Subject: Retrograde Reviews--Phyllis Gotlieb:A Judgement of Dragons

From: [email-masked] (Humphrey Aaron V)
Date: 05 Mar 94 20:26:22 GMT

Phyllis Gotlieb:A Judgement of Dragons [Spoilers herein]

Phyllis Gotlieb was, at one point, pretty much the only SF author that people
could identify as Canadian.  This has changed, but she still holds a place in
the field.

_A Judgement of Dragons_ is not really a novel so much as a linked series of
novelettes.  They link quite strongly--the characters from earlier stories
appear in later ones--but the action is fairly episodic.

The main characters in the book are Khreng and Prandra, members of a race
called the Ungrukh, who are essentially like leopards except with reddish fur,
paws better adapted for manipulating objects(though no opposable thumb),
sentience, and a high incidence of ESP ability.  The latter makes them
valuable in GalFed, i.e. Yet Another Galactic Federation.  Khreng & Prandra, a
mated pair, are among the first Ungrunkh to work for GalFed.

The stories are interesting.  In the first, they run afoul of a time vortex
set up by an alien Qumedni, and have to thwart it in a 19th-century Polish
village.  In the second, while Prandra is getting her ESP-ability tested at
GalFed HQ, they are framed for murder.  In the third, they attempt to break
drug-runners' hold on a planet whose inhabitants can't deal with them.  In the
fourth, they confront the Qumedni responsible for creating their race(from
Earth leopards), and the Qumedni intent on stealing the secret of bestowing
sentience.

The stories take a bit to get into, since a lot of time is spent from the
Ungrunkhs' point of view, which is quite well-done, but which doesn't always
focus on the things that would interest the reader.  I would recommend them,
though.  On a scale of 1-10, I'd give it a 7.

%A Gotlieb, Phyllis
%T A Judgement of Dragons
%I Ace
%C New York
%D April 1980
%G ISBN 0-441-42032-X
%P 263 pp.
%O Paperback, US $2.95, Can $3.95

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