The Highest Frontier

Sep 20, 2011 Stefan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: advance-reading-copy, science-fiction, www-tor-com-review

It’s been about a decade since Brain Plague, Joan Slonczewski’s last novel, came out, but I’d bet good money that more people remember the author for a novel that’s by now, unbelievably, already 25 years old — the wonderful and memorable A Door into Ocean, which won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. Now, ten years after her last novel, Joan Slonczewski returns with The Highest Frontier, another insightful exploration of hard SF concepts with a thrilling plot and...more It’s been about a decade since Brain Plague, Joan Slonczewski’s last novel, came out, but I’d bet good money that more people remember the author for a novel that’s by now, unbelievably, already 25 years old — the wonderful and memorable A Door into Ocean, which won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. Now, ten years after her last novel, Joan Slonczewski returns with The Highest Frontier, another insightful exploration of hard SF concepts with a thrilling plot and fascinating characters.

Put simply: even after a decade, this book was well worth the wait.

The Highest Frontier is one of those novels that kicks into high gear right from the beginning, throwing a ton of new concepts and terms at the reader and then gradually filling in bits of information until you get your bearings. Just look at the very first chapter, with references to an anthrax-powered space elevator, an Earth-orbiting habitat called Frontera, an alien invasion by cyanide-emitting “ultraphytes,” an internet-like system called “Toynet,” the Unity and Centrist political parties, the “Cuban Kennedys,” and so on. Because of all of this, the first few chapters are both wonderful and a bit bewildering, but fortunately Slonczewski is such a good storyteller that she easily captures the reader’s interest until everything starts to come together.

The main character of the novel is Jennifer Kennedy Ramos, a highly intelligent young woman (and a descendant of those Kennedys) who is about to go off to college at Frontera. She’s still recovering from the death of her twin brother Jordi, a gifted public speaker who died saving people during a tidal wave caused by a methane quake. Jenny is in some ways quite the opposite of her late twin: she suffers from “public mutism” as a result of a mistake made during her embryonic gene-coding. Because of this, she relies heavily on her press prompt when she has to deal with the media, which is inevitable for the youngest member of a family that has produced several presidents and senators in the past. She’s also constantly and invasively monitored by a team of psychologists who track her thoughts and actions after the trauma caused by the loss of her twin brother. It’s no wonder that she’s excited about being let off her leash to go to college at Frontera, the “highest frontier for knowledge.”

Frontera, the setting for most of the novel, is an independent space habitat that orbits the Earth. Frontera is enveloped by a layer of water containing microbes that power the entire complex — making it, in a way, the opposite of Shora in A Door into Ocean, where everyone lived on the water rather than inside it. The habitat contains the college Jenny will attend, as well as a casino where people can go to “play” their taxes. It also contains a small pioneer settlement, because Earth is rapidly losing habitable ground and it’s becoming increasingly clear that evacuation may some day be inevitable. This situation is complicated by the political wrangling between the Unity party, which appears to be a melding of the current Republican and Democrat parties, and the Centrists, who adhere to the pre-Copernican belief that the Earth is the center of the universe, and all the stars are suspended from a “Firmament” that envelops our world. Because of this, space exploration and the search for other inhabitable planets is not very high on the Centrists’ agenda, so to speak.

The Highest Frontier has so many dimensions to it, it’s hard to classify. Jenny’s the point of view character for most of the novel, so in one sense this is a typical coming-of-age story set in the “college of the future.” Slonczweski definitely devotes considerable attention to Jenny’s progress in college, her selection of classes, her interactions with her professors and with other students, her performance on the college’s “slanball” team, a budding romance, a crazy roommate, and so on. It’s the story of an extraordinary person pursuing the dream of leading an ordinary life. At the same time, and even though it’s initially somewhat masked by the fact that Jenny is so privileged, The Highest Frontier portrays a horrible dystopian future that’s in many ways a realistic extrapolation of the present. Even though Jenny’s away at college, far from the Death Belts and the disintegrating society on Earth, it’s always present in the background. Yet another aspect of the novel is its solid base of hard SF ideas. Given Slonczewski’s academic background, you’d probably expect considerable focus on biology, and you’d be right, but she also brings in other sciences both hard and soft, from chemistry to theology, history and political science. Much of the material from Jenny’s fascinating interactive tutorials ties into the novel’s main themes in subtle and surprising ways. I’ve rarely read a science fiction novel that so effectively uses ideas from very different scientific branches to approach the same central theme.

Several chapters in the novel are told from the perspective of Dylan Chase, the president of Frontera college, and these chapters offer yet another dimension: what does it take to keep a college running? As you’d expect, political wrangling, approaching alumni for donations, dealing with student organizations and the old “town-gown” conflict all play a role, but Frontera being an SF college set on a space habitat means all of these take on a completely different shape. All of this impacts Jenny’s life at college too, making Dylan’s chapters fascinating in their own way.

