Customer Reviews

Phoenix

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Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (9/06)

Phoenix is a desert colony planet which is inhabited by two groups of people. The day that teacher Anna Devlin discovers that she is pregnant, there is a violent uprising by the Familia faction. She and her husband try to escape outside of the dome. He dies and she loses her baby. Anna is severely injured and loses an eye as a result of the damage from an explosion. Anna now has nothing, no exosuit, food, water, equipment, nanosystems or implants. In her state of shock, she also loses much of her sanity. Anna learns to survive in the horrible desert heat. She also learns to kill for food. No longer able to rely on nanopods to control her pain and hunger, she discovers a plant based product called sapbalm. She is able to use it to numb her pain both internally and externally.

As Anna makes her way back to the dome she develops an understanding of the symbiotic relationships between the desert animals and plants. When she finally reaches the dome, she discovers that it has been shattered and that the survivors within are living in a very primitive manner. They cannot help her. As a matter of fact, she is viewed as a threat. The children call her a witch and believe that she is to be feared. Her grotesque appearance caused by her facial injury does not help. In time, when Anna helps save a boy, she discovers that the survivors believe that she has cast a spell on the adults in the group because they are dying off. Anna does realize that her actions made her responsible for their deaths. She helps them stop the problem. The children start calling her "Holy Mother." She starts educating them again. She still has to deal with the trauma caused by the memories of her tragedies. She uses the sapbalm internally to help control this.

The plot was really well developed. Learning about the desert life and the symbiotic relationship of the plants and animals made the story seem very real and very well developed. I really enjoyed this story. The author writes in such a descriptive way that I felt like I was actually feeling Anna's pain and anguish. Her excitement of discovering that she is pregnant and then the tormented pain of losing the child and her husband really reached into my heart. When she had to kill for food for the first time, I could also relate to the emotions that she was experiencing. I enjoyed following her as she developed strategies to survive in the horrible desert with predatory creatures coming after her. She turned into a very strong woman.

"Phoenix" is a must read for science fiction fans.

Received book free of charge.

Ken Rand's heroine, Anna Devlin, is rendered so realistically that you almost expect her to walk out of the arid desert of her world and into your living room. Rand's power is in his characters. Anna makes you care about her plight, she tempts you to learm more of her world, she makes you root for her. Phoenix is not only a quality sci-fi novel, it's an exploration of inner strength and a reminder to us all that our reserves of human stamina are deeper than we think.