Michael G. Coney (1932–2005)

I remember seeing this book when I was in High School, but a quick read for the first couple of pages wasn't exciting enough or enticing enough to grab the interest of a 13 yr old. It went back on the rack.

But now, a half a century later-- looking for any of the old Sci-Fi books that I passed over long ago, after reading the review by Diggler. I downloaded it and settled in.

Diggler gives the best review-- so I will only add this: It seems like your usual old 70's style Post-Apocalypse survival story...except it isn't.

The story is technologically timeless, the story really isn't about technology-- it's about the folks who begin to question Why things are? ...and Who they are?

It doesn't end the way you would think... and things are not what they seem.

I was captivated by the story and wanted to see the end reveal.

It was different than what I expected or guessed. And it was surprisingly hopeful...… (more)

A sexist science fiction story that was written in the 70s. As another reviewer commented, I think the author meant "Chimera," instead of Charisma.

This author never thought that women would like to not be treated like sex objects in the future, I guess. This takes place in a town on the coast of England, near Cornwall, where a scientist in a science institute had discovered a way to access parallel worlds. The protagonist is a hotel manager who sells house yachts on the side. He treats every woman like they exist for his personal pleasure or displeasure, depending on their looks. The protagonist instantly falls in love with a "girl" (as the author calls young women who are good-looking) from a parallel Earth. She, naturally, instantly falls in love with him, too, on her meeting up with him when she visits his Earth. They immediately consummate their friendship before she is killed by lightning on her way back to her world. The rest of the book is spent with him chasing the live version of her on different worlds.

This is the second book I've read by this author and they've both been sexist, so I'm starting to get disappointed.… (more)

SciFi from the 80s that makes the fatal error of calling men "men" and women "girls." As soon as an author does this, he has already lost at least one star of my reviews.

This is a story about colonists who work for a corporation that is developing for profit a planet that is rich in ores. A native Species of fauna is discovered that has a defense mechanism that makes them turn into whatever its antagonist' favorite object is. In this way they avoid being eaten. So what happens when this species meets a human? It will turn into the human's object of desire. Oh, the problems that arise with this development!

The characters in this book seem underdeveloped, which caused me to not feel invested in them. The personalities of the characters were somewhat developed, but the physical traits were left up to the readers' imagination. Hopefully, other books by this author are better for me.… (more)

P.320-321
"They swept around the corner and into view, in line abreast, nine of them, small dome-shaped boats squatting on a cushion of foam as they raced up the estuary towards us. I was conscious of a feeling of pride. I had built those bugs. They towed water - skiers, girls dressed in flowing white robes, feathers of white spurting from their skis.

Strapped to the back of each girl was a golden kite. When they were about 200 m away from us the girls Rose from the water, the sun illuminating the fabric of their kites, the wind and wetness causing their gossamer white robes to cling to their bodies. I raised my binoculars - then dropped them quickly, not wishing to waste any time in focusing on the rapidly-approaching vision.

50 m away the skitter bugs throttled back and sank to the surface in a sudden crippled wallowing. By now everyone was watching the girls, who had dropped their tow rope. They soared over the water like angels. On either side of us the thick denseness of the trees rose up steep Hillsides to the broad ribbon of sky, framing the angel girls.

Then they snapped their hands across, peeling the cloth from their bodies, and underneath they were naked. The line wheeled, out there in the estuary, and came swooping towards us, 9 naked girls suspended from Golden kites, all breast and plump thighs and golden hair. And across the belly of each girl was painted a single letter, in bright Scarlet. The letters spelled R-I-V-E-R-S-I-D-E. The crowd yelled. Then the girls wheeled again, losing height, and I could hear the wind in their harness as they swept close overhead then out over the estuary again, upstream, lighting gently on the water like a flight of golden swans. They waded ashore a couple of hundred metres away, on the opposite Bank where the estuary narrows in the road bridge crosses the water."

A little example of this author's work. The context is a Regatta, celebrating the Hetherington corporation's buying of the planet Arcadia, of which Riverside is a town. This will help the colonists, as their own resources are sadly depleted, and many colonists have left, following the deaths of many of them by a native Species. But capitalism isn't always the best solution, as many readers know, as CEOs and stockholders are not known for their ethics.

I liked this better than"Mirror Image" and"Charisma," I'll give it that.

… (more)