The Highest Frontier frequently plays with the concept of political correctness, and so with the expectations of its readers, in surprising ways. Because of a variety of factors, the “upper class” is often considerably taller than others, but on the news media’s screens, everyone’s artificially displayed as being the exact same height. The reasons for the height variances are only hinted at later, making what initially seems a silly conceit actually very poignant. As far as other social norms go, things that may be shocking for some people now have become commonly accepted, and others that are almost unimaginable have become merely frowned upon. Compulsive hacking is a registered disability. The first set of conjoined twins have been elected to public office. Technology allows people on the autistic spectrum — like, in a way, our main character Jenny — ways of communicating that would now be impossible. At the same time some women have taken vows of silence, becoming “paulines” who take the teachings of St. Paul as they pertain to women literally to heart. The boundaries for what’s considered normal by the majority have shifted, and society itself has changed in dramatic ways. Some of these changes are highly meaningful to the story and an integral part of the very deep world-building Slonczewski displays in this novel, but I felt that the playfulness of this aspect of the novel occasionally clashed with its generally grim tone, as if someone cut a few scenes from a comedy (say, PCU) into an otherwise very deep, thought-provoking and frequently cynical story about an all-too-plausible future society.

The only other issue I had with this otherwise excellent novel was its ending. The Highest Frontier slowly works its way towards what I fully expected to be a spectacular climax, and some parts of it definitely deliver, but at one specific point — which, to avoid spoilers, I won’t explicitly describe here — I felt that it all just became too unlikely and hard to take seriously. From that point on, The Highest Frontier wraps everything up very quickly, rushing to a climax that doesn’t have enough substance to balance out the highly original and intelligent story that came before. This is doubly unfortunate for a novel that was built up with such meticulous care and showed so much depth.

Still, aside from these minor complaints, The Highest Frontier is a stunning achievement and easily one of the best pure SF novels I’ve read this year. Some of its more controversial ideas are sure to spark some lively discussions, but even without this, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a science fiction novel with more innovative ideas, fascinating characters and thematic depth in 2011. I wouldn’t be surprised to see The Highest Frontier on the short list for many of the major awards next year. Highly recommended.

(This review was originally published on Tor.com on 9/13/2011.)(less)

6 likes · like · see review

Dec 22, 2012 Pamela rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: recently-read-science-fiction

If you're in the mood for science fiction jam-packed with speculation, ideas, and a lively and often satirical wit, I recommend Joan Slonczewski’s John W. Campbell Award winner The Highest Frontier, which Tor brought out in 2011. You get a space elevator, an alien invasion that has made parts of Earth nearly uninhabitable, a space habitat powered by microbes, a realistically disorienting and all-pervasive Internet-like system (Toynet), a troubled and intelligent protagonist (Jennifer Kennedy Ram...more

like · see review

Jul 28, 2012 Nick rated it 3 of 5 stars

http://idearefinery.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/highest-frontier-by-joan-slonczewski.html

I was pretty sure I knew what I wanted to say about Joan Slonczewski's The Highest Frontier, but then a blog post by the author threw a spanner in the works. See, I thought that The Highest Frontier was intended as a Young Adult book; that's what they said when I first heard of it, on The Coode Street Podcast.

I was going to talk about how impressed I was with Slonczewski's imagined young adult reader, who I too...more http://idearefinery.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/highest-frontier-by-joan-slonczewski.html

I was pretty sure I knew what I wanted to say about Joan Slonczewski's The Highest Frontier, but then a blog post by the author threw a spanner in the works. See, I thought that The Highest Frontier was intended as a Young Adult book; that's what they said when I first heard of it, on The Coode Street Podcast.

I was going to talk about how impressed I was with Slonczewski's imagined young adult reader, who I took to be about 15 or 16 years old. Smart, socially and politically aware, interested in science, but of course worried about relationships and taking the first steps into adulthood. I was going to say that I admired Slonczewski for writing to such a reader, but that I thought she might have pitched it just a little too high. I think I would have struggled with this book at that age.

But then I read this blog post, in which Slonczewski writes of her surprise at finding The Highest Frontier in the Young Adult section of the Locus 2011 Recommended Reading List. And that threw the neat little story I was going to tell about my response to the book into complete disarray!

The Highest Frontier is both hard biological SF, and a school story. It focusses largely around Jennifer Ramos Kennedy, a freshman at the Earth-orbiting Frontera College. Born into an influential political family (those Kennedys), her life is a hectic mix of classes, new friends, coming to grips with the death of her twin brother, sport, College professors, and a US Presidential campaign in which her family is intimately involved.

