written a dependable, if heavy-handed adventure, imagining a future feminism in a matriarchal world of mostly cloned women, but there's a lot more going on here than some tables-are-turned male-bashing.

Taking a cue from noir detective novels, the author has Maia, a good-hearted and bright young woman who finds herself at the lowest rungs of society, gradually unraveling a twisted plot, complete with double-crosses, unlikely allies, and even an exotic "homme fatale"(?) from outer space. And what private dick story would be complete without the protagonist getting conked on the head repeatedly?

Brin's prose is serviceable, and he loves to pepper the action with extrapolated future words, corrupted from familiar English in a way that's just too precious sometimes. Also bordering on too-cute is the unquenchable optimism. Maia takes on loss, grief, kidnapping, beating, betrayal, torture, imprisonment, shipwreck, starvation, prostitutes, drug dealers, guerillas, pirates, all with Dickensian pluck and resourcefulness.

Despite the silliness, though, Glory Season really has some Points to Ponder, some hardcore anthropological and evolutionary speculation, and lots of geeky humor (for example, in every Brin book, at least one character has to put on a fake Scottish accent at least once, no matter how unlikely, and Glory Season is no exception). Fans of traditional sci-fi adventure will appreciate it.

This is one of the best sci-fi books I have ever read, and if you read many of my reviews you will realise that I do not say this lightly, nor do I often award five stars for anything.

This is an intriguing and intelligent book set in a world where women dominate life in great families of female clones and where men are the lesser species. Both species are ruled by sexual urges, but at different times of the year, Summer for men and Winter for women. The result is a stagnant population level.

We follow two sisters who are of low status because they are Summer babies, not clones, who travel together to pretend they are clone sisters. They run into a man from "normal" humankind who has come to bring this planet back into the human collective and is imprisoned by the great families who do not want their stable society disrupted.

This is a great adventure story told against the backdrop of a rich history on a planet that is moving slowly away from technology in a reverse development towards an agrarian existence. The great families of clone sisters are the equivalent of medieval feudal families who kept Europe in stagnant thrall for so long in the middle ages.

This book is in some ways like 1984 by George Orwell, where the great families take the role of big brother to keep things stable, but in a feminine, non agressive way.

The book is littered with sub plots, each rich and full in its own way, a drug running scam, a war with an extraterrestrial species, the story of setting up the planet and the genetic enhancements required to adapt humans to it, the travels of the sisters and the game of life played by the sailors.

The worst thing about this book is that it ever ends. This is a world you want to stay in because it is so full and interesting.

This is, in my opinion, David Brin's crowning work, and one of my favorite books of all time.

It is an engaging and entertaining read, with something to offer almost anyone; there are aspects of mystery, fantasy, high seas, romance, adventure, and of course, science fiction.

This book follows the story of Maia, a young girl born to both a mother and a father on a world where society is dominated by of clans of specially skilled female clones. It is in part a strange coming of age story, as Maia tries to find her own niche to fill, hoping to found a clan of her own. Her world of Stratos, she finds, has something of a dark past, a past which soon becomes very much a part of her present as she travels over most of the face of her world, meeting a whole host of intriguing characters... including one who may bring their world's past to the present for their entire society.

David Brin outdid himself (and most authors) with the detail and complexity of the world and society present in every aspect of this book.

The only drawback to this book is that often men will be turned away from it by the 'feminism' of said society; it is extremely woman-based, and many men seem to think this is a slur upon men in general. In this reader's opinion, however, it is just a study on a potential societal development thanks to certain technological advances, and not intended in any way as a slur on anyone, except perhaps the tendencies of human civilization as a whole.

Even the length of the book (which is considerable) I cannot in any way consider a drawback. In fact, when I finished it the first time, all I could do was wish that it had been even longer. It is never slow or boring, really, and you continue to want to turn the pages all the way through it.

All in all, this is a book I would... and do... recommend to anyone with even the vaguest interest in science fiction.

One reader commented that this book is "not up to Brin's standards." Never having read Brin before, I can't say if that's true, but I can say that if this book is below average for him, his others must be truly amazing.

GLORY SEASON is both a tale of high adventure and a thoughtful, mature exploration of where technology and idealism can take us. I'm highly critical of writing style -- especially in SF/Fantasy novels, which can be quite poor -- but the writing here is so smoothly and effortlessly crafted that I never had to think about it. Through 764 pages, it kept me glued to my seat and begging for more, trying to unravel the mysteries before Maia (the smart, stubborn heroine of the tale) could get captured or knocked out or thrown overboard again, and wake up to another piece of the puzzle.

This is good stuff: immediate escape reading that leaves you with something to think about. It's not a combination I come across often, or at least not put together so well with seamless writing, fascinating plot, and a strong human interest. Read some good SciFi for a change.

This is a book that I adored until the final let's call it 20 pages or so. The culture of this matriarchal world was painted in an intelligent way without resorting to some form of amazonian fantasy, with checks and balances in their system. The characters were engaging and the over-reaching plot was fascinating... and then the ending comes. What impact would the ending of a Sherlock Holmes mystery have if Moriarity fiendishly clever were to blurt out the details of his plan ala a James Bond villain? What impact the ending of the initial Star Wars trilogy if the Emperor had tripped and fallen down that shaft?

The journey of these characters, and what you learn about them, leads towards one resolution, and the ending comes not so much as a 'surprise' as an incredible let-down..... I was heartily disappointed.

This is the best book that I've read in years. Brin explores one of science fictions most popular themes, a matriarchal society, but unlike almost every other attempt, the world of Stratos is not filled with ridiculous stereotypes of sword weilding amazons and meek child sized men. Instead, Brin has created a world where women seeking to solve some of the real problems that they have faced throughout history utilize bio-technology to craft a "utopian" society. The result is one of the most thought provoking works of fiction that I have ever read.

Once again, I finished a David Brin novel hungry: hungry for more of the world and for more of the characters. This is one of the more interesting feminist worlds, that has surprising variety, despite the proponderance of clones as the primary reproductive method. It is also a world approaching a period of fast changes, brought on by a courier from the worlds they left behind, with a message they cannot ignore. The reader doesn't see the end, only the beginning of these changes, which is why I was hungry to see more of how this culture will adapt to the news and the changes it will bring.

It's a novel of coming-of-age. Maia, the protagonist is a young adult, cast out to discover her own talents and worth. At the end, we see the emerging adult in Maia, as well as others of her generation. Only the complexity of the themes prevent Glory Season from being a 'young adult' novel. (I like a good young adult novel, I should add.)

Does Brin create a believable world? Given its basic premises, I'd say yes. The details are many: this is no cardboard structure in which the characters and plot ramble. It is a richly textured and well thought out world. Although women are dominate, men have not only procreative function, but also their own niches and culture.

I was smiling when I finished this book: I can still say I haven't read a Brin I didn't like.

While I am a fan of Brin's other books (particularly the Startide Rising series) this book just seems an unending series of adventures without a rousing conclusion. Whoever did the editing for this book should take a hard look at it again. It's about 250-300 pages too long. Having said that, leave it to Brin to create yet another fascinating world and characters. I was especially intrigued by the mysterious history of Stratos and the way it slowly emerged.