18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thunderously Good Freshman Novel!, May 11, 2001
This review is from: Thunder Rift (Mass Market Paperback)
In the late 21st century, a massive electromagnetic pulse explodes in deep space, out near Jupiter. Sensitive electronics on Earth are disrupted, triggering a global economic depression.
Taria Spears, a New Zealander with Maori heritage, is conceived the very night "Thunder" (as the disturbance is called) appears and grows up in this tough new world. Her parents struggle to make a living, even traveling to China to find work. Taria's mother, reluctant to assimilate to the Chinese lifestyle, is killed by a market vendor over a simple, avoidable misunderstanding - an event which scars Taria for life. Eventually Taria and her father move to the United States, where she matures into an intelligent, well-educated, yet troubled young woman. She is obsessed with "Thunder" and feels a special kinship to it. Probes have determined that Thunder is actually a wormhole to another star system. Recovering from the technological setback, the leading nations of Earth decide to mount a large manned expedition through Thunder, in hopes of making contact with its creators. Taria wins a coveted spot on the expedition.
Once through Thunder, the expedition finds an Earth-like planet (which they dub "Little Sister") inhabited by intelligent, blue-skinned bipeds who use hearing, rather than sight, as their primary method of sensing the environment. The expedition quickly decides that the medieval "Blues" are too primitive to have been the Makers of Thunder, but Taria volunteers to stay behind and learn what she can about these intriguing aliens. Once there she must confront the unfathomable customs of the Blues, while striking a balance between the demands of her superiors and her ever-changing perceptions of Blue culture.
Thunder Rift is an excellent first novel by Matthew Farrell. It has pretty much everything you could ask for in a science fiction adventure - a believable, complex protagonist; a brilliantly conceived alien society; and a well-paced story that never drags. Taria is a character we can admire, placed in situations which test her flaws to the limit.
Farrell claims Thunder Rift is intended as a stand-alone novel, which is just as well, in my opinion. It's hard to imagine a sequel that could top the original.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A powerful and dramatic story!, May 5, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Thunder Rift (Mass Market Paperback)
This is a powerful novel examing perception and prejudice via a First Contact situation. The characters are finely drawn and realistic, the alien society is complex and interesting, and the the plots twists are exciting. Farrell has used an interesting structure, moving back and forth between the protagonist's present and past to deepen our understanding of her situation and her choices. All in all, a terrific book!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
What Book Did They Read?, February 8, 2002
This review is from: Thunder Rift (Mass Market Paperback)
...On its own terms, Thunder Rift is a nicely done book. It does, however, require fairly close reading to both follow what is going on and figure out why that matters (which is far from a criticism). It certainly has allegorical/symbolical aspects, but they are properly foreshadowed and internally consistent with the book, and do not result in just a "fairy tale"--which, in any event, is a description, not an evaluation. While I agree that the alternating-chapter structure was a bit difficult to follow, there is an actual narrative strategy behind it that appears to have escaped the shallow reading of a prior reviewer.
Thunder Rift is not a perfect book. No book is a perfect book, and I'm far from an easy judge....
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