The book is rich with science fictional ideas. It's like a constant stream of really interesting thought experiments: what if future shock really took hold amongst vast swathes of the (American) population, what if you could genetically engineer for wisdom, what if political parties got so good at manipulating their message that all elections ended in a statistical tie, and dozens more. If you like that sort of thing -- and I do -- then you're going to have fun reading this book.

If that isn't your thing, though, I'm not sure there's enough here to carry you through The Highest Frontier. I felt for much of it that the plot was happening to the characters, rather than being driven by them**. Although the characters were descriptively interesting, in practice they seemed a little flat.

I think The Highest Frontier has a lot in common with many science fiction classics. It's filled with intriguing ideas, wonderfully imaginative, and actively challenges the reader to consider the sort of society we're creating for ourselves. The characters and plotting, however, are less compelling. Lovers of the genre will find a whole lot to enjoy here. Others, perhaps not so much.(less)

like · see review

Jul 15, 2012 Clay rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sf-fantasy

On the jacket of “The Highest Frontier” (Tor, $26.99, 443 pages), there’s a reference to Robert Heinlein’s young adult novels of the ‘60s – but the gap between Heinlein’s not-always sunny world view and that of Joan Slonczewski some 50+ years later makes the comparison almost meaningless.

Heinlein, for all his dyspepsia about the human condition, still looked at humanity and saw better times ahead. There were solutions to problems, and in the end, ingenuity, grit and a touch of heroism would win...more On the jacket of “The Highest Frontier” (Tor, $26.99, 443 pages), there’s a reference to Robert Heinlein’s young adult novels of the ‘60s – but the gap between Heinlein’s not-always sunny world view and that of Joan Slonczewski some 50+ years later makes the comparison almost meaningless.

Heinlein, for all his dyspepsia about the human condition, still looked at humanity and saw better times ahead. There were solutions to problems, and in the end, ingenuity, grit and a touch of heroism would win out. In fact, John Scalzi’s latest, “Fuzzy Nation” (Tor, $24.99, 301 pages) harkens back to those times, and Heinlein – and ironically, its upbeat, can-do narrative is based on a 1962 book by H. Beam Piper.

And “Fuzzy Nation”, though it’s a fun read, and a good one (which readers have come to expect from Scalzi), is so old-fashioned that its plot twists almost creak with arthritis, and in the aftermath of the unremorseful corporate depredations of the past few years, seems hopelessly naïve.

But in “The Highest Frontier,” we have an entirely different narrative arc, one that holds out the promise of a happy ending, but falls well short of delivering.

My apologies for the spoiler, but for me, “The Highest Frontier” is more than just a pretty good 2011 novel with solid science and an interesting narrative – it also shows how pop culture interacts with our view of ourselves and our future, and in this case, its contrast with Heinlein and Scalzi’s recreation of a 1962 novel tells a disquieting tale about the coming decades.

To set the scene: Jennifer Ramos Kennedy is a child of extreme privilege (yes, related to those Kennedys) in the not-too-distant future. She’s off to college, one of the best, but because of the ecological collapse of the earth, that college is safely in orbit. Well, “safely” may be stretching it, as one of Slonczewski’s themes is that it’s impossible for even the most stringently protected habitat to escape the realities outside its walls.

One of those realities is an alien presence on the Earth, ultraphytes, which produce cyanide as a byproduct, and thus are deadly to most forms of terrestial life. The ultraphytes, like kudzu, are spreading around the world, but unlike the kudzu, the aliens don’t mind if global warming leeches all the water from the environment, as they love the high-salt waters that remain.

Slonczewski mixes young love, politics, drug therapy for psychological issues, technological advances, terrorism, academic infighting and a (too easily solved) mystery into the stew, and “The Highest Frontier” is a satisfying, if not quite Heinlein-like, effort.

But more troubling for me is that the young adult, coming-of-age scifi novel, traditionally a genre in which problems are overcome and the future is bright enough that dark glasses are required, has become yet another outlet for the deep malaise that infects much of 21st century humanity.

Hope is in short supply, and though history is replete with examples of apparently unavoidable disasters averted, it also has its share of collapsing empires and centuries-long dark ages. “The Highest Frontier”, written by a biologist, is an unflinching look at a reasonable extrapolation of the near future, and the prospects it holds out for its young protagonists, and its readers regardless of age, are not pretty ones.

