Moon Flash [Mass Market Paperback]

 

 

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Firebird Books has put out some excellent reprints, such as Midori Snyder's Oran Trilogy and the wonderful Redwall books. But they have outdone themselves with Patricia McKillip's "Moon-Flash" duology. It's bittersweet, beautifully written, and serves as an unusual coming-of-age story.

In the first book "Moon-Flash," Kyreol is a young woman living in the jungle valley of Riverworld, which the inhabitants believe is the entire universe. But while unhappily living with her betrothed's family, Kyreol encounters the strange Hunter, and realizes that he is from somewhere else. And wherever he came from, Kyreol knows that her long-lost mother went there.

So she and her childhood friend Terje escape down the River. When they finally make their way to the Hunter and his people, Kyreol and Terje are taken to a lunar Dome far above their home. Together, they will find that the universe is more complex than they ever knew -- and that nothing in Riverworld, even the sacred Moon-Flash, is what they think it is.

"The Moon and the Face" picks up four years later. Terje and Kyreol have been trained by the Agency, and are now ready for their first assignments. Terje will be accompanying Regny back to Riverworld, to observe its inhabitants, and Kyreol will be going to a nearby planet to observe the lightless Burrowers.

Except neither mission turns out right: Kyreol's spaceship crashes on a desert planet, stranding her in an abandoned city with an unknown alien. To make matters worse, she is plagued by dreams of death. And Terje returns to his old village, only to find that the Healer (Kyreol's father) is dying.

Patricia McKillip began writing the "Moon-Flash" story while she was in the middle of another science fiction book. And like her other sci-fi stories, "Moon-Flash" is light-years away from typical space operas.

McKillip's dreamy, detailed writing is still in full force here, whether she's writing about a lunar base, a rainforest, a graveyard, or a colorless city on an alien moon. Even her aliens are unusual -- some are made of water or air, while others are furry three-eyed creatures who communicate entirely in wordless song.

She also explores the idea of primitive people being exposed to futuristic technology, and the way it would change them -- they would gain knowledge, but lose innocence. The most bittersweet subplot is that of Kyreol's parents, whose love was sacrificed so that her mother could preserve Riverworld. And while Kyreol and Terje seem to learn everything a bit too quickly, McKillip makes their slow education absolutely thrilling.

The first book's main focus is on Kyreol, exploring her doubts, her curiosity, and her longing to know everything. But the second is more about Terje, who struggles with his love for Riverworld and his love for his new life. They grow from naive children to independent leaders and explorers, and in McKillip's hands, it seems entirely plausible.

The "Moon-Flash" duology is a beautiful, spellbinding piece of science fiction, and it's a good thing that this story has finally come back into print. Absolutely entrancing.

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