Product Description
Reviewers and other writers compare Phyllis Gotliebs science fiction to the works of many of the greatest masters of the field; Philip K. Dick, James Tiptree, Jr., Cordwainer Smith, Ursula K. Le Guin. An SF literary award has been named for her first novel, Sunburst. Her most important work in recent years has been a trilogy of SF novels begun in Flesh and Gold, continued in Violent Stars, and now completed in Mindworlds. In a galaxy where humanity and other species were seeded among the stars in the distant past by a mysterious, vanished alien super race, there are now many inhabited worlds. On one of them, the Lyhhrt, small telepathic beings who live inside robot shells, are in a cultural crisis. Their warring factions wont hesitate to use humans as pawns to win their internal battles. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Mindworlds - Wow!
This book really wowed me, and that's hard to do. I am a picky and experienced reader of SF and I know what I like. Phyllis Gotlieb delivers a story I really enjoyed, full of what she does best - sex, intrigue, a fair bit of violence and lots of fabulous alien and human characters. I am madly in love with her hero Ned Gattes and can picture him being played by Russell Crowe in the movie version... The last in her trilogy of Flesh & Gold, and Violent Stars, Mindworlds took me in new directions as well as satisfying my curiosity as to "what happened next" in the first books. Thanks Phyllis, for writing a novel that's both fun and challenging to the imagination!

Intriguing world--confused action
Man has met alien species in space, but greed, corporate corruption, and violence have not been overcome. Even within the Lyhhrt race of telepaths, the theoretical unity of the species is incomplete and factions battle for power.

GalFed agent Ned Gattes learns of a proposed invasion and arranges to join the mercenaries being assembled. Assisted by his cybernetic-psychic friend Spartakos and a Lyhhrt, he infiltrates the mercenary training base--but then finds himself trapped within a plot to kill everyone including himself. Hasso, a noted archivist, finds himself fascinated by a woman being held captive by her new husband. And Lyhhrt agents battle amongst themselves to recover remnants of the power of the fallen corporation Zamos--maker of clones.

Author Phyllis Gotlieb puts together a powerfully intriguing set of worlds, peoples, and powers, yet somehow fails to deliver a complete story. Although much is at stake, the novel's emotional intensity falls flat. Until relatively late in the novel, none of the characters seems to have a truly personal stake in the outcome of the battle. Gotlieb's frequent scene shifts end up distracting the reader and make it difficult to follow the plot thread.

strong multi-alien science fiction
The collapse of the octopus-like Zamos Corporation has left several voids in the interstellar system as well as leaving individuals in various state of isolation.The big bang impact of the disintegration of Zamos, actually a crime family, is quite shocking.

Pugilist Ned Gattes has no gambling halls to ply his trade and no one needs an ex-boxer.Telepath Lorrice also finds no one in need of her mental abilities.Alien legal scholar Hasso only wants to ply his profession, but every Tom, Dick and Khagodian wants to fill the Zamos emptiness.Then there are the Lyhhrt, splintered by Zamos from the oneness of their race, losing their touch with reality.When they complete their downward spiral into insanity, these renegades will cause havoc as never seen before because with a thought they can stop a heart or eradicate a thought.The players line up for a confrontation on Khagodis where events are already spinning towards a bloody clash of several alien life forms.

MINDWORLDS completes Phyllis Gotlieb's strong multi-alien science fiction trilogy.The story line is loaded with plenty of action on several fronts that converge on Khagodis, but never fully consolidate into the prime plot.Still the tale is fast-paced and very imaginative, as each alien species seems real as if Ms. Gotlieb had a drink at the Star Wars cantina.As the book asks, "How can you stop a conspiracy of telepaths?"Easy read the novel and its delightful predecessors because science fiction fans will fully enjoy this book that ties up loose ends from FLESH AND GOLD and VIOLENT STARS yet can stand alone.

Harriet Klausner ... Read more

Product Description

On a dark and moonless planet, mutations have left women as little more than wombs, while men can teleport but have limited control over the ability. When aliens come to plunder this world's resources, the already harsh environment degrades exponentially. Will the Galactic Federation find this world in time to help the natives restore their women and save their civilization?

A visionary novel in the tradition of Ursula K. LeGuin and James Tiptree, Jr., by a leading feminist author.

With an afterword by Nalo Hopkinson.

