Playing God (Hardcover)

The Dedelphi are a mess. They're a quick-tempered, tribalistic, genetically inbred species who have a murderously narrow definition of "stranger." On top of that, they're violently allergic to humans - not sneezes and itching allergic, but anaphylactic shock allergic. And in one of the many wars on their planet, someone let loose a genetically engineered plague that instead of just killing off the targetting tribe, escaped to the wild, interbred with its natural equivalent, mutated like fruit flies in a nuclear reactor, and began killing indiscriminately.

Into this ongoing disaster steps Lynn Nussbaumer, universe-class bioremediator, who accepts a challenging assignment from Bioverse Incorporated. Bioverse has gotten all of the major Dedelphi tribes to agree to a temporary peace (an accomplishment in itself) and to move off their planet into spaceships while humans clean up the place and eliminate the plague once and for all. Nussbaumer's job is to make it all work.

To say it's a challenge is a massive understatement: many of the Dedelphi are quick to assume that it's all a plot, that the humans are in league with those walking vermin, (fill in the blank with their worst enemies), to use the program to eliminate their own tribe. Other Dedelphi see it as a golden opportunity to eliminate their enemies. And all this is on top of the incredible logistical challenge of getting an entire sentient species off of their planet for a couple of years. At times one wonders why Nussbaumer doesn't just throw up her hands and leave.

Saying much more about the plot would give it away. Let me just say that Nussbaumer not only has her hands full, but she also gains wisdom from the experience. Also, once you reach about page 300 (when the action really takes off), don't expect to be able to put the book down till you're done.

I'd also like to praise Zettel's gift for detail. She has a marvelous imagination for the little touches that convince you that "we're not in Kansas any more." Much of the book is written from the viewpoint of the alien Dedelphi, and they are alien indeed: driven to fight at almost a genetic level, and all of the intelligent ones are female. (Apparently, the females' brains fall out--almost literally--when they reach a certain age, and they become male. Since Sarah is happily married, I'm assuming this does not reflect her opinion of men in general.) Anyhow, her characters, alien and human, are very convincing.

All in all, this is an exciting, gripping read and one of the best hard sf novels I've read in quite a while.

This is a less predictable, more interesting way of writing than one usually finds, and also a more difficult one. This intricate plotting is the best feature of Playing God. Other good features include a fascinating and fully realized alien species and a sprightly writing style.

There are a few drawbacks to this book. The first quarter of the book is pedestrian, the humans are not characterized in great detail, and the inevitable drawback to the complicated, organic style of plotting Zettel uses is the impossibility of neatly tying up all loose ends. Still, I think the good substantially outweighs the bad. I liked Playing God, and I'll be reading more of Zettel's work.