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231st out of 1,527 books
—
12,273 voters
A Door Into Ocean (Elysium Cycle)
by
Joan Slonczewski (Goodreads Author)
A Door into Ocean is the novel upon which the author's reputation as an important SF writer principally rests. A ground-breaking work both of feminist SF and of world-building hard SF, it concerns the Sharers of Shora, a nation of women on a distant moon in the far future who are pacifists, highly advanced in biological sciences, and who reproduce by parthenogenesis--there...more
Paperback, 403 pages
Published
October 13th 2000
by Orb Books
(first published 1986)
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I loathe this book with an ungodly passion.
I want to preface the rest of my review by saying I am deeply feminist. In fact, feminist science fiction is my most beloved literary subgenre. I am well-versed in the canon of women SF/fantasy writers. And yet... I cannot like this book. I wanted to, and instead ended up throwing it across the room at several points in my reading. The plot is offensively gender-reductive. Slonczewski equates femininity with every positive attribute possessed by any of...more
I want to preface the rest of my review by saying I am deeply feminist. In fact, feminist science fiction is my most beloved literary subgenre. I am well-versed in the canon of women SF/fantasy writers. And yet... I cannot like this book. I wanted to, and instead ended up throwing it across the room at several points in my reading. The plot is offensively gender-reductive. Slonczewski equates femininity with every positive attribute possessed by any of...more
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As I read this book I couldn't stop comparing it to Dune by Frank Herbert. In many ways it was similar, war time, a supreme ruler, a group of people who didn't want to fight, and a young male who is out of place but still makes a difference. The main difference- Dune is set in the harsh dessert while A Door Into Ocean is set on a planet with no land and only water.
Sharers are the only inhabiter's on the Ocean Moon planet or Shora. There are the lesser sharers like clickflies and starworms...more
Sharers are the only inhabiter's on the Ocean Moon planet or Shora. There are the lesser sharers like clickflies and starworms...more
Intended Audience: Adult
Sexual content: Significant
Ace/Genderqueer characters: Yes (Human and Alien)
Rating: PG-13/R for violence, torture, brief sexuality and rape
Writing style: 3/5
Likable characters: 4/5
Plot/Concepts: 4/5
Travelers from the ocean moon of Shora, Sharers Merwen and Usha must judge whether the Valans who have invaded their home are human in any sense they can know. Spinel the stonecutter's son follows them back, a "malefreak" among an all-female species. In the midst of the rising...more
Sexual content: Significant
Ace/Genderqueer characters: Yes (Human and Alien)
Rating: PG-13/R for violence, torture, brief sexuality and rape
Writing style: 3/5
Likable characters: 4/5
Plot/Concepts: 4/5
Travelers from the ocean moon of Shora, Sharers Merwen and Usha must judge whether the Valans who have invaded their home are human in any sense they can know. Spinel the stonecutter's son follows them back, a "malefreak" among an all-female species. In the midst of the rising...more
Joan Slonczewski is a science fiction writer who has more than an armchair understanding of science, and it shows. When you have solid input from the real world, your new spins on old tropes can be surprising and fresh.
What follows isn't really a spoiler, but it is part of the story: When I first read DOOR INTO OCEAN in college, my classmates were saying "A whole planetful of purple lesbians? Really." But the purple color of the Shorans' skins derives from a microbe living in their bodies that s...more
What follows isn't really a spoiler, but it is part of the story: When I first read DOOR INTO OCEAN in college, my classmates were saying "A whole planetful of purple lesbians? Really." But the purple color of the Shorans' skins derives from a microbe living in their bodies that s...more
Oh, thank goodness that book is done. It was a 470 some odd page epic that enters the rare genre of science fiction called "feminist sci-fi." Two planets that are close enough to each other they are considered moons respectively. One is a society of naked women and the other is more of an earth-esque society.