"Phyllis Gotlieb is the grand dame of Canadian SF, a poet with a cosmic perspective who elevates space opera to high art."
-- Robert J. Sawyer

"The best SF novel I've read in years."
-- The Globe and Mail on Flesh and Gold

"A new novel from Phyllis Gotlieb is a major event."
-- Candas Jane Dorsey

"Gotlieb knows how to do it right."
-- Analog Science Fiction and Fact ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Not bad exactly, but there is so much out there thats better.
Birthstones is a competent novel that just fails to deliver.I found myself thinking throughout the entire book that things were just about to get interesting and then it never did.

An immense space opera but flawed in the execution!
You've got to hand it to Gotlieb!

When it came to developing a space opera plot outline of immense galactic proportions, she certainly didn't hold back. Environmental degradation on the planet Shar led to what their historians called "The Change". Women have devolved into little more than wombs - birth chambers, barely alive, and certainly not enjoying anything one might call a quality of life. Men can teleport but with virtually no control over the ability to do so. Long before Shar had degraded to this bleak current condition, a small number of brave pioneers, now called Meshar had left and colonized a bleak planetary corner of the galaxy known as Barrazan V. Aliens now want to plunder Shar's rich resource wealth, the emperor of Shar wants to bring back the Meshar women to reverse the evolutionary decline of the planet and the Galactic Federation is caught in the middle of everything.

You'd think that a plot like that could hardly fail. After all, it's so obviously rich with fodder for character development, political intrigue, alien interaction and all of the other "stuff" that made classics like "Dune" such rewarding reading that one could return time and time again finding new insights with every reading. But the sad fact is that "Birthstones" falls entirely flat. This book is simply too short. A story of such immense proportions cannot help but take time in the telling - character development, history of the environmental degradation of Shar, the politics of the Galactic Federation, the fear that the ladies of Meshar have at the prospect of returning to their heritage in Shar, and so on. But Gotlieb's novel is, frankly, so brief - a mere 215 pages - that the story becomes an unintelligible, near meaningless mash of dialogue and hurried events that elicited not one whit of emotion in this reader. The characters were so undeveloped that they were little more than names. And, of course, these names were so foreign and alien to our English tongue that it became virtually impossible to tell one character from another.

Double or triple the length. Take the time to develop things more carefully and lovingly. Then "Birthstones" may live up to Gotlieb's reputation as a Nebula Award nominee. I'm going to try it again to see if the plot becomes more meaningful on second reading but, as it stands, it's difficult to recommend "Birthstones" to a science fiction fan at all.

Paul Weiss ... Read more

Product Description
Phyllis Gotlieb lives in Toronto, Canada.
Amazon.com Review
Don't blink or you'll miss something in Canadian writerPhyllis Gotlieb's richly detailed mystery set on alien worlds seethingwith seedy life.Travelling judge Skerow, of a race of moralhaiku-writing telepathic sauropods, stumbles upon two mysteries whileon duty on grimy mining planet Fthel V. The same day she discovers hersenior judge and colleague of 25 years was under investigation foraccepting bribes, said colleague is murdered in his bedroom; andSkerow espies a genetically-altered, almost-human mermaid held captivein the display tank of a brothel window.

Gotlieb's handling of a wide cast of alien, human, and post-humancharacters will appeal to fans of James Tiptree, Jr. Most intriguingare the Lyhhrt, who've left their home planet for an indenturedservitude of 125 standard years, to act as physicians and metalworkersfor the Zamos corporation of casinos and entertainment-plexes. Lyhhrtactually resemble brains, but look like robots since they encasethemselves in beautifully-welded metal bodies.

In Gotlieb's future, flesh is bought, sold, molded and used with theease of gold. But some things are still worth fighting for, and thescales of justice pass sentence on greed, malice, and the breeding ofslaves. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Flesh and Gold
This review is of the audiobook edition of Flesh and Gold by Phyllis Gotlieb and that might color this review for me considerably.Between the reader, Kate Harper, and the material, I just couldn't get into it.I'd rewind and rewind and try to get my attention to stay on the book, but the monotone reading and the lengthy character and setting descriptions were too much to handle.My impression is that there is no plot, but of course there is.

The main characters seem to be Nohl and Ferrier from the beginning, but that's not really true, since the novel revolves around an amphibian alien named Kobai who is always at the center of whatever action might be happening.Then there is the judge, a Khagodi (creature essentially the size and weight of a large truck) who takes an odd but unfortunate special interest in Kobai's actions. This all brings the main characters, the judge and Kobai in conflict with the mob, called Zamos.

