Subject: __White Queen__ by Gwyneth Jones Book Review by C. Douglas Baker

From: [email-masked] (C. Douglas Baker)
Date: 6 Sep 1993 23:18:14 GMT

WHITE QUEEN by Gwyneth Jones
                 Book Review by C. Douglas Baker

     Set in 2039-40 A.D., this novel of first contact creates an
almost credible near future earth and avoids the cliche of vastly
superior aliens swooping down to subjugate humanity and strip its
resources.  Instead, Jones' aliens live among humans for awhile
cloaking their existence, until a strange emotional relationship
between Johnny Guglioli, a UFO chaser, and Agnes/Clevel, an alien
residing in Africa, leads to their discovery.  Jones spends a lot
of time creating our future world doing a credible job on
technological and ecological aspects but the socio-political
aspects are more alien, and unlikely, than the extraterrestrials. 
For example, the United States has been overthrown by socialists
and are minor players in world politics.  Equally unlikely is the
lackadaisical response of the Earth's population to the discovery
of aliens and the central role played by politically marginal
actors in dealing with them.  

     Johnny Guglioli, the most interesting character, is infected
with a "petrovirus" that destroys the substance "blue clay",
which evidently has replaced silicon as the key data processing
material.  Being a former "eejay" or engineering journalist, his
occupation is destroyed because he can no longer work with
computers or similar machinery because his virus destroys the
data processing capabilities of the "blue clay".  Having his
livelihood ruined he chases UFOs as a hobby, leading to his
encounter with Agnes/Clevel, an alien who reveals itself to him. 
Enter Braemer Wilson, a journalist ostensibly searching for a
story who seems to have information about aliens possibly living
in Africa.  The emotional triangle that develops between
Guglioli, the alien Agnes/Clevel, and Braemer Wilson leads down a
winding path of human and alien interaction, neither side quite
trusting nor understanding the other.  Through the emotional
attachments of these characters the reader learns about the
physical and spiritual components of the aliens.  Their
interactions raise the intensity level of the story and serve as
a microcosm of the meandering search for understanding,
frequented by severe misunderstandings, between alien and human
throughout the novel.  

     __White Queen__'s depiction of earth a little over fifty
years from now does not seem quite authentic.  And even though
the aliens attempt to shield themselves from human observation,
the groping attempts at mutual understanding seem too restrained
for such a momentous event.  __White Queen__ is barely saved by
its interesting human/alien interactions. 

%T White Queen      
%A Gwyneth Jones
%C New York
%D 1991
%I Tor  $19.95 (hbk)
%G ISBN 0-312-85492-7 (hbk)
%P 316

Doug Baker
[email-masked]