Don't get me wrong the book had it's merits. Maybe some allusion to the Vietnam war. An interesting take on a galactic empire. Some glances of intergalactic intrigue and espionage. An inter...more
Don't get me wrong the book had it's merits. Maybe some allusion to the Vietnam war. An interesting take on a galactic empire. Some glances of intergalactic intrigue and espionage. An inter...more
Meh. As with most ideologically pacifist writing, this one left me feeling unsatisfied.
The setup is good: a planet of women who live in a tribal egalitarian society, with life sciences way beyond our own, is threatened by an imperialist power that wants to exploit their planet's resources (and is threatened by their difference).
But that's where it ends. The Sharers are really hung up on teaching non-violence to their would-be conquerers. The lack of imagination here is kind of offensive, not t...more
The setup is good: a planet of women who live in a tribal egalitarian society, with life sciences way beyond our own, is threatened by an imperialist power that wants to exploit their planet's resources (and is threatened by their difference).
But that's where it ends. The Sharers are really hung up on teaching non-violence to their would-be conquerers. The lack of imagination here is kind of offensive, not t...more
One Of The Classic Novels of Both Feminist Science Fiction & Space Opera
Joan Slonczewski's "A Door Into Ocean" is definitely a masterpiece of science fiction literature, comparable to the best ever written from the likes of Ursula K. Le Guin, Samuel Delany, and Bruce Sterling, to name but a few of our finest American writers of science fiction. In this astonishing, thoughtful novel published originally back in 1986, whose universal themes of environmental awareness and relationships between...more
Joan Slonczewski's "A Door Into Ocean" is definitely a masterpiece of science fiction literature, comparable to the best ever written from the likes of Ursula K. Le Guin, Samuel Delany, and Bruce Sterling, to name but a few of our finest American writers of science fiction. In this astonishing, thoughtful novel published originally back in 1986, whose universal themes of environmental awareness and relationships between...more
I really wanted to like this book because it involves a planet full of naked women. I found it so cheesy and the characters so shallow, though, that I had to force myself to read it--I didn't enjoy it at all. I don't get what people see in this book.
I'm not quite sure how to review this novel..it's certainly interesting the author clearly put a lot of thought into this and created and complex world and system of government and philosophy.The characters are unique and flawed even the token bad guy.The novel has a lot going for it and I feel like it'll stick with me however it's not really an enjoyable book.This took several powering through sessions and the beginning in particular because so much time is spent setting up everybody.Even the s...more
Old feminist sci-fi. The basic idea is that at some point, safely prior to recorded history, a group of women genetically engineer themselves to be semi-aquatic so they can go live in naked peacefulness on a water planet and not talk to anyone else for 10,000 years, at which point, traditional society led by the Man has a run in with them.
I will give the author credit for trying to make the fish ladies complex and not gratuitously superior. The personal (which is political, natch) stories are d...more
I will give the author credit for trying to make the fish ladies complex and not gratuitously superior. The personal (which is political, natch) stories are d...more
Narrated by Rosalyn Landor. I didn't like some aspects of the narration -- she used different accents for different characters, and some of the accents were jarring to me in a science fiction book that is not about Earth.
