Customer Reviews

A Paradigm of Earth

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Having recently moved to the Canada Great Plains to escape from recent tragedies and feeling alone, Morgan Shelby decides to open her inherited mansion to a bunch of oddball outcasts. Though her boarders are an eccentric group, one particular individual stands out among the crowd.

After an interview and studying her résumé filled with work involving handicapped children, the Canadian government hires Morgan to raise an alien infant Blue. Now one must understand that alien does not mean an immigrant from another country for in Blue's case alien denotes another world. Even more shocking is that Morgan's band of misfits are used to mistreatment and even taunting from an ultra-conservative nation. People find it difficult to accept the androgynous off-world creature. Morgan learns more than her blank slate ET as Blue begins to fill her soul with caring and nurturing even as the government and her other guests see Blue much differently.

A PARADIGM OF EARTH is an exciting character study of the human condition through the interaction of an extraterrestrial being. The story line is incredibly insightful especially when those who have suffered abuse turn abusive. The evolution of Morgan from a vacuous person into a tender and affectionate individual mirrors the development of Blue, which in turn augments the deep look inside the souls of the earthling and her alien guest. Candas Jane Dorsey is quite a talent as she provides science fiction readers with a strong tale, but those fans that need testosterone running amuck need to skip this relationship tale.

Harriet Klausner

A PARADIGM OF EARTH overflows with two qualities that are rare in literature: goodness and sanity. To capture them seems like a modest achievement. But it is not. This wonderful, moving SF parable of humans and aliens negotiating community and risking the boundaries of self is a most humane document--brave, funny, heartbreaking, sexy, dangerous and trustworthy. Candas Jane Dorsey is a writer with perfect human pitch. That, too, is easy to underestimate.

I developed a little test for myself on first opening Candas Jane Dorsey's A PARADIGM OF EARTH. I decided to to wait until this tantalizing word ------ paradigm --- first appeared in the story before looking it up to refine my own gut-feelings about it.

In a way, this was also a test of Dorsey's splendid narrative art as it weaves through a compelling near-future novel, in which an unformed alien and some very unconventional humans are brought together to learn Life 100 in an unexpected context. Well over halfway through (page 264, to be exact) "Blue," a winsome, androgynous extra-terrestrial, declares to the psychically battered Morgan Shelby that she is a chosen human "paradigm" among the dysfunctionals living together in a rambling old house near Edmonton, Alberta. By then, I need not have bothered with a dictionary at all.

While dodging the convoluted systems of Canadian government bureaucracy, untangling layers of conflicted and deceptive sexual liaisons among the odd assortment of people living in her house and coping with the mysterious violence that unexpectedly intrudes on everyday living, Morgan finds herself entrusted with chief caregiver duties for one of a dozen blue-skinned beings suddenly deposited around the world by an alien race. Their plan is to leave these completely unprepared creatures (they're not even toilet-trained!) to be filled with information as a means to learn more about humanity. But from that point on, A PARADIGM OF EARTH powerfully transcends the usual alien/E.T. tale to probe the very core of mature sentient relationships, to visit pain, growth and fear with an empathic intensity few writers achieve so convincingly.

Dorsey takes a bold and risky approach (one that pays off awesomely) by placing all of her characters on the margins of so-called "normal" life. Not only does she create a flamboyant cast of social dropouts and sexually ambiguous eccentrics to fill Morgan's inherited (and expensive-to-run) old house, but even super conditioned by-the-book government officials turn out to have surprising inner lives and emotional attachments that gradually weave meaning into the puzzle.

Tenderness, discovery, betrayal, loss, understanding and affirmation are all part of this potent chemistry of life, from which Blue --- an officially-classified government "secret" living among them --- must learn about Earthlings, while knowing nothing at all about his/her own alien race. The resulting tale is really about one completely displaced entity bonding with another; for Morgan, although rooted in humanity, feels similarly displaced in a universe robbed of meaning and purpose by a series of unhealed losses. Through a gentle interaction of psychic dreaming, a rarified mingling of souls, Blue innately comprehends her despair even while learning to name it.

From the poignant and searching texture of its opening pages, to a surprising but equally poignant leave-taking, A PARADIGM OF EARTH moves richly into the realm of spiritual meaning by way of the complex maze of feelings we call grief --- and comes out the other side into a new and challenging light.

Dorsey, unarguably one of the finest science-fiction writers Canada has ever produced, builds everyday language into an eloquent symphonic fabric of theme and resolution that kept me irresistibly moving from chapter to chapter. Paradigm? The word was perfect; a gentle but uncompromising affirmation that only the wounded can truly understand the art of healing, only the incomplete knows what it means to be whole. Highly recommended.

--- Reviewed by Pauline Finch

Aliens have finally landed on Earth. They have brought with them 13 "babies"...biological forms similar to adult humans (but blue in color) that have been given no knowledge about the world around them in the hopes that the peoples of Earth will raise these "children" so that the aliens can understand what it truly means to be human.

Thirteen nations around the world each get one of the alien babies to guide/instruct as they see fit. This book is the story of how Morgan Shelby (of Canada) raises the alien Blue to be as human as possible...and ultimately more human than she could have imagined at the beginning of their mutual journey.

Ms. Dorsey's story is an eclectic compilation of raw experiences. She does a superb job of delving into what makes each of us collectively human and yet individually unique. There is, of course, the unavoidable social commentary that comes along with books like this...in this case, the commentary revolves primarily around homosexuality. But the story itself is not about being gay, straight, or anything else but being human (and all that that carries with it); thusly, this book is recommended to anyone out there that enjoys strong, character-driven tales that focus on self-discovery.

What fun it is to have the setting as your home town. Although there are some science fiction aspects to the book, it can hardly be described as much more than a typical novel--we are learning about caring, the marginalized and human interactions. I was amused by the political comments reflecting current Alberta ultra conservative politics--obviously the author is as concerned as many of us about the direction the government is taking. The hopping in an out of bed by the protagonist grated somewhat. I kept being told the protagonist was depressed but her ability to work, to care for Blue and her housemates contradicted her assertions. And I could never figure out why her childhood seemed so horrendous. How much of the greiving process reflected Dorsey's own?

But all in all it was a interesting read and encourages me to find other books by Dorsey.

This book was intriguing in concept, but it was just a bit over blown for me. There was too much imagery, melancholy and failed? introspection. So, while the book was interesting and enjoyable in its way I had trouble engaging with it. It felt a bit like a thought exercise rather then real people. In essence it is not really my thing, but interesting and I'm sure exactly what some people are looking to read.

I must say --I loved Black wine -- but this book was a big disapointment. I (thankfully) ordered it used from amazon, and when I had read like 40 or 50 pages I found a little slip of paper the size of a gum wrapper that said "from here on the book sucks - I suggest giving up -D" I found this rather amusing. Now I have no idea who "D" is - but you were right on, girl! But I made it to the end (albeit with some skimming). I found I barely cared about the main charecter and the storyline just plodded along. Lame.
I must say to anyone reading this : Buy Black Wine - that book took me a bit to get into it, but then -AMAzing - the tale was layered and gripping, fascinating. I am not at all surprised it won a fantasy award.
Pass on this one - or borrow it from the library, maybe.