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Previously in the series, the fem-slave Alldera escapes the men-cities into the grassland wilderness where she is adopted by the Riding Women. These genetically altered nomads are devoid of males, reproducing without them and producing only female children. They are also deadly with the bow and lance. With their help, Alldera invades the men-cities and frees the fems.
Conqueror's Child begins here, with Sorrel, Alldera's daughter. Rape-conceived during Alldera's slave-days but born and raised free among the Riding Women, Sorrel yearns for a relationship with her hero-mother. For years Alldera kept Sorrel safe, far way, while she built a new society in the former men-cities.
Though safe, Sorrel feels herself a misfit--a conqueror's daughter ignorant of battle. She bonds with a fellow misfit, an orphaned child of another escaped slave--a male child. Because he is shunned by the unisex horsewomen, Sorrel adopts him, resolving to find him a better life. With the child, Sorrel rides out for the cities where fems now rule and men still live.
But there's danger in reunions. Sorrel will not only meet her mother but also two of her rapists. Either could be Sorrel's father, and either could betray her.
The appeal of Conqueror's Child spans genres. Readers of both science fiction and women's studies will find it a powerful read in which institutionalized violence is examined through its very personal effects. However, though Charnas's skill lies in crafting the epic, characterization sometimes falls short, especially with minor personas who seem somewhat interchangeable. Regardless, Charnas's works belong among the SF luminaries for her even-handed examination of relationships and sexuality--themes negligently ignored for much of SF's history. --Tamara Hladik --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Like many things that are done without planning and alone, it went badly from the start. Read the first page
Concordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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This final book focuses on the "next generation"; the warriors led by Alldera the Conqueror have won back their homeland, and now her followers must build a new society, where men and woman can live at peace together for the first time in centuries. The renegade male who returns from the wilderness to attack the female-ruled Holdfast proves to be an anachronism; so also, however, does Alldera, already in the process of growing into a legend. The major viewpoint character, Alldera's daughter Sorrel (NOT "adopted daughter"), flees the Grasslands for the Holdfast with a boy child she has taken under her protection. The narrative follows the structure of Dickens' BLEAK HOUSE and Bradley's HERITAGE OF HASTUR, alternating chapters told in the first person by Sorrel with third-person chapters focusing on various other characters, thus combining the advantages of both intimacy and breadth.
Given that men must be kept alive for breeding, must they remain forever prisoners or chattel? Can they ever be trusted? Can they learn to live with females as equals? Can both men and women forget old bitterness and hate? What will become of the new generation of male children? Ambiguous, multifaceted, lifelike characters work together toward answers. Even though there are no "real endings," Sorrel's epilogue ties up a number of loose ends to provide closure for the reader.
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