From rec.arts.sf.reviews Sun Jun 10 13:48:14 2001 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!nycmny1-snh1.gtei.net!news.gtei.net!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!dreaderd!not-for-mail Sender: wex@deepspace.media.mit.edu From: David Brukman Subject: Review: IN THE COMPANY OF OTHERS by Julie E. Czerneda Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Organization: none Approved: wex@media.mit.edu Date: 10 Jun 2001 07:22:27 -0400 Message-ID: X-Newsreader: Gnus v5.7/Emacs 20.4 Lines: 67 NNTP-Posting-Host: deepspace.media.mit.edu X-Trace: 992172150 senator-bedfellow.mit.edu 1917 18.85.23.65 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:2844 IN THE COMPANY OF OTHERS, Julie E. Czerneda Review copyright 2001 David Brukman SUMMARY An excellent, well-paced space adventure with interesting characters and ideas, with a tinge of romance and politics; solid entertainment despite a couple of strained plot elements and some view-hopping. Reviewed by David on June 09, 2001 GENRE Science Fiction (Biology, Aliens, Ecology) SYNOPSIS The crowded Earth had subsidized a complex and ambitious effort to terraform a handful of suitable planets for human colonization. After impressive success in the staggeringly complex task, a wave of hopeful emigrants has departed for the planets. Unfortunately, tragedy struck: the beautiful, pristine planets have been contaminated with the Quill -- an invisible, alien organism which kills all humans. Stuck on overcrowded staging stations, barred from an Earth that is paranoid of the Quill contamination, the once-hopeful colonists turned lean and bitter. Surviving on slowly decaying stations, barely supported by the guilty and fearful Terrans, they harbor a desperate dream: find a way to destroy the Quill and reclaim their planets. Into one of these tense and crowded space stations comes an expedition from Earth, bearing a load of political discord and scientific theories of the Quill. Their search may ofer hope to the stationers, or tear the station to pieces. FULL REVIEW The book sets up a tense, desperate situation, where a fragile compromise has been maintained after many losses. Then it throws in a handful bright, determined characters. Their good intentions stress the situation to the breaking point, and the resulting questions of trust, hope and compromise prove a fruitful ground for both adventure and scientific theory. The viewpoint switches among several characters, but the generally tight focus keeps this from becoming a distraction. The lack of true villains is a wonderful accomplishment; the book has real, deadly conflict while keeping all motivations reasonable and even admirable. The characters are sympathetic, and their interactions keep the reader's interest. The plot is well paced, without sagging in the middle, while interspersing action with occasional periods of tense reflection, humor, and attraction. This book presents an excellent combination of ideas, plots and characters, and is the best so far from the author of an impressive and growing body of science fiction. OVERALL RATING: 7 Plot: 6.5; Characters: 7; Style: 6; World-building: 6.5; Originality: 7 %T In the Company of Others %A Julie E. Czerneda %I Daw Books %O Mass market paperback %G ISBN 0-88677-999-5 %P 576 pp David Brukman "Long live Jame Talissen!" http://InOtherWorlds.com "Fantasy, SF & Mystery Reviews"