It's kind of a space opera in that while it's science fiction, nothing scientific is explained so it's a story that could have just as easily been a fantasy in a magic land.It's kind of a detective story, a "what if Raymond Chandler had been really into lengthy descriptions and poetic allusions."It's kind of an adventure, if adventures spend most of their time in contemplation and avoid any semblance of car chase.

I'm not going to give this either low marks or high marks because it might be good, I just couldn't get into it, it didn't hold my interest.Like I said at the beginning, it could've been the reader or it could've been the material, but regardless I won't revisit this series.

- CV Rick

Gorgeous writing, wonderful 1960-ish space-opera
________________________________________
Rating: "A". Gorgeous writing, wonderful 1960-ish space-opera
plot, marred by an unsuccessful ending. Recommended.

Sta'atha Anfa Skerow is a senior interworld judge on the GalFed
Assizes Circuit. A citizen of the Northern Spine Federation on
Khagodis, she resembles (to Solthree eyes) a "streamlined baby
allosaurus". A routine smuggling trial on Fthel V opens a trapdoor
into a cesspool of treachery and corruption, cruelty and murder,
slavery and redemption in a far-distant future.

"My knife is missing," Nohl said.

"What does that matter?" Ferrier turned his eyes from the smoking
volcanic peak on the horizon to the east and watched the waters of the
bay dancing in glints of light from the lowering sun. On Khagodis the
air is so thin that the stars are sometimes visible in daylight; now
in the flaring blue Ferrier could see three of the system's other
worlds. He had hooked the oxygen tube into the corner of his mouth and
it bubbled slightly.

Amber lights glinted on Nohl's scales. With a pearl talon he flicked
away an insect buzzing near his eye and looked down at the the thin
figure whose head came to his elbow. Ferrier was wearing white against
the equatorial heat; his short jacket was closely fitted, and had
double-breasted black buttons. Nohl was thinking that Ferrier's eyes
were like the buttons, fixed and sharp on white skin. A thin skin over
arrogance and greed.
* * *

She felt other eyes on her. The madam, a blue-skinned Varvani woman,
was standing in the doorway; she balanced her elephantine legs on gold
clogs, and the enormous bosom above her chain-mail skirt was tattooed
with red kissystars... "Don't block the window, dear heart. You want a
sample, come on in."
* * *

Zella's people [on New Southsea] were secular fundamentalists who
lived on solar energy, avoided electronics more complicated than
radios, raised all their own food, and went to bed with the chickens.
The energetic young left early and sometimes came back when they were
tired. Zella did not repudiate her community's ideals, but wanted
excitement. She was getting it.

Well. The first two paragraphs open the novel. What can I say?
"Gee, I wish I could write like this?"
Instead, here is Ursula K Le Guin's cover quote:

"Sex, violence, intricate plotting, light-speed pacing, an amazing
variety of aliens, touches of Philip K Dick's sardonic humor and
Cordwainer Smith's obstinate idealism make this novel dazzling."

"Flesh & Gold" is a delight to read. I found myself constantly backing
up to reread choice bits, and to check earlier glosses on the large
and, umm, colorful cast. Gotlieb's prose is spare, elegant, polished
to a lapidary glitter. As I approached the end, I wondered how she
would tie off loose threads and resolve the novel. Well, she didn't.
The book just tails offandstops.

Oh well. Jack Vance never figured out how to end a novel either.
So - enjoy the ride, which is truly exhilirating, and brace yourself
for a cold-water dump back into Real Life.

review copyright 1998 by Peter D. Tillman

Thank you!
As a satisfied customer I'd like to thank you kindly for including my own book in your list of recommendations for me. I can say without reservation that after three years of hard work wwriting it I have already read it many times.

Yours faithfully

Phyllis Gotlieb

Excellent on all counts...
Several admirable plot synopses have already been provided above, so I'll try to stay away from a summary. But I will say that "Flesh and Gold" is an excellent book: as science fiction, as a mystery, as anovel with real and believable characters. Set in the same future universeas Gotlieb's "A Judgement of Dragons" and its sequels, the storyfeatures an amazing array of aliens and humans whose environment is asfantastic as the characters themselves. Skerow is a Khagodi, a telepathicsaurian whose world's atmosphere is so thin that all its stars can be seenin the daytime; she works as a circuit judge on Fthel V, otherwise known asStarry Nova, which is a seedy flash-brilliant world full of crime andentirely fascinating. Kobai is a "delphine," a kind of mer-womanbred as a gold-finding slave in the seas of Khagodis...without theknowledge of the Khagodi government. The Lyhhrt are protoplasmic lumps whobuild themselves intricate workshells of precious metals; the Praximfichange shape as part of their religious rituals; determining the gender ofa Pinxin gives the studious reader a headache. The human characters are noless compelling. Ned Gattes, a professional gladiator and part-time GalFedagent, gets stuck with the role of hero-in-spite-of-himself; yet he's not astock character by any means, but as fully-fleshed as Skerow or Kobai oreven Skerow's bottled-brain ancestors who have gone a bit nuts as a resultof their immortal confinement but are still willing to give theirgreat-great-great-granddaughter a helping hand.