There was a time when science fiction and fantasy reflected the basic optimism at the core of our culture (which can be clearly seen, and enjoyed, in “Fuzzy Nation”), just as the rest of pop culture did. But now fantasies are almost always dark and even quality young adult scifi can be bleak and unforgiving. If how we view the future is how we really view the present, then it’s pretty clear that optimism, like humanity for Slonczewski, is an endangered species.
(less)

like · see review

Sep 21, 2011 John rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: sf-fantasy

Hugo candidate for sure. There are echoes of Heinlein in the premise--teenager heading off for a college in orbit and rising to every challenge from juggling classwork and a demanding athletic coach (the game is a cross between soccer and quidditch) and being hit with a date rape drug to experiencing both alien invasion and more than one habitat-wide disaster--and in the way the author takes potshots at politicians (there's a wonderful running joke that has the President of the US commending som...more

like · see review

Apr 22, 2012 Rosiel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

Brilliant. A slow start, but it shaped up nicely. In themes, and in scope, it felt like Harry Potter in space. You had the escape to a indistinguishable-from-magical world that's scary and dangerous, a bunch of hard courses and mentors, parties throughout the year, and a cool aerial sport at which our protagonist happens to be spectacularly skilled. It was a formula that worked. As for the world-building, I eventually got over the talk of "ToyNet" and "games" (how juvenile! but perhaps a jab at...more

like · see review

Apr 13, 2013 Jim Dressner rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

This book is full of ideas about what the future could be like: brains wired into a wireless internet, global warming and environmental degradation, space stations tethered to earth, genetically-modified virus and bacteria (HIV and anthrax have been helpfully modified), all-pervasive entertainment, taxes being paid through gambling, and polling & campaigning being linked so closely that elections are all tied, the mixing of English and Spanish.

However, I found much of this obscured by the fo...more

like · see review

Jun 11, 2013 Jason Modisette rated it 4 of 5 stars

There's a lot of clever stuff in this book. Slonczewski's future a hundred years from now is mostly based on extrapolations of current trends, sometimes to the point of ridiculousness. Conversely, she also nicely illustrates our failure to solve many of today's problems: there's still misogyny, poverty, date rape, all sorts of other terrible stuff. As the story went on, my reactions progressed from "look at this cool Utopia" to "that technology would be sort of annoying" to "this future is awful...more

like · see review

Oct 05, 2012 Tamahome is currently reading it

She's still alive? (author of classic feminist novel A Door into Ocean). First chapter seemed packed with ideas, but looks long. Space elevators made from anthrax. And HIV used for health.

Podcast interview. Interesting. Maybe she can talk to me while I read the book. http://blog.outeralliance.org/archive...

She says this book is structured like a best selling Harry Potter book (and yet not YA). Reviews seem to differ. But it sounds like it has a lot of interesting ideas.

Author's blog (she's a bio...more

like · see review

Aug 03, 2012 Sean Martin added it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

like · see review

May 23, 2012 Kathleen Basi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Sci-fi/fantasy is not generally my thing, because the effort required to get myself situated in another world is draining to me. Slonczewski follows current advice to "show, not tell" to a T. Thus, it took me a week to read the opening chapters of this book. What with "Toynet" and "brainstream" and "ultra" and "anthrax" and references to Cuba being part of the US...well, I was very disoriented.

So it is quite a tribute to the author that I read this entire book. You're unlikely to see any rating...more

like · see review

Sep 13, 2011 Ove rated it 5 of 5 stars

What If You Believe Your Roommate Is An Alien?

This is a story about a young girl going to college so it includes teenage love, dealings with teachers and unruly fraternity boys, the whole coming of age thing. But that is the simple part what if you believe your roommate is an alien? Or that your professor is trying to brainwash you? Or that you fear the space station will be flooded? Glad to know you are not crazy?

Joan Slonczewski is new to me so I did not have any preconceptions beyond the blur...more What If You Believe Your Roommate Is An Alien?

This is a story about a young girl going to college so it includes teenage love, dealings with teachers and unruly fraternity boys, the whole coming of age thing. But that is the simple part what if you believe your roommate is an alien? Or that your professor is trying to brainwash you? Or that you fear the space station will be flooded? Glad to know you are not crazy?

Joan Slonczewski is new to me so I did not have any preconceptions beyond the blurb which made me think of a strong girl going to college on a space station possible with some aliens involved.

Jenny comes across a sweet easy-to-like main character. She is a spawn of the Ramos Kennedy family which are deep into the politics of the time, on both sides. The political part felt a bit too true and reflects things easy to imagine of our own time. I am talking from the far north of Scandinavia here.

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Yes there are small mini-elephants in Jenny’s room now and then but I am talking about the aliens. Earth is to a large part devastated by ecological calamities but on top of that it is being infested by alien RNA based life, mostly as a thick layer over the Great Lakes but they are changing fast much like viruses. The Ultraphytes or Ultras are important to the story and the whole series. Jenny’s parallel between smallpox decimating the Indians even before they saw a white man and the Ultra was fascinating and a bit scary.

