Customer Reviews

The Judas Rose: Native Tongue II (Native Tongue 2)

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A "sequel" to Native Tongue, the Judas Rose does not really follow very closely on the first book's theme, and worse, does not come to much of a conclusion. A lot of loose threads are left dangling, and don't look to the third book to pick them up again -- it's even worse.

This book also severely broke my suspension of disbelief. The basic premise is that aliens are so vastly superior to Earth civilization that mankind's self-esteem would be crushed if the general public found out how primitive and savage we are compared to other intelligent races. So crushed that our own civilization would fall apart. Umm.... huh? Yes, no doubt there would be consternation and panic if we learned that Earth was a pitiful backwater compared to alien civilizations, but it isn't as if humans have never had to deal with that concept before. Many primitive tribes were traumatized by contact with Europeans, but that was more because the Europeans were predatory colonists, rather than because the "barbarians" had their cultural self-esteem shattered by learning about gunpowder and machines and science and literature. The aliens in this book pity humans but have no desire to victimize them.

The whole idea of the public not being able to handle the truth seems based on Elgin's dominant theme -- that men are in charge, and men are almost universally strutting egotists whose fragile masculinity would be shattered if they learned they are NOT, in fact, masters of the universe.

Again, this is an interesting book, but I didn't take nearly as much away from it as I did from the first, and frankly, I found this book much more annoying.

IN LANGUAGE LIES POWER!

And on a future Earth where genetically bred linguists hold the key to the planet's economic survival because only they can serve as translators between human and alien traders, language has, indeed, become the way to power. But what this future Earth's male-dominated society does not yet realize is that ordinary women as well as linguist can wield this weapon of the mind.

And while mankind vies to claim its place in an alien ruled universe, womankind strives in a unique battle back on Earth, spreading the knowledge of Laadan, the secret language of women. For in laadan lies women's one hope for regaining their freedom - and for saving all humankind!

This is a worthy sequel to "Native Tongue". It is perhaps a little less innovative than the first volume, but carries on quite convincingly.

Her is the premise of the book: Alien superior! It was only coincidence that every Alien civilization we encountered was so advanced beyond the civilizations of Earth that we looked like pathetic savages scrabbling in the dirt by comparison. And I know that in time we will begin to come upon worlds whose peoples are far behind or at best equal to ours. It is impossible for Earth to be the most backward inhabited planet in the known universe. However all of us at the top knew what would happen if the apparent skew toward Alien superiority were to become known to the Terran populations. That way lay hysteria and panic, or worse; that way lay the fate of the dinosaurs. The policy of total deception was implemented at the highest levels, with the fullest understanding that anyone showing the smallest sign of potential for betraying the situation would be killed at once; there would be no exceptions, not even in the White House. WHATEVER HAD TO BE DONE TO KEEP THE PEOPLE OF EARTH EROM KNOWING, IT WOULD BE DONE."