The true test of anybook is whether or not it can hold up under a second reading. So far"Flesh and Gold" has taken two readings without hurt and I expecta third will be equally as good. This is a special kind of book. Gotliebdoes not write science fiction about gadgetry; there is no"gimmick" to the story. Nor are the characters a framework tohang the mystery on; that has no trick to it either. Phyllis Gotlieb writesintricate fiction about people-and whether they are human, saurian, orrobotic, she makes them real. And that makes it good.

Flesh and Gold ,2 parts PhilipK.Dick,1 part Raymond Chandler
"Flesh and Gold" is an amazing SciFi novel.Phyllis Gotlieb has used her poetic style to create an atmospheric story with the pacing of a crime novel.It tells the stories of such a variety of beings, humaniod and other, with such insight into character...something unexpected in most SciFi books.There's Skerow, a naive, gilled lizard woman, her opal sucking pet, an amphibious eel-tailed mer-woman called Kobai, psychic slugs given mobility in elaborate carapaces made of gold, silver and copper called Lyhhrt, and humanoid futuristic gladiators both male and female.The planet on which they have imprisoned themselves is as much acharacter as any of these aliens.A truly fantastic book by a little known though prolific author. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Interesting not trail-blazing
Well I had to read this for my school project and it was okay. Mabye notworth buying for 20$ but definitly worth a look at the Libray ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Yesterday is before my birth and tomorrow is after my death
Traversing time from a Polish shtetl at the end of the last century, to a time in the distant future when a thousand worlds and species gather together in a Galactic Federation, "A Judgement of Dragons"follows the starfaring couple Khreng and Prandra-two Ungrukh, aliens bestlikened to large, red, telepathic cats from a people who speak only in thepresent tense and a planet where old superstition mixes uneasily withGalFed technology-with adventure, humor, and some serious provocation ofthought. Not to mention through one of the most original future universesever created.

The book is really four short novels, tied together by thecommon theme of Khreng and Prandra's travels and the machinations of anancient, mysterious race known only as the Qumedni. While all four of thesenovellas are excellent, my personal favorites are the first and the fourth.The first deals with Khreng and Prandra's first encounter with the renegadeQumedni whose actions will continue to have repercussions throughout theentire story: fallen through a time-vortex left by the Qumedni as they passEarth, the two Ungrukh find themselves in the 19th-century village ofKostopol, where Reb' Elya, the harried and self-doubting rabbi, is tryingto deal with what he sees as demonic possession-and what Prandra the ESPrecognizes as Qumedni manipulation. To avert a pogrom, Khreng and Prandramust assume forms not their own and confront the Qumedni renegade on hisown ground, all without jeopardizing Kostopol's safety or Reb' Elya'ssanity. In the fourth novella, set on the cold red desert world ofUngruwarkh, tribal customs change slowly as increased contact with GalFedis forcing the Ungrukh to adapt to survive. Even while Khreng and Prandrastruggle with the change, their two children, reared in this new world, arebeing given chances and choices of their own: Emerald, their daughter, hascrossed tribal boundaries to find a lover in a clan long enemy to herparents' own; meanwhile, their son Tugrik the Stiller loves a woman whocannot bear him children and is being asked to marry, in the clan's name, awoman he does not love. The next to last thing theparents-cum-planetary-heroes need is a Qumedni on Ungruwarkh, fanning thenew struggle brewing between GalFed and theUngrukh...and the very lastthing they need is *two* Qumedni on their planet.