I like reading about Jenny dealing with it all and doing ordinary teenage things too. The ordinary things make the futuristic world more tangible. And there lots of fascinating futuristic concept to take in. They have printers that can print out almost anything including real viruses. Hacks are frequently life-threatening and outbreaks of new tailor-made diseases are common. People don’t pay taxes any more they are Taxplayers and gamble at a casino instead and the surplus fund the government. Some of the names of technologies and gadgets feel a bit juvenile like Toynet and calling bears for teddies. Teenagers of today would never use that kind of vocabulary but many things might change in a hundred years.

Jenny also does sports. She plays Slanball the game of mind force (See Slan a novel by A E Van Vogt about telepaths). It is a bit like that game in Harry Potter.

Joan is a microbiologist with teaching experience and that comes across in her writing. I particularly liked the way she used virtual worlds for teaching and anthrax for building the space elevator. It has been a pleasure to read this new-to-me author. Her last novel came out more than ten years ago and this is the first novel in the Frontera Cycle so I hope it doesn’t take another ten years to write the next one because I want to read it and read it soon. The story has a young adult feel to it but worked well for me at my age. It is also stand alone if that is what you prefer.

Joan told me that the Frontera Cycle will continue with Jenny. She visits Cuba, and discovers that ultraphytes have evolved to grow in the ocean–but what are they up to? Meanwhile, back at Frontera for her sophomore year, the college faces an uncertain future because the casino is losing money–and proposes an alarming solution.

The Highest Frontier get my strong recommendation.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Nov 25, 2012 Anna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

I'm not sure what I thought of this book (which, by the way, I actually bought, so it's up for grabs, Joey, etc....) My memory of a Door Into Ocean is so vivid that this book didn't quite reach the same level, but I don't really know if my memory was entirely accurate.

The Highest Frontier was full of fascinating themes, but there were just so many of them --- global warming, aliens (kinda), presidential elections, college administration, the experience of being a freshman at college, fundamenta...more

like · see review

Oct 31, 2011 Amanda Lodi rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really wanted to love this, and there was a lot to like, but in the end there was something missing for me. Joan Slonczewski has been my favorite author since I was 14, so the thought of a new book from her was thrilling! I've read that this is only the first book in a cycle, so hopefully once I've read the rest of the books the story will really gel. The world building, as is expected, is absolute brilliant, but not so dense that lay people such as myself can't understand what's going on. The...more

like · see review

Apr 22, 2013 pjreads ♫ rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-fantasy

Read Heinlein's For Us, the Living: A Comedy of Customs (1939) while reading this. Both imagine a future but Heinlein is far more creative, far reaching with much greater depth. Slonczewski's world view is stiflingly, unconvincingly US-centric with a few Spanish expressions thrown in because Cuba is part of the US. She throws in a lot of concern about saving the world but gives no glimpse of China, Japan, India, Europe, Africa, ...

Some good stuff, but only hints of the Heinlein spirit.

like · see review

Nov 26, 2012 kvon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club

College in space. Lots of floated ideas about biology, politics, and history. Commentary on current issues--instead of creationists, fundamentalists focus on the biblical idea of the Firmament and the
iconology of Noah's Ark saving the select and holy. And instead of inevitable climate change is a spreading adapatable alien organism. The internet (toynet) is more pervasive, and private virtual worlds (think second life) are more alluring. Jenny is a shy scion of a politically major family (think...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 13, 2012 Vanessa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sciene-fiction

I grew up in a small farming community in Oregon, so when I left for university--with a student body three times that of my hometown--it's reasonable to say that it was an intimating experience. THE HIGHEST FRONTIER by Joan Slonczewski reminded me about those first overwhelming months. Except with way cooler stuff.

Fast forward to several decades in the future and Jenny Ramos Kennedy, a girl from a rich and politically powerful family, is beginning her freshman year at Frontera College--a school...more I grew up in a small farming community in Oregon, so when I left for university--with a student body three times that of my hometown--it's reasonable to say that it was an intimating experience. THE HIGHEST FRONTIER by Joan Slonczewski reminded me about those first overwhelming months. Except with way cooler stuff.

Fast forward to several decades in the future and Jenny Ramos Kennedy, a girl from a rich and politically powerful family, is beginning her freshman year at Frontera College--a school in a space habitat. It looks like a regular college on earth, with buildings for classrooms, dorms, faculty offices, and cafeterias. There's also a community of farmers who emigrated from an earth under attack from global warming and ultraphytes--an unknown alien seeded them into the Great Salt Lake and they've been reproducing ever since, creating mass quantities of cyanide in the process. It's all a big mess.

