Most helpful customer reviews
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4.0 out of 5 stars
hard SF for biologists, Jul 9 2009
This book, the first of a trilogy, was my introduction to Julie E. Czerneda. It could probably be considered "hard" science fiction in there is science involved; unlike most other books in the genre, however, the science involved is biology, which makes for a refreshing change. Much of this book takes place at a coastal research station, where the main character, a salmon researcher, is a scientist/administrator. She soon gets caught up in extraterrestrial events, however, which her background gives her a unique perspective on.
The strengths of this book include a fairly realistic depiction of biological research and some very interesting (but well thought out) aliens, along with mostly well-rounded characters. Ms. Czerneda's writing is decent, and for the most part keeps the reader interested. As a few other reviewers have noted, the book does end with a bit of a cliff hanger, after a couple of major plot twists.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Overall, a satisfying read, Aug 7 2008
Czerneda has quite the story here to tell, full of twists and feints and possibilities. The plot is one of those "can't wait to find out what happens next" types, and on its own is enough to ensure I'm itching to get my fingers on the other two books in the trilogy.
The characters are as involving as the story itself, and I found myself really caring about what happened to each of them by the time they got swallowed in the events surrounding them. Brymn was especially well drawn, balancing his completely alien reasoning with enough "humanity" (so to speak) to make him sympathetic.
It's clear Czerneda put a lot of work into her aliens, and every detail is there. No, I mean it. Every detail. There were times I lost track of the story because of the great detail of the Dhryn race or world. These were the sections I found the book easy to set down or skimming over, because they were often really long. We're not talking Tolkien levels of over-descriptiveness, but it was enough to discourage me, and as a result, this book took me a lot longer to finish than it should have, especially because I really liked the story and the characters. Granted, this is the first book in a trilogy, and a certain amount of worldbuilding is to be expected if the story is going to last more than a few hundred pages.
I really loved the way the book ended, I have to say. It was fully satisfying and it may not have been the way I wanted things to go, but it was the only way the story could have ended. There aren't many things I enjoy more than a book that can elicit an emotional response from me as it ends, and this definitely counts as one of those.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Start to an Ambitious Trilogy, Feb 27 2007
This is the third book I've read by Julie E. Czerneda, and I believe it's her best by far. (Which is not a slam on her other books, but rather a sign that she's getting better.)
In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I've sold two stories to Julie Czerneda for her anthologies FANTASTIC COMPANIONS and MISSPELLED. I also bought her story "A Touch of Blue" for HEROES IN TRAINING.
SURVIVAL introduces us to Dr. Mackenzie Winifred Elizabeth Wright Conner (Mac), a salmon researcher whose day-to-day struggles revolve around securing permission for her studies and getting her scanners ready for the next salmon migration. Enter Brymn, the seven-armed Dhryn (check the cover art). Brymn is an archaeologist studying the Chasm, a section of space where all life was wiped out thousands of years ago. The Dhryn have no biologists -- indeed, the study of biology is taboo -- but Brymn's a bit of a rebel, and he's hoping Mac can help him with his research. Because whatever created the Chasm has returned to kill again.
Over the next 450 pages, she must learn the truth behind that ancient slaughter, while also dealing with alien attacks, kidnappings, betrayals, a touch of romantic tension, and the day-to-day details of surviving on an alien world. (Things like finding shower facilities that won't burn human flesh, for starters...)
SURVIVAL is not an action-oriented, shoot-em-up kind of book. There is plenty of action, especially near the end, but Czerneda also spends a fair amount of time developing the relationships between Mac and others. Even the minor characters are well-developed and real. As a result, the emotional impact of the book is far more powerful. Reading the book, you truly care about Mac and everything she's going through. The biology is equally thought-out. This is about as far from the rubber-nose aliens of Star Trek as you can get. Czerneda's aliens feel alien, and it's great! How can you not love a species who demonstrates their emotional state by the color of their mucus?
My one complaint came with the end, which felt far more like the end of a chapter than the end of a book. While the immediate mysteries have been answered, the overall story is clearly unfinished. (Roughly on par with the end of Empire Strikes Back.)
This is a big, ambitious story, and I understand that it will take several books to tell. As the title implies, species imperatives are a driving theme, and you can't do justice to an entire alien species in a single book. At the same time, I wish we had seen a bit more closure, at least for now.
The good news is, the second and third books are already out. If this sounds like the kind of book you'd enjoy, I'd strongly suggest you pick up all three, because you won't want to wait around for Amazon to ship the next one.
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by Julie E. Czerneda
by Julie E. Czerneda
by Julie E. Czerneda
by Julie E. Czerneda
by Julie E. Czerneda
