Beholder's eye (original 1998; edition 1998)

This would be a good readalike for Stephanie Meyer's The Host. Features a young alien on her first job-of-sorts on a new planet who has to reveal her shapeshifting talents to a human male when trouble erupts on the planet. More off-planet adventures and trouble ensue. ( )

The author does an incredible job of creating a character that maintains a core identity and yet, slightly shifts with each new shape. Bending to the whims of that bodies hormones and drives. And yet at her core, is always the same being.

The story is fast paced. Lots of adventure. And there is a very nice twist. ( )

Superb fun. One of the few takes on an alien being that really works in making them feel alien. With a particular bonus in the differentiation between traits innate to the species and more learned cultural behaviors, and a decent nod to correct physics and the laws of conservation. I do prefer book when the author has made a reasonable effort to get the things they invent, believably right.

Our hero is a web/energy being, part of a direct family of four siblings spawned from one still existent 'mother'. Who has raised them over millenia to study the galaxy around them, and revere the life around them. They do this by 'cycling' from web form to any other life-form shape that they know. Part of each one's mission is to thoroughly know new forms and introduce them to the web of family members. Es is the youngest at only a few centuries old, and out on 'her' first mission to a newly discovered planet whose species doesn't yet have star travel. Es takes the form of a dog-like intelligent being, unknown on the planet, and behaves sufficiently dog-like that the natives don't notice. However when a Human survey party lands (there is a large Human commonwealth within the Galaxy, plus many other humanoid aliens) she is quickly recognised - but not as the web-based shapechanger who's existence is unknown to the wider Galaxy. The natives decide they don't want any aliens on their world, Es and Paul only just manage to escape, with Es being forced to reveal her alieness to Paul, who vows to keep it a secret. Meanwhile a darker danger is encroaching from 'Out There' and many wrecked and lifeless spaceships are being found. As the danger appears to be heading towards on of her sisters Es attempts to get a warning out, not without further raising the suspicions of the Humans.

The first half of the book is probably the best with Es trying out various forms in different situations. None are fully described as Es knows them like her own skin, the reader being left to imagine the morphology from terse hints. This works very well indeed. Later on Es is trying not reveal her capabilities and is stuck more or less sin one form - a Ket. Still humanoid but biased much more towards a tactile approach than humanity, while this does have it's own amusements it is less fun than the initial shifting between forms. The dedication the author requires of the character to ensure they have sufficient mass for the new form, and the problem of excesses when cycling through the energy based form is noteworthy. All authors should follow this excellent example. At no point does it interrupt the narrative, but yet it is clearly something to be considered and not just hand-waved away - the only exception being the translight travel.

I'm definitely going to look out for the sequels, although this did read perfectly well as a standalone novel. It is the author's 2nd published book. ( )

Czerneda does an excellent job of crafting numerous alien species and a secretive group of scholarly shapeshifters who can turn into any being they've studied. Esen-alit-Quar is a young shapeshifter on its first solo expedition who reveals her nature to a small group of humans-- just when a distant cousin that is all appetite awakens from dormancy on the fringe of settled space. ( )

A trilogy by the dependable Ms Czerneda our youthful (500 yer old heroine finds that when you are a near -immortal shape shifting alien. Capable of devouring just about everything up to and including starships it pays to keep a low profile if you don't want people to get excited about you. Amusingly different aliens populate this book. And via the shapeshifter's perspective we get an insiders view of how they think. ( )