Jenny must navigate hard classes, new friends, an odd roommate, an athletic team, volunteering as an EMS, a budding romance...and so much more. Readers will follow along as she attends classes, takes counsel from the local pastor, and tries to keep up in all the social activities and coursework--as well as pressure from her politically minded family. FRONTIER is actually a pretty exhausting book to read, because not only are we trying to keep up with an active co-ed and understand all the new science and imagery being thrown at us, but about a third of the way through we're presented with a mystery, and Jenny is compelled to understand what's really going on.

At first I had a hard time getting into this book. Since FRONTIER is almost exclusively a concept novel, it contains ideas and 'what ifs' about earth's climatic and political futures. There's slanball, a null-grav scoccer-like game, where minds are used instead of actually touching the ball. Instead of smart phones, everyone wears 'diads' over their eyes that connect them to ToyNet, with instant news feeds, texts from teachers and friends, invites to parties. It's all sensory overload and Slonczewski immerses you in it from page one, and drags you along until you finally get your footing. Even though it's light on plot, FRONTIER has more than its fair share of ambiance and setting.

Jenny is the main narrator, with President Dylan Chase occasionally piping in with college administrative issues. Jenny has recently suffered the death of her twin brother, Jordi, and begins as an uncertain, emotionally distant young woman. Slonczewski does a great job with Jenny's growth and characterization. She's a smart girl, but still quite normal for her age, with her hang-ups and moments of clarity. Her relationships with the other kids in her class felt real--for the most part, some of them I didn't quite understand.

Slonczewski is a professor of biology at Kenyon College (the college hosts a 3D image of what Frontera College looks like) and her love of the subject shines in FRONTIER. She peppers it with questions about ultraphytes. The space hab residents create food and homes from amyloid and carboxyplast--it's cheaper than shipping up everything from the planet. The space hab is twenty years old, practically ancient technology, with potentially serious problems if the power ever goes out. My favorite: you can print out things, from your printer, such as clothes. No need for a closet, or wearing the same thing everyday! Well, assuming you can afford it.

The story takes place during the presidential election, and I'd probably be more interested in that if I weren't so numb from the recent onslaught of the current news. But again, Slonczewski handles it well, and makes it an important part of the story. In a way it's a very timely commentary on the current political climate in the U.S., without being overbearing or agenda-ridden.

In all, it's a thoughtful book to read, with a likable heroine and some cool concepts. While it took time for me to become immersed in the story, it was worth the time.

**Read this and other reviews on Elitist Book Reviews.***(less)

like · see review

Nov 07, 2011 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: scifi, arc-or-review-copy, read-in-2011, coming-of-age, social-issues, tor

4.5/5 stars

Despite the minor frustrations some readers might find regarding biology speak and some confusing concepts that take time to figure out, The Highest Frontier is quite an amazing, thought provoking book about a dystopian earth and how society has evolved to fit that vision. Slonczewski’s world is vibrant and well realized. Every detail of her future vision is well thought out in riveting detail. The plot is tight and quickly flowing and Jenny is a wonderful character to follow. Many re...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 06, 2013 Rebecca rated it 2 of 5 stars

Writing this reluctantly because I wanted so much to like this book more. A finely crafted universe, a fleshed-out vision of the future, and even fascinating linguistic touches about how our language might evolve in the future. I also was captivated by the thought that our most frightening diseases could change to the point where they protect us (i.e., "Human Improvement Vector").

What was missing for me was real human emotion. The characters' feelings seemed like afterthoughts, glossed over and...more

like · see review

May 04, 2012 Joshua Zucker rated it 4 of 5 stars

Good fun, with some good drama and a whole bunch of subplots.

Something about it felt a little odd, like I was walking on the surface of something much deeper, but the characters weren't giving me glimpses into what was going on. Maybe I should say that the characters didn't feel as real as they should; despite the protagonist's point of view, it often felt like it was the narration of a plot and she never really FELT things, only DID things.

Still, a somewhat updated, rather Heinlein-esque story,...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 22, 2012 Kate rated it 2 of 5 stars

Not quite my cuppa tea. It was a fast read, and I liked some of the characters, but it wasn't really a convincing story. Somehow I never really felt that the main character was college age. She seemed younger. I also guessed the big plot twist not very far into the story. Oh, and the very liberal theology was a bit annoying because it came off rather strong at times. Overall, not a bad piece of fluff, with some interesting worldbuilding, but nothing that really grabbed me. I doubt I would pick u...more

like · see review

Mar 10, 2013 Crystal rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: abandoned

I made it about halfway through this book. I was looking for some new SF to try, which is unusual for me, and so I sifted through my "to read" shelf for something that looked a little different. This one certainly fits the bill. After reading reviews on Amazon and elsewhere, I was aware that many found the book lacking in plot but well written, and for me I usually prefer the latter over the former. Unfortunately, the complete lack of plot got on my nerves and I decided to put down the book when...more

like · see review

Oct 30, 2011 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

(3.5 stars)

(originally reviewed on starmetal oak book blog)

I've come away from The Highest Frontier feeling very dichotomous about the book. Overall, I did enjoy this book very much but I alo had some reservations.

