City Of Pearl [Mass Market Paperback]

Karen Traviss succeeds in this in impressive fashion with an economy of language that keeps the story moving while at all times adding flesh to an already meaty book.

You have to watch Traviss, she moves on you and is hard to pin down. To simply call City of Pearl science fiction is to take away the fact that Traviss deftly mixes hard science, politics, romance, military jargon, religion and more in a seamless fashion.

Her sense of pacing and plot is excellent as the story moves from the always difficult task of initially setting the world up to getting involved with the meat of the plot. Traviss never overloads the reader with info dumps yet she gives depth to the world through which her characters walk with a sure hand.

Even though the fate of the main character is mildly predictable, this is easily forgiven as it sets the stage for what promises to be an intriguing series that is sure to contain many suprises.

Traviss closes the book well, giving the reader a sense of satisfaction and closure while at the same time placing the threads of the story that will continue her next book CROSSING THE LINE.

I can't wait

What is best about Traviss's writing is her main character, a police woman who comes off as gruff and cynical as any gothic alchohol-saturated private eye. (Although she doesn't drink.) Her beat seems to be enforcement of ecological laws in the bleak future of the world. She expects the worst of people and generally gets it, so what is interesting is what happens when she is plonked down in the midst of an otherworldly colony of vegan eco-fanatics that are sheparded by some sort of super-altrusitic alien.

That's where the story breaks down a bit. The motiviations of the super-alien are recognizable, but unconvincing. You can cut the author some slack because after all it is an alien we are talking about here but the entire history of the story here is turning about his whim. That is too small a fulcrum for the size of the lever -- the possible movement at the work-end is too limited.

Also, the resolution is a bit too predictable.

Perhaps this will be improved in the sequels, so I am looking forward to seeing them.

Other reviewers have outlined the basics of the story, so I won't cover the same ground. For real SF fans, Traviss has drawn on many of the great themes and genre predecessors, but has made them convincingly her own. While reading, I found in parts echoes of Anthony's 'Macroscope', Clarke's 'Childhood's End', Asimov's 'The Gods Themselves', Larry Niven's oeuvre and einlein's 'Starship Troopers' to name a few -- but creatively built upon with terrific characterizations and a unique perspective. I really can't wait to see what becomes of these new literary 'friends', and the worlds they inhabit, next!