Ending dropped the ball a bit. But intriguing all around. ( )

Interesting world-building and a variety of characters make this book intriguing. Set on a dismal world three centuries after the arrival of human colonist, Jahna comes in response to a mysterious demand from the current inhabitants. VanScyoc does an excellent job of creating a miserable culture, split between the pious settlers and the strange mutations born of them. With only a few paragraphs, VanScyoc can tell what other authors take pages to tell. She does an excellent job of creating tension and mystery, keeping you with the story until the end.
My qualm is the ending. Despite finding out what the big mystery is, the story ends with a feeling of incompleteness , as if there ought to be a sequel or at least, an epilogue. Additionally, VanScyoc used the stock aboriginal character – the grass-hunt dance-to-drums native that appears in much of the action-adventure pulp stories of the 60s and 70s – which makes sense as this was published in 1974. Still, this was a tiresome trope then and it hasn’t improved any.
While I enjoyed the world she built and the mystery (and science) used for the plot, it was somewhat spoiled for due to the above. However, this is a classic vintage science fiction novel, with a female author, and worth reading for the story and the history. ( )

Merely Ok. ( )

Van Scyoc is a wonderful 'creator of new worlds'! No cliches here. A compelling read. Have minor quibbles with some details but overall she is an excellent standout of a SF author. ( )