I'll start by saying that there are many awesome things Slonczewski did with this story. It follows Jenny Ramos Kennedy, a college student from a family of politicians and presidents, who loves plants and goes to study at Frontera College. Frontera is located in a spacehab ('space ha...more (3.5 stars)

(originally reviewed on starmetal oak book blog)

I've come away from The Highest Frontier feeling very dichotomous about the book. Overall, I did enjoy this book very much but I alo had some reservations.

I'll start by saying that there are many awesome things Slonczewski did with this story. It follows Jenny Ramos Kennedy, a college student from a family of politicians and presidents, who loves plants and goes to study at Frontera College. Frontera is located in a spacehab ('space habitat') and is accessible by going up an anthrax lift. There we meet many interesting characters: Dylan, the college president and his partner, Father Clare, the college chaplain. Then there's the eccentric roomate, Mary Dryer, and Jenny's best frend, Anouk. One of the advertised benefits of Frontera is that there are no ultraphytes, alien organisms that have been populating on Earth. However, Frontera isn't as perfect as everyone's made it out to be and slowly, Jenny finds out there are issues going on in the spacehab.

Politics and religion is another large part of the book. Through Jenny we witness the presidental election on Earth, mostly between two parties: the religious Centrists who don't believe in outer space and Unity, the part of Jenny's ancestors. What I really enjoyed is the mix of politics and religion in a futuristic world where often times religion is replaced by science. That's not the case here. There are still many conflicts between church and state despite it being around a century in the future.

But the aspect I liked the most about this book is the science. Slonczewski injects this future world with so much interesting and fun concepts that it really kept me reading out of sheer fascination. Biology is a big part of this world, where ultraphytes are mixing DNA with Earth life and Jenny spends a lot of her time with her Life class professor learning about organisms. Everyone wears a diad on their head where they use their brain to navigate the Toyworld, a virtual place where you can chat with people, watch news and basically do anything you could think of.

The only downside that I found to The Highest Frontier is that we don't pass through too much time (about one semester of college) and the story moves at a slow pace. There wasn't a specific plotline. Instead we follow Jenny through school and through her political life, learning as much as we can about this world. I would have liked to see a bigger climax at the end, but I did feel the conclusion was satisfying enough.

Like I said earlier, I have mixed feelings. I thought this was one of the most interesting and unique science fiction books I ever read and I really appreciate it for that. There isn't always a lot of action or a clear direction in plot, but it's supplemented by grabbing your attention with a myriad of ideas and concepts that Slonczewski has thought up. I would recommend this book for people looking for more hard science fiction with a great side dish of poltics and religion. However, if you're looking for an easy, fast-paced action book with a clear storyline, then this isn't for you.

Review copy of this book was provided by the publisher.(less)

like · see review

Oct 11, 2011 Megan (Book Brats) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adventure, four-stars, future-earth, science-fiction, college, new-adult

It has been ten years since Joan Slonczewski’s THE CHILDREN STAR, but the author is back with a bang with the recently released THE HIGHEST FRONTIER. Delving into a rather new arena with a story focused on the exploits of a girl born to leaders, cloned from leaders, and destined to be a leader as she enters her first year of college in a space habitat orbiting Earth, Slonczewski enters a new frontier for her writing easily, but not without a few hiccups.

I should preface this review by saying tha...more It has been ten years since Joan Slonczewski’s THE CHILDREN STAR, but the author is back with a bang with the recently released THE HIGHEST FRONTIER. Delving into a rather new arena with a story focused on the exploits of a girl born to leaders, cloned from leaders, and destined to be a leader as she enters her first year of college in a space habitat orbiting Earth, Slonczewski enters a new frontier for her writing easily, but not without a few hiccups.

I should preface this review by saying that Slonczewski is a microbiology professor by trade, and it does show in her writing. Several of her books have been about sentient microbes. This one, however, is rather tame in setting by comparison. About 100 years in the future, Earth has become decimated by climate change and pollution, and the only safe haven left is a network of space habitats in orbit around the Earth. Religious leaders have proclaimed this the Firmament, God’s territory. Jenny Ramos Kennedy is girl who lost her twin brother and has spent the past few months trying to overcome her mental issues, fears, and inability to speak publicly before coming to Frontera College orbiting high above the Earth. Paired with her story is a Presidential race and the spread of an alien organism called the Ultraphyte which had helped in the decimation of Earth, releasing cyanide and killing thousands.

