Customer Reviews

The Kindly Ones

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This is one of my favorite books ever. Melissa Scott approaches science fiction with the eye for detail that is the hallmark of the best historical writers. We explore the world of Orestes with her characters, especially Captain Leith Morrigan and Trey Maturin. A stranger to Orestes, Captain Morrigan is drawn into a complex web of intrigue and war, while Trey, a licensed Mediator, is pulled into deadly fights between clan factions. This may seem like a typical plotline, but Scott handles it with the same kind of delicate detail one would expect from Mary Renault. (I re-read this book every year, just like the Persian Boy.) As the clan conflicts turns into open war, we are treated to a beautifully written escape and space travel sequence. (My heart is always in my mouth as Pipe Major makes her final lift from the field at Destiny!) Strongly written female characters are another plus in this hidden treasure!

Greek drama is a major influence, the house of Atreus (a star in the novel), and Grecian naming conventions are used for planets (Orestes, Electra, Agamemnon, etc) and places. Setting is a frontier solar system, where Citizens obey an unforgiving honor code, and breaking it takes away lives. 'Death' is total ostracism from normal society, to the point where a 'para'nim' is treated as invisible and ignored. Mediums are a special caste which talk with the dead and uphold their rights.

The book follows four main character perspectives -- Trey Maturin the deliberately genderless medium a la Caudwell (though referred to as female on my book cover), ex-spaceforce female peacekeeper Captain Moraghan who runs a mail and cargo trade ship in and out of the system, space pilot Guil who is Moraghan's female para'nim lover, and a rotating young male member of the house Halex (varies by chapters). Scott's society is beyond gender, both normal and homosexual relationships are common -- 'my space society of the enlightened future is beyond gender' background. Tons of different character perspectives, but they don't have unique voices, making the book flat.

Pacing-wise, we have detailed descriptions of operatic theater and the lemon-and-pepper scent of racing oversize rutting elk (native fauna), and then the feud starts around page 120ish. Like a real opera, the novel goes through provocation, destruction, revenge, and heroism, but from a detached non-personal viewpoint (weak voices). The genderless medium has an additional layer of detachment to the events going down.

Overall, a book that tries too many distinct forms (novel, drama, social commentary, perspective switching, sci-fi) and ends up doing none well. It's like the author took the phrase 'space opera' to mean she should write an opera-like book set in space. Scott has good setting descriptions, but little else made a lasting impression. I enjoyed Burning Bright by this author much more.