The Child Goddess

I really liked this. The story is complex and develops nicely; instead of large exposition dumps, bits of information are doled out bit by bit, drawing the reader in through curiosity. The characters are complex, with their own desires and darknesses and traumas, but a desire to do right. Even the antagonists get some development and depth, even if one of them turns out unrepentant, it's okay because it's done well.

Set many centuries in the future, Mother Isabel Burke, a medical anthropologist and Magdalene priest, is called in by the Extra Solar Corporation to act as an advocate for the child Oa the who corporation brought back from a planet thought uninhabited.

Is Oa an alien child, making the planet unusable for energy generation, or is she a descendant of emigrants from earth several centuries ago? Why did Extra Solar bring her to earth, and why are they insisting on keeping her in quarantine so long? Why are they performing so many medical tests? How old is she? Why does Oa refer to herself as not a person? What is she ashamed of?

Well written with fully dimensional characters.

Somewhat frustrating. It was a competent and enjoyable read, and I'll probably look out for more by the same author, but a number of things prevent me raving about it:

* The biggest: Ultimately this is about a white woman as the saviour of a literally childlike African tribe.

* I did like Isabel's devotion to her celibacy despite her feelings for a (married) man; I didn't like the way the resulting situation was portrayed as Tragically Doomed, or how the author chose to resolve it. Romance novels aside, surely it's possible for people, even men, to behave sensibly if they actually want to?

* The Great Mystery was kind of blindingly obvious. Okay, it took me a couple of chapters, but I got there many more chapters before the show more (anthropologist) protagonist did. When she got the bulk of it but was still acting puzzled about the blindingly obvious ramifications of it I started wondering if there was more going on, like cannibalism or incestuous orgies or something. (Spoiler: there wasn't.)

* More an expectations thing: the blurb and author's note at the back had given me the impression that there'd be a lot more about the Order of Mary Magdalene when in fact it was a relatively undeveloped character detail; we learned more about the children's religion, I think.

* What is it about USans writing sf partly/wholly set in Australia? Always Australia. I guess it's exotic enough that no-one important will complain you got it wrong, while remaining pleasantly majority-white and anglophone. (Hong Kong, by contrast, is apparently to become a gang-filled hellhole from which the only possible escape is to enlist in the space navy.)

(Wow, I write useless reviews. They always consist of lists of things I didn't like; you'd think I hated every book I read. Actually despite the above this was a well-told story, not impossible to put down but certainly very easy to pick up again as soon as I had my next spare moment.) show less

This is the third book I have read by this author, and I am definitely going to be keeping my eyes open for more. This one is set in the same universe as Terrorists of Irustan, albeit on different planets this time. There was a lot here that was intelligent and challenging. It held my interest right the way through and I thought the characterizations were excellent.

There was a certain amount of handwavium, (thanks to Rivka for reminding me of that awesome descriptor) but I wasn't bugged by it. For the most part everything seemed at least reasonably internally consistent, and the main character is not a technician, so it kind of makes sense that the subject of how some of the stuff works doesn't really arise. I mean I myself don't show more generally go downstairs in the morning and climb into my petroleum powered internal combustion motivated personal transportation device with an effective range of 240 miles and explain to the passengers how it functions.

So all in all, it worked for me I found it a very enjoyable read. The only niggles I have, and they are small ones, is there's jeest a little too much reliance on coincidence in a few spots and there are a couple of spots where it teeters on the edge of turning from science fiction into a romance with science fictional set dressing. But it pulls up in time. So overall, recommended. show less

A novel about love, greed, God, forgiveness and humanity. The tension and conflict are all emotional, but still compelling. Graceful, as in full of grace.