The plot is a well worn one -- anarchist pacifist society meets patriarchal militarist society. The world building is excellent, at least the parts that are set on the moon Shora. The world of the patriarchal society is a little less detailed. Most of the characters are complex,...more
The plot is a well worn one -- anarchist pacifist society meets patriarchal militarist society. The world building is excellent, at least the parts that are set on the moon Shora. The world of the patriarchal society is a little less detailed. Most of the characters are complex,...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Jul 11, 2012
Wealhtheow
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
fans of Native Tongue
Shelves:
sci-fi,
queer-characters
Shora is a world without land. The humans who colonized it chose to reshape themselves, instead of terraforming the planet. Sharers, as the descendents of the colonists call themselves, strive to live in balance with each other and their world. Although they have incredibly advanced biological science, they try to change as little as possible about the natural ecology of Shora, even though it means losing friends and loved ones to vast monsters that roam the ocean. Their highest goal is to stren...more
4 likes · like · see review
SUMMARY:
"A Door into Ocean" is the novel upon which the author's reputation as an important SF writer principally rests. A ground-breaking work both of feminist SF and of world-building hard SF, it concerns the Sharers of Shora, a nation of women on a distant moon in the far future who are pacifists, highly advanced in biological sciences, and who reproduce by parthenogenesis--there are no males--and tells of the conflicts that erupt when a neighboring civilization decides to develop their ocean
An epic world spanning eco-feminist book of self discovery and conquest. Ultimately, the main thing that bothered me about it was the pacing. Some scenes were just not needed or focused on a character who we never saw again. Also, about halfway through the novel (2/3 the way through part 3) it seemed like the end to a book and then it immediately started anew. The first half we follow our off worlder protagonists through their journies of self discovery. The second we watch as a war is wages on...more
I feel like I've been reading this book over and over lately. Just a few weeks ago, for instance, when it was called Dreamfall. Or earlier this year, under the title Woman on the Edge of Time. A couple of years ago, when it was The Word for World is Forest. All feature these futuristic or alien, usually matriarchal societies, who love nature and new age spirituality, where conflicts are solved through sharing instead of violence, and war is unheard of where empathy reigns. Then vicious capitalis...more
11 likes · like · see review
It's just my luck that I seem to be reading Slonczewski's Elysium cycle backwards. A Door into Ocean is the first, and most explicitly political of the four novels, focusing on non-violent action and culture.
Like most novels using this theme, *A Door into Ocean* focuses on the contrast between two cultures, with representative characters engaged in the process of discovery and conflict. The Sharers of Shora are a woman-only culture that have engineered their genes, environment, and culture into...more
Like most novels using this theme, *A Door into Ocean* focuses on the contrast between two cultures, with representative characters engaged in the process of discovery and conflict. The Sharers of Shora are a woman-only culture that have engineered their genes, environment, and culture into...more
You'd think that a book about a planet of naked sea lesbians wouldn't be boring. You'd be wrong. I wouldn't have gotten more than a few chapters in except that I'm home sick and running out of entertainment, so it was a good way to pass the time.
The author's bio says that she is a biology professor, and this is pretty obvious from the writing. Anything to do with science is really well thought out, and some of the concepts are very interesting. However, the plot and more importantly the dialogue...more
The author's bio says that she is a biology professor, and this is pretty obvious from the writing. Anything to do with science is really well thought out, and some of the concepts are very interesting. However, the plot and more importantly the dialogue...more
Hours after I have finished reading this book I am still trying to emerge from the vast ocean Shora. The words on each page were like a whirlpool, sucking me in, forcing me to listen to their tale. I fell hopelessly in love with Shora and the sharers that inhabit Her. I feared for their fate at the hands of man. I questioned my own humanity, and that of others around me. My entire way of thinking has been eternally changed because of this book.
Perhaps, this is not as "critical" as a review shou...more
Perhaps, this is not as "critical" as a review shou...more
Somewhat heavy-handed exploration of a feminist utopia. My favorite quote: "Spinel soon came to suspect that most of his clients would find their own answers, if any, in whatever he had to say. What they actually craved was someone to listen, if only for a moment. It amazed him to realize how many people led parched lives, thirsting for the faintest drop of empathy. For himself or anyone else to fill all that need was as hopeless as filling an ocean."
Written in the eighties (the author has her own study guide up about the political times), about a world of women, a world of no land, that comes into conflict with the more traditional militaristic moon nearby. It's a study in nonviolence and consensus (she mentioned the Quakers in her study guide, see also Dazzle of the Day), and a setting rich in ecological niches. One of the great books that I hadn't previously read. In comparison, her more recent Highest Frontier has more economics, less co...more
I read this book years ago when my friend Jesse loaned it to me. I remember the biology was interesting and there was a variation on the feminist utopia trope, that I won't spoil for the future reader. One concept stayed with me. The humans mention something about the innocence of children. The Sharers correct the humans, saying that we are all born selfish and learn decency. Old concept, but the way she said it made it feel new again.
This book was so unbelievably frustrating for me at times! It was so hard to watch the two cultures speaking to each other in the same language but saying such very different things and not being able to understand each other. It seems so unbelievable, yet every day we can see it happening in our own world on so many levels. This book will really make you slow down and think about the things you say and the way those things are perceived by those around you.
The world Ms. Slonczewski created was...more
The world Ms. Slonczewski created was...more
All I can say right now is WOW! What a great book. I did find it hard at the beginning, like about 1/3 of the book. Once I had a bit of understanding of all the creatures and what was gooing on, It really took off for me.
In the end I did love the way everything was woven into the story. It reminded me of some of the books by Ursula LeGruin, where the world she describes is so much different from ours it takes a while to establish the world and its surroundings. It reminded a bit of "The Disposs...more
In the end I did love the way everything was woven into the story. It reminded me of some of the books by Ursula LeGruin, where the world she describes is so much different from ours it takes a while to establish the world and its surroundings. It reminded a bit of "The Disposs...more
What if an entire world embraced non-violent resistance in the face of invasion? Shora is a fascinating world where non-violence comes from a shared understanding of the inter-relatedness of life. It's not that everyone is peaceful or passive--there's lots of conflict, among many different characters, making this an interesting, as well as thoughtful, story.
The pacing of this book was awful, I can't decide if the more action packed ending made me slightly forget how confusing and dull the beginning was. Also, I kept comparing it to The Fifth Sacred Thing which I just read. The non violent resistance was not as believable and the characters less nuanced particularly, the occupiers, very one note. Gender essentialism. The main draw of this book was that Slonczewski is a biologist. I wanted more description of this strange ocean world.
c'e' una fase, nella vita di ogni lettrice di sci-fi, in cui non si riesce ad evitare di imbattersi nella sci-fi femminista.
femminismo di maniera a parte, questo libro -pur non essendo IL capolavoro che ti cambia la vita- lascia comunque qualcosa.
un'ecologia che per molti versi non ha nulla da invidiare a quella di Dune, per esempio. o degli spunti interessanti sul linguaggio e l'interculturalita'.
le "spartienti", l'"ammutolimento", l'"autonome" sono concetti che rimangono dentro e, a distanza d...more
femminismo di maniera a parte, questo libro -pur non essendo IL capolavoro che ti cambia la vita- lascia comunque qualcosa.
un'ecologia che per molti versi non ha nulla da invidiare a quella di Dune, per esempio. o degli spunti interessanti sul linguaggio e l'interculturalita'.
le "spartienti", l'"ammutolimento", l'"autonome" sono concetti che rimangono dentro e, a distanza d...more
The water world Shora is populated by women who are ecologically aware and basically pacifists. Valedon is a militaristic world that has been charged with "controlling" Shora. Merwen and Lystra of Shora along with Spinel, a young man of Valedon, hold the keys that can "share healing" between these two cultures.
I wanted to like this story a lot because it's rated as seminal feminist SF, but I couldn't. In the end I had to abandon it about a quarter of the way in because it is so dry (please, not a pun).
Pros: Excellent concept, great science, interesting aliens (that call themselves human; I liked that it reinforced the idea that despite differences we are all human), and a good approach to a non-violent society. Lots of beautiful world building.
Cons: The characters were very flat and unengaging, there...more
Pros: Excellent concept, great science, interesting aliens (that call themselves human; I liked that it reinforced the idea that despite differences we are all human), and a good approach to a non-violent society. Lots of beautiful world building.
Cons: The characters were very flat and unengaging, there...more
This book was life changing for me. I read it twice with avidity and did not care that it was simple eco feminism, maybe I just think more mean should want to be nurturing and attuned to the planet. But then I live in South Africa the rape capital of the world.
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Joan Lyn Slonczewski is an American microbiologist at Kenyon College and a science fiction writer who explores biology and space travel. Her books have twice earned the John W. Campbell award for best science fiction novel: The Highest Frontier (2012) and A Door into Ocean (1987). With John W. Foster she coauthors the textbook, Microbiology: An Evolving Science (W. W. Norton).
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