In "A Judgementof Dragons," Phyllis Gotlieb creates a future history rich withdetail; there is always the feeling that events she hints at, or casuallyrefers to in passing, have their own complex stories behind them. HerGalactic Federation is populated by a varied blend of humans and aliens,from the feline Ungrukh to the reptilian Khagodi, from sea-dwelling Yirlnto humans from Solthree itself-and, of course, the Qumedni, creatures ofpure energy who have no true shape but what they choose. When hercharacters delve into each other's minds, the tapestries of texture andimagery are absorbing, entrancing; sensory impressions cross with memories,voices, questions, in a rich, often gritty realization of what it might belike to walk through another's mind. Take a walk through Phyllis Gotlieb'smind. Read "A Judgement of Dragons." The only danger-you mightnot want to return. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Incomparable science fiction...
The story opens with a scene out of classic high drama: the young and beloved Emperor has been taken captive by the allies of his jealous twin brother, whose deformities of birth have left him jealous and scheming for the throne. Of course, this being the complex and colorful future universeof Phyllis Gotlieb, the setting is the planet Qsaprinel and the EmperorSpinel-alpha and all his subjects are large crustaceans of a philosophicalbent, and there is more to the situation than meets the Emperor's compoundeye. A conspiracy revolving around an enigmatic enzyme found in the bodiesof the Qsaprinli and the rumors of an illegal human colony hidden somewhereon the world's single continent has entangled the planet; on the Emperor'srequest it falls to Dun Kinnear, Sector Co-ordinator and class-two ESP, tountangle the mystery and defend Qsaprinel from its attackers.

"Emperor, Swords, Pentacles" is not a direct sequel to "AJudgement of Dragons," as it can be read without any prior knowledgeof Gotlieb's world, but fans of the earlier novel will enjoy thereappearance of familiar characters and races. Where the main characters of"A Judgement of Dragons" were Khreng and Prandra, two members ofa catlike, telepathic race known as the Ungrukh, here shifting viewpointshighlight various sets of characters who gradually join together as thestory nears its conclusions. Khreng and Prandra's daughter Emerald makes anappearance as a protagonist in her own right; together with her loverRaanung, she will join Kinnear in detective work and defense. It's a toughtask for the characters, but a delight for the reader. Every facet ofGotlieb's universe is fully detailed, comprehensible and believable, thescope of her imagination is breathtaking. The book is a joy to read. (Thetitle, as well as all the chapter headings, derive from the names of thecards in a Tarot pack. Similarly, a Tarot reading serves as the frameworkfor the story.) I had long been a fan of "A Judgement of Dragons"without knowing that it had a sequel; having found "Emperor, Swords,Pentacles" lurking on the shelf of a used book store, I was delighted.Being out of print this book might be hard to find outside of libraries,but those who have enjoyed Gotlieb's other works will find the effort wellworth the expense: this is science fiction like Cordwainer Smith wrotescience fiction (and for those of you who don't know who he is, you haveanother delight in store) and a sheer delight of a book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

As good as its predecessors...
Phyllis Gotlieb first began writing science fiction with "A Judgement of Dragons": a book of four short novellas featuring the starfaring couple Khreng and Prandra, GalFed surveyors from the planet Ungruwarkh, whocould best be described as large red telepathic cats. Their daughterEmerald and her lover Raanung dealt with an interstellar conspiracy in"Emperor, Swords, Pentacles." Now, in what the afterworddescribes as the last of the GalFed-commissioned chronicles of the Ungrukh,Emerald and Raanung's daughter Bren faces murder and terrorism in the mostunlikely of places: Sol Three's Grand Canyon. A group of Ungrukh had agreedto come to Earth, where their mental abilities and physical structure couldbe studied by resident scientists, but while they were prepared forhostility they did not expect a massacre. There were only four survivors:Bren; her twin siblings Tugrik and Orenda; and a shy loner named Etremwhose panther-black pelt had made him an outcast among his tribe. WhileEmerald and Raanung continue to realize Khreng's dream of a unifiedUngruwarkh, no longer split up into warring tribes and hereditary feuds,Bren and Etrem struggle to avenge the murder of their kin. With the help ofa GalFed telepath and a Pueblo shaman, they are successful in finding thekiller-but things become suddenly uncertain when Qumedni, the mischievousenergy being that created the Ungrukh from Terran leopards and regards themas his own, decides to step in and lend a hand.

