This novella is a sci-fi/fantasy story about a futuristic anthropologist and a princess determined to stop a demon.
*****
Long
ago, a strife-plagued Earth sent out generation ships to find suitable
new homes for humanity. Some of the voyages were successful, and
colonists settled into new habitats.
When
Earth recovered and developed new technologies, humanity returned to
space, to see how their ancestors had got on. Nyr Illim Tevitch is an
anthropologist second class of Earth's Explorer Core, stationed on
Sophos 4 to 'observe and report back' but NOT to interfere. Making his
home in the Tower of Nyrgoth Elder - located on a mountaintop - Nyr has
mostly hibernated through the years, waking up occasionally to look
around and report via satellite.
In
truth, Nyr hasn't scrupulously observed the non-interference rule. He
admits, "I may have breached various non-contamination regulations, in
respect of the locals here, but then the outpost itself, while remote,
isn't exactly invisible, and they came calling. And I was curious, and I
was lonely, and there was nobody around to to tell me to keep to the
rules."
So when Astresse Regent came a-knocking long ago, asking
for help against the warlord Ulmoth, Nyr assisted Astresse and fell in
love with her.
Nyr
and Astresse defeated Ulmoth, but Nyr knew he couldn't remain with
Astresse. Before returning to his tower, though, Nyr vowed to assist
Astresse's family should trouble arise again. And the time has come to
deliver on the promise.
Lynesse (Lyn), the fourth daughter of the
Queen of Lannesite, has become concerned about a demon terrorizing and
destroying the outskirts of Lannesite.
Lyn
is aware of the promises made by 'Nyrgoth Elder in the tower', so she
makes her way up the mountain with her companion Esha Free Mark.
The
women tell Nyr about the demon, which Nyr thinks has some biological
explanation, like a microbrial disease. Nyr has difficulty communicating
with the women because there's a disconnect between the culture of
modern Earth and the limited knowledge on Sophos 4. Modern Earth is a
cutting-edge technological planet, and Nyr sports all sorts of bells and
whistles. Conversely, the colonists on Sophos 4 - who started out with a
scientifically-advanced culture - reverted to a medieval-type society.
Thus
Lyn and Esha think Nyr is a wizard who can do magic. Nyr tries to
convince them otherwise, but in Sophos 4 language, 'scientist' is
synonymous with sorcerer - so saying "I'm a scientist" doesn't do the
trick. Regardless, the threesome set off to deal with the demon. 
Along
the way, Nyr, Lyn, and Esha encounter all kinds of danger, including
miscreants attacking Nyr; Esha being infected with a flesh-eating
fungus; Lyn being assaulted by a confused robot left over from the
colonists' early days; and more.
To
add the drama, Nyr is hiding a secret. Nyr suffers from clinical
depression, which he manages with a Dissociative Cognition System (DCS)
that masks his negative feelings. At night, Nyr must release his pent up
emotions, and his weeping and sobbing lead the women to think he's
fighting off an invisible supernatural enemy.
Nyr,
Lyn, and Esha continue to search for the entity plaguing the land, but
they can't find it until they're helped by a thief named Allwer, who's
offered a royal pardon for his assistance. Along the way, the foursome
encounter a horrible creature that looks like a conglomeration of
rodents. This 'monster' proves something is very wrong on Sophos 4, and
the adventurers have to fix it.
This leads to an explosive and satisfying climax.
I've
read some of Adrian Tchaikovsky's science fiction novels, and the
'Elder Race' sci-fi/fantasy mash-up has a different vibe. That said,
Tchaikovsky's signature 'futuristic creatures' - radically transformed
Earth animals - make an appearance. So that's fun, but I'd like to see
Tchaikovsky think up some REALLY radical aliens.
I prefer hard
sci-fi, but the book held my attention and I'd recommend it to fans of
the genre. The sequel to 'Elder Race' is 'Engines of Reason'.
Rating: 3.5 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment