Subject: a review of "A Woman of the Iron People" by Eleanor Arnason

From: [email-masked] (P. Douglas Reeder)
Date: Wed, 3 Mar 1993 14:39:48 GMT

a review of
A Woman of the Iron People
by Eleanor Arnason
review copyright 1993 by P. Douglas Reeder
review free for non-commercial purposes

     "A Woman of the Iron People" has almost no plot.  There is a conflict,
but it does not develop; it is inherent in the situation at the beginning,
though the reader (and characters!) are gradually brought to realize its
importance.  The characters do not develop or change over the course of the
novel.  What, then is its interest?  It shows (shows, not tells!) the reader
an alien race which is human enough to identify with, but not just humans in
furry suits.  And it does so with a very natural storyline that is much
closer to the unpatterned sequence of events of real life (as opposed to the
artistic patterning of most plots).  I enjoyed it very much.
     The story takes place on an Earthlike planet of the star Sigma
Draconis, 18.2 light years from Earth.  It is inhabited by iron-age
humanoids, the women of whom live in villages and the men of whom dwell
alone.  A 21st or 22nd century exploration ship from Earth has arrived after
a 122 year journey.  The ship technology is explained in an appendix, and
the rest of the explorers' technology appears to be straightforward
extensions of present technology.  Western nations had collapsed and their
inhabitants reverted to primitivism most of a century before the explorers
left, but the Second and Third Worlds had progressed to form a peaceful
world civilization.
     The main characters are two human anthropologists, Lixia (pronounced
Lee-sha) and Derek, and two natives, Nia (Nee-ah) and Voice of the
Waterfall, an oracle.  The text brings the characters alive, but their
motivations remain opaque, as real people so often do.  Most of the story is
narrated by Lixia, and one gets little bits of her personality, but she is
not an initiator of things and comes across as a non-memorable person.
     The natural storyline is pleasantly non-predictable and almost entirely
free of the trite progressions one is used to.  At times this can get
somewhat boring, since the "action" does not advance.  I usually like a
strong (but not stereotyped) plot, but I enjoyed this greatly, which is a
tribute to Arnason's skill.  The majority of the narrative is devoted to
showing the character and attitudes of the aliens and Derek.  The aliens'
psychological makeup differs from humans in several important ways, but
Arnason makes it interesting and easy to comprehend.  Each of the four has a
different attitude toward life.  For much of the novel they are all in the
same situation as each other; it is fascinating to watch them react
differently and perceive events and people differently.
     More troubling is the is the lecturing on the evils of capitalism and
how it was responsible for all the ecological troubles of the world.  The
lecturing is reasonable for the characters and their background, and makes
sense given the characters' situation. The problem is that there is no
character to defend 20th century Western society, which I feel has many
positive elements that the characters do not mention.  It should be noted
that Arnason is not ramming the Daoism, Buddhism, and Marxism down the
reader's throat; the main characters express their reservations.  I just
kept wanting to reply to the charges made by other characters.  Furthermore,
at the end there is an interesting development which softens the impact of
the lecturing.
     I applaud Arnason for using a technological background that violates no
laws of nature.  Too many authors postulate an FTL drive or whatever else
they need for convenience.  Too much science fiction is unimaginative,
postulating that travel around the galaxy will be about the same as travel
around twentieth-century Earth.
     I recommend reading this novel, particularly if you are tired of stale
plots and arbitrary technology.  It is very refreshing.
     It has been published in hardback and as two paperbacks: "A Woman of
the Iron People, part 1: In the Light of Sigma Draconis" and "A Woman of the
Iron People, part 2: Changing Women".

%A Eleanor Arnason
%T A Woman of the Iron People
%I William Morrow & Co.
%D copyright 1991
%K refreshing, aliens, relativistic space travel, Daoism, Marxism
%O also pub. as 2 paperbacks: In the Light of Sigma Draconis & Changing Women

%A Eleanor Arnason
%T A Woman of the Iron People, part 1: In the Light of Sigma Draconis
%I Avon Books
%C New York, NY
%D copyright 1991
%K refreshing, aliens, relativistic space travel, Daoism, Marxism
%O paperback

%A Eleanor Arnason
%T A Woman of the Iron People, part 2: Changing Women
%I Avon Books
%C New York, NY
%D copyright 1991
%G ISBN 0-380-75638-2
%P 263 pp
%K refreshing, aliens, relativistic space travel, Daoism, Marxism
%O paperback

-- 
Doug Reeder                              Internet: [email-masked]
Div, Grad & Curl                         USENET:   ...!tektronix!reed!reeder
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