Of Gotlieb's threeUngrukh novels, "A Judgement of Dragons" is my personal favorite;it's hard to watch the decline and death of favorite characters as timepasses. That said, "The Kingdom of the Cats" is a wonderful book.Its scope is not as wide as some of Gotlieb's other science fiction, as theaction takes place mainly on Earth and Ungruwarkh, but the characters arestrong and textured and the universe in which they live is meticulouslydetailed. Gotlieb's aliens are believable as aliens and as characters;their worlds are so carefully written that the descriptions of theirlandscapes could have been drawn from experience. The mystery is less solidhere than in "Emperor, Swords, Pentacles," but the Ungrukh'srelationship with Qumedni has been building from "A Judgement ofDragons" and it's good to see it come to a resolution. Gotlieb alsodoes an excellent job distinguishing the generations. For three books herprotagonists have been male-female pairs of Ungrukh, but in manner, speech,and action Prandra and Khreng could never be mistaken for Emerald andRaanung or Bren and Etrem. Each duo has its own individual personalities,different interactions and different shadings of their relationships.Nothing is repetitious; everything is lovingly drawn. It's sad to watch theUngrukh leave center stage-there are no Ungrukh protagonists in Gotlieb'slater novels "Flesh and Gold" and "Violent Stars"-butif the story had to close, this is an excellent ending novel. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Prandra and Kreng
The title short story is the start of her Prandra and Kreng epic, a masterpiece of cat literature. Wonderful character development. It's amazing how she makes you love the characters and empathize with them and see through the character's eyes and care about them so much. I loved it and the two sequels. ... Read more

Product Description
An interstellar alien corporation run by aliens was thwarted in its plans to exploit genetically altered slaves. Now, in an attempt to keep it's case from ever coming to court, a judge is murdered on Khagodis--the planet where the amphibious human slaves were first bred--and the man who first broke the slave ring must find a way to bring these villains to justice.
Amazon.com Review
Phyllis Gotlieb is a well-respected Canadian feminist andpoet, and there are fine literary rhythms in her science fictionnovels. But Violent Stars, her followup to Flesh and Gold, lacks tautplotting and character development.

Hero and Galactic Federationagent Ned Gattes can't seem to walk outdoors without a clue fallinginto his lap. Even in a cavernous grotto on an alien planet crowdedwith thousands of ne'er-do-wells, he's sure to recognize or berecognized by someone who's in on the conspiracy.

What conspiracy? It's somehow connected to Zamos, the interstellar corporation thatbred and enslaved amphibious beings in Flesh and Gold and thatis now out to thwart any opposition and delay the coming trial. Otheradversaries are the Ix, an evil arachnid race that emits pheromones toknock out enemies. The Ix seek to locate, kidnap, and terrorize--onetarget is Earth Ambassador's daughter Verona. But the Ix seem soall-powerful that one starts to wonder why they bother with a15-year-old girl. Why not just invade the whole planet? ViolentStars also includes more information on the indomitable andmysterious Lyrrht, the squishy pods who encase themselves in metal inorder to live in the world and pay off their grand debt.

Gotlieb'ssequel is quite intricate and literate despite its faults. But startwith the more complex and lyrical Flesh and Gold for a betterintroduction to the author. --Bonnie Bouman ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Bad writing
Plot and characters are adequate, and it doesn't start too badly, but the quality of the writing steadily declines and by mid-book the writing is ghastly.One example:

..."Come, children, eat your suppers, and let us not dwell on grim thoughts."
Verona, among alien telepaths, managed to fork it in, with some wisp of appetite left after all the terrors, grainy wafers that were crisp enough, an unidentified vegetable, rehydrated tomato slices, and a protein something that was far from chicken.

This is typical.Not incomprehensible, but clunky and awkward.The book just isn't worth the wade.

Violent Stars - My Sense of Wonder Restored
Phyllis Gotlieb's earlier novel "Flesh and Gold" impressed me so much with its deeply weird and unique characters and situation that I could hardly wait for "Violent Stars." Gotlieb is not a prolific writer, taking time to craft her work and weave in the poetry of description and mood that elevates her work beyond "sci-fi" and into the literary. But don't be put off by that literary comment! Her stories are invariably rich, meaty, sexy and yes, at times violent, full of wonderfully realized aliens, quirky and strong human characters, and plots full of politics, emotion and romance. This book has been out for a while now, and is available in paperback, so I won't go into a plot summary; suffice it to say that I loved it. I read a lot of SF and I found "Violent Stars" hit all my buttons.I highly recommend the novel, and future novels Phyllis Gotlieb writes.

Word-Weaver
'Violent Stars' is a brilliant book. It is the companion-piece to the even better 'Flesh & Gold', and while it suffers for the comparison, it is still a gem of a book. Gottlieb revels in her poetic talents: her word-weaving brings her space opera-ish universe to startling life and held me riveted. I couldn't put it down, and regretted that there isn't a part three (yet?).

The plot of 'Violent Stars' picks up where 'Flesh and Gold' left it. The Evil Empire has come back to Hydran life, and the well-crafted characters from F&G find themselves thrust once again into the heart of the fray. This time, the stakes are higher, and a new, weirder array of wicked beasties - reminiscent in the best way of the dread Shadows of the Babylon 5 series in their unexpected actions and the horror and confusion their very presence causes - are on hand.

