Customer Reviews

Syzygy

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The story takes place in Riverside, a small seaside town on a planet called Arcadia. This planet has six moons, and precisely every fifty-two years the moons align in such a way that unusually high tides result. The last time that this has happened, the colonization of the planet had just started. The reports from that time are confusing. Only one thing is known for sure: many lives were lost. Now it's nearly 52 years later, and the people are understandably nervous.

Some of the characters have more problems than others. The story is told from the POV of Mark Swindon, a marine biologist, whose wife-to-be ended up dead the day before their wedding. Many villagers are suspecting him of murder, however the gutsy little sister of the dead woman is convinced of his innocence.

The story weaves between the mysterious ecology of the planet and the personal troubles of the main protagonist, with both plot strands eventually coming together in a thrilling finale.

Syzygy deserves special mentioned for having a grumpy old woman as a supporting heroine - not often seen in SF. Also, it treats the life on Arcadia as dangerous but not monstrous - man is the intruder who carelessly stumbled into the complex ecology of the plant.

I once visited a little coastal town of Kingston, in South Australia. Mounds of seaweed as high as haystacks were rotting on the beach. It is a testament to the power of Michael G Coney's writing skills that the scene reminded me vividly of his book that I've read more than a decade before. (But I won't tell you why it reminded me of "Syzygy" - you'll have to read the novel to find out!)

Finally, I should mention Michael Coney three-in-one sequel "Brotomek!" which combines the world (and many of the characters) of "Syzygy", a character from "Charisma" and the science fiction concept from "Mirror Image".