From Publishers Weekly
In Second Nature (1982), Wilder imagined a party of interstellar castaways and the society they formed on the planet Rhomary. Now, centuries later, more castaways have landed on that planet, unaware that others have preceded them. The survivors of the starship Serendip Dana are a mixed lot comprised of its regular crew, members of a paramilitary unit known as the Silvos and devotees of the Zen-like Kamalin Movement. Assisting all three groups are the oxper, enormously competent androids. It's soon clear that the greatest challenge facing the castaways is their anger and the violence it breeds, including several murders; only the intervention of the oxper and of a courageous female officer prevents still more deaths. Wilder's characters speak a futuristic slang and tech-talk that's difficult to decipher, and their development is limited, particularly among the Silvos. The oxper, however, are fascinating creations. Intelligent, physically strong but emotionally fragile, they are both more and less than the humans they guard. This novel, though not without interest, isn't up to the superior work of which Wilder appears capable.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--Ce texte provient d'une édition qui n'est plus publiée ou qui est non diponible.
From Library Journal
On the way to colonize Arkady, the Earth transport Serendip Dana malfunctions, but the crew abandons it in emergency capsules. One capsule crash-lands on an island of the hospitable planet Rhomary Land (also the setting for Wilder's novel, Second Nature and several of her short stories). As the castaways begin to adapt to their new environment and search for signs of human life, internal conflicts threaten their survival. This study of a microcosmic society nicely integrates space and nautical themes. Recommended.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--Ce texte provient d'une édition qui n'est plus publiée ou qui est non diponible.
