Informazioni generali

Data di nascita: 1954
Sesso: female
Nazionalità: USA
Luogo di residenza: St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Washington, DC, USA

Utenti

Recensioni

Dark Orbit: A Novel di Carolyn Ives Gilman

I found it a good read, with interesting ideas and things to say. It's about a scientific mission to check out a planet where strange physics stuff seems to be happening.

So far it sounds very conventional, but it isn't. First, there's the composition of the scientific team: there's as much emphasis on hard sciences as in more metaphysical stuff. I found that interesting, but a bit weird. I appreciate that a future society would have different ideas on what's important in science, but a mission funded by a greedy corporation will want tangible results and, frankly, metaphysical sciences are unlikely to bring many of those.

Then we have the natives. They were the best part for me. It's a bit of a copt-out to have a first contact story where the contacted "aliens" are human and even speak English, but in spite of that the natives were refreshingly different and I liked how it felt like both sides had worthwhile things to teach each other. The parts about how differently both cultures perceived things, and how difficult it was for them to learn the others' way was my favorite part.

To spice things up, we also have a murder mystery and some political intrigue that basically boils down to nothing.

I wish we could have had a bit less emphasis on metaphysical mental abilities. It was central to the plot, and that was OK with me, but perhaps I would have preferred a bit less emphasis and less subplots related to that. I'm just not a big fan of that trope.

In line with recent popular themes in SF, many readers will appreciate the emphasis on feminism and looking beyond racial prejudices.

The characters were OK, although they were not the best part of the story for me.

I found the ending satisfying, although some readers might not like that it leaves some things open, either for the readers' imagination or for a future sequel. As I said, it worked for me as it is. I felt like I had a complete story.

In short, not perfect but it had new and cool ideas, and also a story that worked. I enjoyed it and would recommend it.… (altro)

Segnalato

jcm790 | 18 altre recensioni | May 26, 2024 |

Dark Orbit: A Novel di Carolyn Ives Gilman

“His belief system teaches that God is watching him every second, literally. Can you imagine the invasion of privacy?” (p32)
Indeed.

“That’s what buzzwords are. Tranquilizers.”
“Thought suppressants, you mean.” (p33)
Insightful.

Segnalato

ptittle | 18 altre recensioni | Apr 21, 2023 |

Arkfall - Nebula Nominee 2009 di Carolyn Ives Gilman

short, but perfect length. loved it.

will add more when its not 1.10am. Well, I had to finish it!

Segnalato

clairefun | 2 altre recensioni | Oct 27, 2022 |

Halfway Human Mm di C Gilman

I love Gilman's work; the second one I've read from"Twenty Planets." For all the harm to people that gender does, what would happen if you were assigned no gender, and had no reproductive organs? Well, it would cut down on the problems of overpopulation, if a third of humanity were genderless. That could save destruction of the planet. But what if it were a giant eugenics program, and the genderless were used as menials, and were oppressed, cruelly, violently?

Segnalato

burritapal | 10 altre recensioni | Oct 23, 2022 |

Vedi altre recensioni