From /tmp/sf.4146 Tue Aug 9 01:46:36 1994 Path: liuida!sunic!pipex!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!sdd.hp.com!math.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!news.kei.com!hookup!news.sprintlink.net!dg-rtp!sheol!dont-reply-to-paths From: aaron@amisk.cs.ualberta.ca (Humphrey Aaron V) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Subject: Retrograde Reviews--Phyllis Gotlieb:A Judgement of Dragons Approved: sfr%sheol@concert.net (rec.arts.sf.reviews moderator) Message-ID: <94Mar4.103722-0700.138985@amisk.cs.ualberta.ca> Date: 05 Mar 94 20:26:22 GMT Lines: 46 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 -- --Alfvaen(Editor of Communique) Current Album--Chris de Burgh:Flying Colours Current Read--Joan D. Vinge:The Summer Queen "Hold on to yourself--this is gonna hurt like hell." --Sarah McLachlan From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Jan 17 18:31:17 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!newsfeed.berkeley.edu!newsswitch.lcs.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!dreaderd!not-for-mail Sender: wex@deepspace.media.mit.edu From: tillman@aztec.asu.edu (P.D. TILLMAN) Subject: Caveat: Violent Stars by Phyllis Gotlieb Reply-To: tillman@aztec.asu.edu Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Approved: wex@media.mit.edu Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Organization: none Date: 13 Jan 2000 10:24:35 -0500 Message-ID: X-Newsreader: Gnus v5.5/Emacs 20.3 Lines: 26 NNTP-Posting-Host: deepspace.media.mit.edu X-Trace: dreaderd 947777076 22496 18.85.23.65 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:2561 Caveat: Violent Stars by Phyllis Gotlieb Review Copyright 2000 Peter D. Tillman Rating: "B-" -- disappointing sequel to Flesh & Gold (98) I liked Flesh & Gold a lot, recommended it, & was looking forward to the sequel. Well, here it is, and I had to struggle to finish it. The book just didn't make sense! There are all sorts of extraneous pulpy subplots, and a setup for *another* sequel. Ick. To be fair, there are some beautifully-written parts, and it has a nice cover. I've seen two positive reviews: Tom Easton's (Oct 99): http://www.analogsf.com and Susan Dunman's: http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue115/books.html#vs So YMMV. But it sure didn't work for me. %D May 1999 %I Tor %O $24 %P 284 pp %G ISBN 0-312-86953-3 Read more of my reviews (including Flesh & Gold ): http://www.silcom.com/~manatee/reviewer.html#tillman