Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mirabile!, August 25, 2002
What can I say about Janet Kagan? She's written three books, and all three of them could have been justly called Mirabile (Wonderful in Latin). The other two, Hellspark and Uhura's Song are also favorites, but Mirabile is a delight, and just pure fun. Kangaroo rexes! Odders! Tulip bats! Oh the wonderful and surprising things that can happen to the wildlife when someone's been mucking around in their genepool. Annie Jason Masmajean is our heroine, I guess you would call her profession field genetics. It's her job to provide the colonists of Mirabile with the critters and plants they need to survive, and ensure that the strange beasties that keep cropping up (The scientists back on earth got cute with genetic redundancy), don't harm the colonists or the vital species that they need. It's a very light-hearted read, but not lacking one iota of depth. Between this book and her other two Janet Kagan has me itching for more. Anything she produces, I will buy, and there are very few authors I can say that about.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very funny and intelligient book., July 24, 2000
Mirabile is one of the best books I have read in a long time. As much I liked Hellspark, Mirabile was even better. I LOVED it in because in addition to being intelligent, Kagan has a wonderful sense of humor. I laughed so often reading Mirabile and found myself decidedly attached to the characters. One of the neat things about it is that it is a collection of short stories, but the collection is more cohesive than some novels I have read. I tried not to read the whole book too quickly, but .... well, like a box of good chocolates it was over too soon. This book is packed with great characters, action, adventure, and (best of all) weird critters. My only complaint is that this book is out of print. My one good copy is not something I want to lend out. Others I have found on the web start at some pretty hefty prices. I would love to buy a bunch of books to give as gifts and to lend out. The folks who reprinted Hellspark can be contacted at Meisha.Merlin@USA.net and do take suggestions for books to reprint. Perhaps they could be persuaded to do us all a favor and reprint Mirabile.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The all-time high -Accurate, well written, funny, scary!, June 18, 1997
By A Customer
Mirabile is the best linked short-story collection of sci-fi I have ever read--it is really more like a single book with very well defined chapters. The stories stick in your mind, making you want to read it over and over again, and every time you do--you will find something new!
It is suitable for all ages and interests, exceptionally good at pointing out the ecological niches of organisms known and unkown and how they might relate on a new planet...
From cows to bats, firestarting plants to fuzzywillies, Kagan has a handle on just how things might be made to work.
The best of the sci-fi market, Janet Kagan has only one fault in my mind -- I can't wait for more
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