A Hunger in the Soul [Hardcover]

Michael D. Resnick (Author), Mike Resnick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1998

"Hugo and Nebula Award-winner Mike Resnick once again shows why he so often wins those two major honors from fans and writers of the genre of science fiction". -- Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel on a Miracle of Rare Design

Award-winner Mike Resnick takes us on a new journey across alien landscapes in this powerful quest. Dr. Michael Drake, a great medical researcher, chose to disappear into the jungles of the world called Bushveld, but now the human-settled Galaxy needs him to combat a new plague. Journalist-adventurer Robert Markham has determined to locate Drake and bring him back to civilization ... whether he wants to come or not.

"A Miracle of Rare Design has an old-fashioned sense of casual scope and determined exoticism, as explorer-travel writer Xavier Lennox moves from one strange planet to the next like a nineteenth century adventurer seeking new tribes and lost cities in Africa and Asia". -- Locus

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Dr. Michael Drake may have discovered a cure for a mutated form of ybonia, a cross-species plague that is ravaging the galaxy. But Drake has been missing for 15 years and may even be dead. Journalist-adventurer Robert Markham is convinced that Drake is alive. He hires Enoch Stone, a one-legged, washed-up explorer with a mordant sense of humor, to outfit an expedition to the jungle planet of Bushveld, sparing no expense?cameramen, hunters, a doctor, a mechanic, tons and tons of gear and a large contingent of the native Orange-Eyes to serve as porters. But soon, Indiana Jones turns into Ahab. In his zeal to track down the missing doctor, the arrogant Markham's behavior worsens, and he mistreats and ultimately murders the alien bearers. Stone, troubled by Markham's actions, attempts to deflect his employer and defend the apparently hapless Orange-Eyes, as things go increasingly wrong for the expedition. The prolific Resnick (Kirinyaga, etc.), a Hugo and Nebula Award winner, has generated a fast-paced action yarn that delves provocatively into deep themes?particularly, humanity's attempt to colonize new worlds, at the expense of those who live there.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

An ambitious journalist with an instinct for news and a ruthless commitment to his career, Robert Markham travels to the wilderness planet Bushveld. Determined to succeed in his search of Dr. Michael Drake, who disappeared while conducting research into a cure for a viral plague, Markham pursues his goal with murderous zeal. Although Resnick (Kirinyaga, LJ 2/15/98) covers familiar groundAthe evils of colonial expansionAhis latest novel also tells a first-rate survival story that should appeal to fans of sf adventure. Recommended for most sf collections.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (May 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312854382
• ISBN-13: 978-0312854386
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,892,823 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mike Resnick is the author of numerous science fiction novels and short stories, including Dragon America, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: The Amulet of Power, Mutiny, Return to Santiago, and Santiago. He is the editor of This Is My Funniest and has won five Hugo Awards and the Nebula Award. He lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The story of...Stanley & Livingstone...you've never read., March 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Hunger in the Soul (Hardcover)

Remember hearing about how Stanley found Livingstone? Remember the 1939 Spencer Tracy movie glorifying this "great" human effort? Well, hold onto your hats, folks! Here's the REAL story of how Stanley found Livingstone dressed in science fictional clothes. Stanley was not the great man popular sentiment and Hollywood has led us to believe he was. Hugo and Nebula award-winner Mike Resnick tells us the real story in a genre where the unusual, the cruel, and the vicious aren't subject to the political correctness so rampant in today's world. I recommend this book to any lover of science fiction AND truth.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant anti-colonialist novel from a schlock-sci-fi writer, September 23, 2007

By 

The Ol' Strat Player (Tucson, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Hunger in the Soul (Paperback)

This is probably Resnick's best novel. (Yes, better than Kirinyaga.) It's certainly his most political. It's a devastating anti-colonial (and anti-neo-colonial) critique, hidden in a damned good sci-fi adventure novel--and with the political points revealed, not through exposition, but through the words and actions of the characters. Even better, Resnick is a very good writer technically, and he creates believable characters.

Resnick is best known for his schlock space-opera novels (Santiago, Santiago revisited, Santiago yet again, Santiago one more time, Santiago otra vez, Santiago ad nauseam), and I picked this book up expecting an evening of mindless entertainment. Instead, I got an evening of thought-provocation.

It's one of the best sci-fi novels I've read in years, and I read approximately 100 sci-fi novels per year.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Hunger in the Soul is catching, May 31, 2000

By 

Rebecca Brown "rebeccasreads" (Clallam Bay, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Hunger in the Soul (Hardcover)

Journalist-adventurer Robert Markham is out to locate the vanished medical legend, Michael Drake. Markham recruits a medically retired desk-bound explorer-guide to lead him. Meanwhile the fabled Drake has secreted himself away among the natives on a world called Bushveld. This lush & verdant planet is renown for its isolation, its People, the varied & tribal Orange-Eyes & its huge creatures perfect for trophy hunting. This started out wry & dry & ended up a bit drab. Some truly interesting premises & awesome descriptions of a whole 'nother world! Worth the read. END