Jackal Bird [Hardcover]

Michael Barley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 14, 2003

Jackal Bird follows the terraforming and political evolution of the colony world of Isurus, also called "New Foster", where the colonist’s children play a dangerous game designed to indoctrinate them into an adult life of revolution, political turmoil and cultural upheaval. Intrigue, conflict, and intricate maneuvering are the norms on a world where control means everything, and survival is the most dangerous game of all.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"As richly evocative and endlessly inventive as anything by Ursula K. LeGuin..." - Spider Robinson -

About the Author

Michael Barley has recently published the novella Woman In The Wood, one of four novellas in a collection titled Seven Days In December. As well as an author, he is a practicing Canadian architect.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 298 pages
• Publisher: Tesseract Books; 1 edition (January 14, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1895836115
• ISBN-13: 978-1895836110
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,396,180 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born in England, and our family came to Canada in 1948. I am an architect, and have always enjoyed writing. My first major publication was 1984. My books include 'Jackal Bird', 'Seven Days In December' (a group effort - I am one of it's four authors) and 'Northline', the latter two published by Imago Press.
My wife and I have several children, as well as numerous grandchildren.
My father has just become a centenarian - 'Northline' was dedicated to him. He got me started on trains when I was a child. 'Northline' is, essentially, a dystopian novel about a special type of train.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Adventure on an Astounding New World, May 2, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Jackal Bird (Mass Market Paperback)

Michael Barley's debut novel "Jackal Bird" received some great reviews, no doubt encouraging him to complete his later novels.

In the New York Review of Science Fiction, Douglas Barbour said Jackal Bird "creates a world as marvelous and believable as Frank Herbert's Dune..., linking together stories of childhood, war, betrayal, intrigue, and love that are both richly complicated and utterly rooted in its invented world."

SF legend Spider Robinson said that Barley "combines a poet's eye and an architect's intuitive sense of structure to create a lavishly detailed, real-seeming, yet constantly surprising world, in which he has set an intricate and compelling story of love, betrayal and redemption."

In Barley's novel, the Jackal Bird is a native creature facing extinction on a planet slowly being terraformed by man -- one of the ethical conundra Barley presents during the narrative. To his credit, he handles these issues subtly rather than beating them over the reader's head.

Barley also paces the flow of information about the past and future of this distant world with equal skill. While the descriptions of the present are richly detailed, he provides only hints that guide the reader towards figuring out what has happened in the past and what the future will bring. The result is a layered vision with the illusion of great depth.

The novel contains a vision of technology more consistent than most. Barley has refrained from filling it with improbable devices and keeps the weapons, communication systems and interstellar transportation compatible with current scientific thinking. The technology is presented to add to the realism of the novel's invented world, rather than for its own sake.

If this book has a flaw, it is perhaps that the dialog is sometimes a bit strained during the latter half. But, taken in context, this is a minor stain on a large canvas. Overall, Jackal Bird is a gripping story of the potential, and limits, of human nature.

-gsf