Violent Stars is dark, humorous, thoughtful, sincere, and original. I don't want to get more specific, because I don't want to give anything away. I can say that Gottlieb has clearly lavished great effort in bringing this book to life, and it shows. Her writing burned into my head: there are sentences I can still remember, and that is not something that I can say about many other books. She brings scenes and characters to life without boring description, using her poet's sense to suggest and indirectly describe. The result is as riveting in Violent Stars as it was in F&G, and the characters as interesting.

It is unfortunate that Violent Stars, while maintaining the gorgeous, lush sound of the first, suffers in terms of its plot. It is most emphatically *not* a self-contained novel - while I read it before F&G, I didn't get the charge out of it I would have by knowing the story that preceded it.

But perhaps that is unfair. After all, there are many books that are not meant to be read as stand-alone novels, but that are superior in their proper place. I feel strongly that if you were held enraptured by Gottlieb's first work (as so many people clearly were: I cannot stress how utterly lovely her writing and pacing is), then you need to pick up her second work. It is hard to follow a mighty first novel with a second part as amazing; as I said, if it suffers, it is by comparison only.

Oh, and don't miss the monkeys ... I *sincerely* hope we run into them again.

Disappointing sequel to Flesh & Gold (98). Caveat lector
_____________________________________________
I liked Flesh & Gold a lot, recommended it, & was looking forwardto the sequel. Well, here it is, and I had to struggle to finish it. Thebook just didn't make sense! And there are all sorts of extraneous pulpysubplots. And a setup for *another* sequel. Ick.

To be fair, there aresome beautifully-written parts. And it has a nice cover. And I've seen somepositive reviews.

So YMMV. But it sure didn't work for me.

Happy reading--
Pete Tillman

Not quite as striking...
Phyllis Gotlieb's science-fiction mystery "Flesh and Gold" was a masterpiece. Its sequel "Violent Stars" is detailed and descriptive (as are all Gotlieb's novels) but does not match the intensityof its predecessor. Part of the problem may lie in the nature of thesequel: it requires a full knowledge of the plot and outcome of "Fleshand Gold," and going over these details for the new reader makes forlyrically-written but empty exposition for the reader familiar with theprior book. Similarly, "Flesh and Gold" was so tightly plottedthat it does not seem to require a sequel; "Violent Stars" feelsa bit like an afterthought, as far as plot goes, even unraveling a few ofthe threads that were tied up neatly in the last book. All this said, thereaders that enjoyed "Flesh and Gold" will find "ViolentStars" a worthwhile read. Both humans and aliens are built aroundsolid cores of character, not just devices to carry the plot, and Gotlieb'swriting is wonderfully poetic and descriptive even in its most minutedetails. Her future universe is a sharply visual, tactile thing that seemsalmost as real as our own present time, and Gotlieb manages the neat trickof introducing the reader to the more science-fictional aspects of herworld without ever sacrificing the flow of the story to the need to conveyinformation; one assimilates the nature of her universe without noticing."Violent Stars" is not the perfect fusion of story, setting, andcharacter in all its roles as science-fiction adventure, mystery story, andcharacter-driven novel: that title has been taken by "Flesh andGold." But this is a strong book in all respects, intricately imaginedand beautifully written-in no way secondhand work! Unfortunately Gotlieb isnot as well-known as she should be, but even one of her pretty-good booksoutclasses much of what can be found on the popular authors' shelves. Thinkabout it. Sex, violence, good writing...what more do you really need? ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

How Poetry Works
I would never, ever leave poetry, as Susan Briscoe suggests. Poetry comes at its own will, in poem-shaped visions. No poem that is forced onto the page is a true poem.

This item has no price on it.
Naturally I think this book is great because I wrote it. But you haven't put any price on it and I doubt anyone will think of buying it without one. ... Read more

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A nuclear accident ravages a small town outside of Chicago, resulting in a government quarantine isolating it from the rest of the world. A generation later, with the quarantine still in place, strange mutations have affected the minds of the town's children -- mutations which could either spell the next stage in human evolution, or something far more sinister. As the children's psychic powers begin to manifest themselves in more demented and destructive forms, the kids escape their compound. Now it is up to Shandy Johnson and her friends to track down the runaways. Possessing similar powers, Sandy and her friends find themselves facing increasingly frightening confrontations with their escaped peers. First published in 1964 and again in 1978, Sunburst has lost neither its edge nor its relevance. Predating the near-misses and disasters at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, Gotlieb reminds us of the tremendous forces we have at our fingertips -- powers that humans use daily but do not fully comprehend. ... Read more

