The Others: A Science Fiction Novel [Paperback]

Margaret Wander Bonanno (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2000

This is an Authors Guild/BIP title. Please use Authors Guild/BIP specs. author bio box: please use author bio from author info page. book description: What if Columbus had stumbled upon a 21st-century civilization in the New World? The Others and its sequels Otherwhere and Otherwise explore the inevitable conflict that arises from such a clash of cultures through the eyes of two women, one from each world, whose love and courage transcend time and ideology.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This intricate and elegiac novel concerns the meeting of two species that occupy one world and tells how the more primitive and vigorous race eventually moves to destroy the other. Facing death along with the rest of the Others, Lingri the Chronicler looks back over her life, telling of her youth as a Monitor from a more advanced culture secretly studying the vigorous, artistic and passionate People. The Others, on the other hand, had suppressed strong emotion for centuries, in the interest of peace and order, with science taking the place of the "disruptive" arts. Lingri moves obliquely from the doomed present to her disguised encounters with a young woman who becomes her first friend among the People, to the first open meeting between the two species. Flashbacks and documents concerning the stormy People/Other relationship illuminate how a leader appealing to the disaffected People came to power, making the Others scapegoats for the chaos and dislocation brought about by the advent of modern Other technology. Bonanno ( Risks and two Star Trek novels) crafts strong characters and depicts vividly distinctive societies in this thoughtful and unusual tale.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

A race of long-lived thinkers, scientists, telepaths, and pacifists nurtures a race of short-lived primitives only to discover that they have planted the seeds of their own destruction. Through the eyes of Lingri the Inept, chronicler of her doomed people, a study in mismanaged cultural relations becomes an intensely personal meditation on the fragility of good intentions. Star Trek novelist Bonanno demonstrates her ability to create believable cultures in this thoughtfully written, cautiously hopeful sf drama. Recommended.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (June 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595006892
• ISBN-13: 978-0595006892
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,996,412 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Science Fiction / Fantasy, Well-Worth Looking For, April 13, 2000

By 

"jfbtaylor" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Others (Hardcover)

Two races, living on isolated continents, inhabit a fertile planet. The Others are a peaceful, technologically-advanced, spiritual species, reminiscent of Vulcans (except without the hint of repressed emotion). They live lives of quiet contemplation and inner growth. The People are a warlike, unsophisticated, primitive race with a culture and technological level similar to Earth's European feudal period. Eventually, after an initial period of hero-worship by the People of The Others, the barbaric impulse to genocide causes the People to turn the technological gifts of The Others against them. Any interesting tale that reminded me of Michael Moorcock's "Chronicles of Corum" in which savage humans (Mabden) destroy a decadent, advanced race out of jealosy. I think also that there is a strong Star Trek influence in the portrayal of The Others (i.e. the Vulcans) and in the situation (remember the original series episode where "Nazis" are warring against their racial "inferiors" who were at one time their benefactors.) It was irritating to me to have the author create a race that seemed to have NO concept of self-defence even when their children and their entire existence is threatened but that may be a sign of how real this imaginary world was. Worth-looking for. Imagine, I found my hardback copy at a Rehab Hospital so something good came out of my accident!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars dwellers redone, May 23, 2002

By 

David Mcanulty (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Others: A Science Fiction Novel (Paperback)

if you liked dwellers in the crucible, and want more, this is the book for you.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars dwellers redone, May 23, 2002

By 

David Mcanulty (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Others: A Science Fiction Novel (Paperback)

if you liked dwellers in the crucible, and want more, this is the book for you.