White Queen [Hardcover]

Gwyneth Jones (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1993

When humanoid aliens invade Earth early in the twenty-first century, they claim to desire only a peaceful settlement, but their presence changes the world in disturbing ways. By the author of Divine Endurance.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It's 2038 and the earth has been devastated by tectonic shifts accompanied by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The U.S. has undergone a socialist revolution, retro-viruses are rampant and most technology relies on a powerful organic "clay" instead of microprocessors. When aliens land near American-exile Johnny Guglio's adopted African home, Braemar Wilson, a cutthroat reporter, befriends him to get a jump on the story. Though no one knows the alien's intent, White Queen, an anti-alien group, begins working to undermine human trust. Even as ambassadors from both worlds talk, Braemar and Johnny must work together find themselves in a unique position to uncover the truth. The book won the 1991 James Tiptree Jr. Award. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Jones ( Divine Endurance ) turns her incisive talent toward a perennial science fiction theme: first contact with aliens. By 2038, Earth has been devastated by tectonic shifts accompanied by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The U.S. has undergone a socialist revolution, retro-viruses are rampant, and most technology relies on a powerful organic "clay" instead of microprocessors. American exile Johnny Guglioli, infected with a virus inimical to human tissue and the computer clay, meets cutthroat reporter Braemar Wilson, who sees Johnny as a way to get closer to aliens rumored to have landed near Johnny's adopted African home. But before she can break the story, the aliens make contact themselves, and the expected havoc breaks out. Are the aliens powerful saviors, seductive invaders, opportunistic pirates--or a bit of each? While ambassadors talk, an anti-alien group, White Queen, works behind the scenes to undermine human trust. Jones's viewpoint is always fresh and provocative, and, despite a basically human appearance, her aliens are the most convincingly alien beings to grace science fiction in years. Jones's unusual ending amply demonstrates why the British edition of this novel won the James Tiptree Award last year. This mind-bending look at meeting the alien is one readers will not soon forget.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 316 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (June 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312854927
• ISBN-13: 978-0312854928
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,191,243 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gwyneth Jones, born in Manchester UK, 14th February 1952, is the author of many novels for teenagers, fantasy, horror and thrillers, using the name Ann Halam, and several highly regarded sf and fantasy novels for adults. Her critical essays and reviews are collected in Deconstructing The Starships, 1999 and Imagination/Space 2009. Among other honours she's won two World Fantasy awards, the Children of the Night award, the Philip K Dick award, the BSFA award and the Pilgrim award for Science Fiction criticism. Several of her novels have been nominated for the Arthur C Clarke award, the latest being Spirit, 2009; she won the award for Bold As Love in 2002. She lives in Brighton, UK, with her husband and son, some goldfish and two cats called Ginger and Milo; likes old movies, practices yoga & has done some extreme tourism in her time. Hobbies include gardening and cooking, and playing with her websites.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars What am I missing here?, June 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: White Queen (Paperback)

I really, really wanted to be impressed by "White Queen", because of what I'd read about it. But I found it nearly incomprehensible. When I finally finished reading the book (and it was a challenge to finish it), I sat back, sighed, and quoted myself a little Shakespeare about sound and fury.

I don't recommend it, and I think I owe my sci fi book club an apology for choosing it as this month's reading selection.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sedate Alien Encounter Novel, July 7, 2004

By 

C. Baker "cbaker" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: White Queen (Hardcover)

Book Review by C. Douglas Baker

Set in 2039-40 A.D., this novel of first contact creates an almost credible near future earth and avoids the cliche of vastly superior aliens swooping down to subjugate humanity and strip its resources. Instead, Jones' aliens live among humans for awhile, cloaking their existence, until a strange emotional relationship between Johnny Guglioli, a UFO chaser, and Agnes/Clevel, an alien residing in Africa, leads to their discovery. Jones spends a lot of time creating our future world doing a credible job on technological and ecological aspects but the socio-political aspects are more alien, and unlikely, than the extraterrestrials. For example, the United States has been overthrown by socialists and are minor players in world politics. Equally unlikely is the lackadaisical response of the Earth's population to the discovery of aliens and the central role played by politically marginal actors in dealing with them.

Johnny Guglioli, the most interesting character, is infected with a "petrovirus" that destroys the substance "blue clay", which evidently has replaced silicon as the key data processing material. Being a former "eejay" or engineering journalist, his occupation is destroyed because he can no longer work with computers or similar machinery because his virus destroys the data processing capabilities of the "blue clay". Having his livelihood ruined he chases UFOs as a hobby, leading to his encounter with Agnes/Clevel, an alien who reveals itself to him. Enter Braemer Wilson, a journalist ostensibly searching for a story who seems to have information about aliens possibly living in Africa. The emotional triangle that develops between Guglioli, the alien Agnes/Clevel, and Braemer Wilson leads down a winding path of human and alien interaction, neither side quite trusting nor understanding the other. Through the emotional attachments of these characters the reader learns about the physical and spiritual components of the aliens. Their interactions raise the intensity level of the story and serve as a microcosm of the meandering search for understanding, frequented by severe misunderstandings, between alien and human throughout the novel.

White Queen's depiction of earth a little over fifty years from now does not seem quite authentic. And even though the aliens attempt to shield themselves from human observation, the groping attempts at mutual understanding seem too restrained for such a momentous event. White Queen is barely saved by its interesting human/alien interactions.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "White Queen" is an unnerving and rewarding read, May 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: White Queen (Paperback)

This is a dense cyberpunk crack at the alien-invasion motif, carried out with a highly-developed grasp of concept. Despite its ambiguity, I found myself reading this in one or two sittings. Weird and worthy.