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Mostly conventional, occasionally quite god...
In most respects, "Sunburst" is a very conventional book. Some years after a nuclear explosion, children with "psi"-extraordinary mental powers, such as group telepathy ortelekinesis-have appeared in the town of Sorrel Park. Far from beingsuper-geniuses or transcendental life-forms, for the most part thesechildren have serious mental or physical problems: one is a dwarf, anotheris retarded, a third is a psychopath . . . but they're incredibly powerful,and have had to be restrained in a kind of detention facility known as"the Dump," hence the name "Dumplings" for the psionicchildren. The story begins when a thirteen-year-old girl named ShandyJohnson meets a young man with psi-one of the few stable human beings withthe talent-and becomes drawn into the world of the Dumplings, who aregrowing increasingly more restless and violent, pushing the boundaries oftheir strange abilities until something, somewhere, has to snap. It's not abad set-up. It even allows for the development of some very interestingcharacters, both outside the Dump and within it, and contains a very goodtwist ending. Still, the theme of mutant-children-on-the-loose has beendone so many times that, even despite strong characters and anunconventional approach to the idea of psi, much of the book feels cliché.Certain passages sound too familiar; the narrative seems to lack Gotlieb'srich, gritty poetic style. Occasionally the reader catches glimpses-thereare some very good passages-but too much of the novel feelsundifferentiated. Anybody could have written the story.

Most of PhyllisGotlieb's novels take place in the same unnamed future universe, inhabitedby the Galactic Federation and such races as the Ungrukh, the Khagodi, andthe occasional Solthree. It's hard to tell whether "Sunburst"fits into this chronology; published in 1964 and now out of print, it seemspretty much unrelated. The story takes place entirely on Earth, in SorrelPark itself, with only one hint of spaceflight and even that is vague.Gotlieb's later novels use the word "esp" to describe theextranormal mental abilities common to many of her characters; here, strongpsi is the result of a mutation, something that seems equated with thevarious deformities that result in children born after a nuclear meltdown.The only common link is the term "Imper"-Impervious-used in herlater science fiction to describe a person whose mind cannot be penetratedby telepathy: Shandy is an Imper. Possibly "Sunburst" can be seenas a very early chapter in this future history, possibly not. In any case,"Sunburst" is definitely not her best novel. Having read herlater stories, I was somewhat disappointed by both the style and the plot;I was expecting something more fantastic, more original. That's harsh: thisis an early novel and I should be glad she later became as good a writer asshe is-but from reading "Sunburst," I would not have been able topredict Gotlieb's later skill.

Those looking for a good read will find itin "Sunburst." Those looking for a great read should try her morerecent works, such as "A Judgement of Dragons" or "Flesh andGold." This tale of mutants, normals, and Shandy Johnson's thirteenthbirthday is original enough to be enjoyable, straightforward andunspectacular: a small sunburst. But as sunbursts go, an okay one. ... Read more

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In this third anthology of modern Canadian speculative fiction, we present more alternate realities in time and space by new and established Canadian authors.

Travel to a planet where the five senses are no good enough...Watch a baseball game on Mars...Fly with Garuda, the king of birds, to see what kind of human folly he can find to amuse the gods...Visit a laundromat that can take you anywhere in space and time...Stroll through a holograph of the last forest on earth...See how time will end, with a jolt or a gradual slide...

Includes authors such as: Margaret Atwood, Charles DeLint, Elizabeth Vonarburg, Phyllis Gotlieb, Dave Duncan, William Gibson and others. ... Read more

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Tesseracts 4 expands futures in specualtive and sciencefiction as we present our latest anthology of new and establishedCanadian writers.

Enter worlds where reproductive laws yield a biotechnical marriage ofthe flesh...take the stage with a rock 'n' roll band, it's fame,fortune and phantom...prepare for the gift of flight on eagles'wings...experience the angst of a mother as she searches for herabducted dream child on video...hand raise a mystical beast in thecomfort of your own home...go behind a freakshow cage to meet aphilosophical man-faced dog...charge a truly animalistic sexuality toyour credit card...

Includes authors such as: Candas Jane Dorsey, Dave Duncan, UrsulaPflug, Tom Henighan Phyllis Gotlieb, Charles DeLint, ElisabethVonarburg and others. ... Read more