On This Page
Description
This second novel in the Emerald Eyes Trilogy starts on the non-magical Earth. It is Christmas and Cindy and Sylvia from Emerald Eyes Destiny are skating on a lake in Washington State . A strange mist swirls in and a little bird arrives with a message on his leg asking for help. They travel through a magical void to another world and find Muftin, the bird, can speak. Gikre a dwarf, is with Tulco, a girl with emerald eyes like their own. She is caught in a bear trap set by human invaders show more trying to catch them.After freeing Tulco from the trap Cindy and Sylvia help her to escape from the humans. However, they must cope with strange mists called vapin that appear to come in two forms; a white one helps them but a red one is a terrible enemy.After being attacked by the red vapin the white vapin comes to their assistance and communicates with them with thoughts. They are told to head to White Sword Peninsular, far away up the coast. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
The fourth in the Marq'ssan Cycle of five works which recount the events after the Marq'ssan, an alien race, intervene to prevent the human race becoming a trans-galactic aggressor.
Prior to the Marq'ssan's intervention, the Executive was the transnational ruling elite, a system in which gender behaviour and sexuality are strictly delineated. After the intervention and series of wars, alternative 'political' systems develop around the world. One of these is the Free Zone, a co-operative based around Seattle. The Zone is 'run' by a committee of feminist anarchists (I'm not sure you can say that anarchists run anything, but I can't think of a better word!).
Book 4 follows a member of the Executive world who has turned renegade and escaped show more to the Free Zone. Except she hasn't converted to the Zone's ideas, she is simply re-grouping to launch a takeover of the Executive. However, the 'leaders' of the Free Zone help her and provide her with access to the Marq'ssan, in return for help in freeing politcal prisoners.
As in the previous three books, Duchamp poses interesting questions. (I've posted a review of the third book, Tsunami which details some of the key points raised in that book). How far should the Free Zoners co-operate with the renegade to further their own aims? I think they're involved in a deeper and more dangerous game than they realise.
This did feel a little bit like a filler before the final instalment, but I still enjoyed it and can't wait to start book 5. show less
Prior to the Marq'ssan's intervention, the Executive was the transnational ruling elite, a system in which gender behaviour and sexuality are strictly delineated. After the intervention and series of wars, alternative 'political' systems develop around the world. One of these is the Free Zone, a co-operative based around Seattle. The Zone is 'run' by a committee of feminist anarchists (I'm not sure you can say that anarchists run anything, but I can't think of a better word!).
Book 4 follows a member of the Executive world who has turned renegade and escaped show more to the Free Zone. Except she hasn't converted to the Zone's ideas, she is simply re-grouping to launch a takeover of the Executive. However, the 'leaders' of the Free Zone help her and provide her with access to the Marq'ssan, in return for help in freeing politcal prisoners.
As in the previous three books, Duchamp poses interesting questions. (I've posted a review of the third book, Tsunami which details some of the key points raised in that book). How far should the Free Zoners co-operate with the renegade to further their own aims? I think they're involved in a deeper and more dangerous game than they realise.
This did feel a little bit like a filler before the final instalment, but I still enjoyed it and can't wait to start book 5. show less
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Published Reviews
"Each volume [of the Marq'ssan Cycle] is...a narrative which grabs and does not let you go and leaves you breathless at the end....[It is a] sophisticated, complex, and realistic depiction of women, social organisation, and the tangled interplay of the personal and the political...Blood in the Fruit is not a comfortable read: it goes to some very dark places indeed, although never pruriently show more lingers on pain and suffering in a gratuitous fashion. But it is a very rewarding one." show less
added by ltimmel
"The latest book in the Marq'ssan Cycle might just be the best yet, part of a series that is the most important political SF published in the last decade. Praised by the likes of Cory Doctorow and Samuel Delany, Duchamp's accomplishment here is deadly, sharp, emotional, and intelligent."
added by ltimmel
"The novel - the series for that matter - is a distillation of political and ethical philosophy, a commentary on the importance and frailty of human rights, a feminist dystopia, and something of an adventure story, although most of the real conflict tends to be on the intellectual rather than physical level. This is the kind of novel which probably won't appeal to a mass audience, in part show more because it steps outside the usual genre rules. For those willing to invest the time to actually think about what they're reading and work out the implications, it's a treasure house." show less
added by ltimmel
Author Information
34+ Works 487 Members
Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Blood in the Fruit
- Original publication date
- 2008-01
- Epigraph
- Since woman's greatest misfortune has been that she was looked upon as either angel or devil, her true salvation lies in being placed on earth; namely, in being considered human, and therefore subject to all human follies and... (show all) mistakes.--Emma Goldman
The individual is the heart of society, conserving the essence of social life; society is the lungs which are distributing the element to keep the life essence--that is, the individual--pure and strong.-- Emma Goldman - First words
- Speeding away from the island, the boat bumped over the surface of the sea as though it were a washboard.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)And the silver sharp sickle of moon hanging above the trees glittered, waiting...
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 23
- Popularity
- 1,144,855
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.75)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 1
- ASINs
- 1