The one place where Slonczewski never falters is her attention to biological detail, but at the same time, this does have a tendency to draw out the book and slow the pacing down to a crawl. There are even biology classes in the book which could substitute for a real biology class, with such detail that, despite having been a biology major for a year (bad idea), I was confused. Even more so than her previous books, I feel like THE HIGHEST FRONTIER is some love story to biology, possibly making it difficult for those that are not from a scientific background to get into the story.

One thing I loved was the characters. Each one was brilliantly crafted and came to life on the pages. I especially loved Jenny’s love interest Tom, an Amish kid who left the world he grew up in to come to Frontera – for a good reason. I’ll let you read the book and find out more about him. Anouk the French hacker, though, was my favorite. Imagine being banned from Earth for your many attempts at breaking into government computer networks. She’s a genius through and through, but her common sense might be just a little lacking.

While not quite at the level as her 1986 masterpiece A DOOR INTO OCEAN (one of my favorite books of all time, you must read it), Slonczewski puts forward a very welcome new book that is sure to win new fans and put a new spin on the science fiction genre yet again. The creativity that went into this book and the fascinating finale should win this book awards. I would definitely recommend this book, but I suggest having google open at all times, especially if you don’t know Spanish. Which I don’t.

VERDICT: Though complex and full of biological terms that might be offputting, THE HIGHEST FRONTIER is a fascinating speculative look at what the world might be in 100 years. With great characters and an all-too-believable plot, this is a book worth checking out.(less)

like · see review

Feb 04, 2012 Alexa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a perfect read for me. Slonczewski throws you right into her built world with no interpretation at all; just the intellectual challenge I adore. (Oh how I hate long-winded patronizing exposition!) It is a multi-layered satire of politics, academia, and environmental devastation. Her ability to poke fun at issues that deeply concern her amazes me. What truly caught my attention though is her exploration of gender roles. This is a story about a very shy young woman who prefers to work in...more

like · see review

Apr 02, 2012 Skip rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

The world setting in The Highest Frontier is fascinating, and it takes the whole book to catch all the nuances of what such a world would be like. This is a good thing, since in my opinion the plot of the book was pretty thin, and some of the "twists" were telegraphed badly. It reads like a "year in the life" of the main character, which isn't bad necessarily, but it wouldn't by itself be enough to keep me engaged. All the interesting parts of the world, though, those are engaging. From alien li...more

like · see review

Sep 25, 2012 Zack rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Joan Slonczewski's sci-fi novel *The Highest Frontier* is a clear-minded and effective political satire dressed up as a coming-of-age story. Most elements of the plot, including the more sci-fi elements (life on a space station, mindless alien invasion), skewer some aspect of modern politics, media, elections, technology and bureaucracy. The story itself isn't terribly interesting, but the characters are reasonably three-dimensional and Slonczewski is a very capable writer. One significant flaw...more

like · see review

Feb 28, 2012 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars

I am often suspicious of SciFi where everyone does everything through the magical power of their brain link - it seems lazy (both for the characters and the writers). I think it worked here to a degree, as a character's lack of a link was significant, but still over relied-upon. I'm still peeved that she misspelled Fort Detrick. (Two books in as many weeks with the same error tends to over-emphasize the problem.)

like · see review

Feb 06, 2012 Suburbangardener rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi, fiction-for-gardeners

How could I not love a heroine who would rather become a plant breeder than a doctor? "The Highest Frontier" is as much a political thriller as a Sci-Fi adventure. I was all prepared to hate the heroine, a scion of a politically connected dynasty, but her fears and foibles make her endearing. As the book is set only 100 years in the future, it provides ample opportunity to lampoon our own culture, which the author readily indulges in, to my delight.

like · see review

Sep 19, 2011 Terri rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, fiction

As the first book in a new series, a good deal of this novel is dedicated to world building. The setting is about 100 years in the future and the world is complex and fully imagined. While the plot was interesting, I don't think it stood out on its own, but has a way to introduce the world and the main characters, I thought it was pretty solid. I will definitely continue reading the series.

like · see review

title link	preview: The Highest Frontier
avg rating	preview: The Highest Frontier Goodreads rating: 3.41 (188 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11832546-the-highest-frontier?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316722923l/11832546.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11832546-the-highest-frontier?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Highest Frontier by Joan Slonczewski[/url]

The Highest Frontier

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (4)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Joan Slonczewski

Books by Joan Slonczewski

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About The Highest Frontier