Cary Neeper's Blog: Reviewing World-changing Nonfiction - Posts Tagged "soft-science-fiction"

To prepare for a reconnoitering hike across L'orkah, Conn found a tough moss in the shallows on the northern edge of the lake. There he fashioned a crude wet-sweater by lacing four-foot lengths of the moss together with tough weed stalks. Then he went hunting.

He dove to the bottom of the lake and swam in wide circles until his tiles picked up the pressure pattern of large, barbed petals scanning the water for passing fish. Slowly, he zeroed in on the voracious plant. It looked like a giant rose in full bloom, but its outer petals beckoned dangerously, ready to snap closed sensitive edges and hold fast anything that ventured too near.

For bait, Conn caught a fish hiding in the mud. He dispatched it with a bite, then, holding it by the tail, swam just out of reach of the carnivore, brushing the fish over its petals. When the petals snapped closed on the fish, Conn threw himself under the great rose and uprooted it. Too late its petals felt their new danger and reached backward to entrap the elll. A few barbs struck at the back of his arms, but he quickly found the stem of its food bladder and pulled the organ from the dying plant intact.

He cleaned the tough sack with the shell of a sand slug and fashioned its stem into a shoulder strap. Then he filled it with fresh lake water, and laced it shut with reeds. One of the largest petals of the plant made a workable pack, which he filled with edible weeds and fish.

Ready at last, he rose to the surface of the lake wearing his newly woven wet-sweater. The burden of food and water he slung over his shoulders. Nothing stirred on the western edge of the lake. He let himself drift slowly along the bottom until he reached the shore. Then he stood quickly and ran for the nearest clump of nitro-bush.

"Ae-yulll." He stifled a cry of pain as his third toe-web came down on a small rock. "How could I be so stupid?"

He walked back to the lake, much more carefully this time, and scrambled along the shore weeds. Within minutes he resurfaced, shod with tough moss sandals.The Webs of Varok

(Newly arrived on Varok, the human Tandra meets a varok who does not play by the rules of common decency.)

Like the slicing of cold steel, I felt the invasion of Mahntik's probe into my thought. I fought to keep my mind blank, but her attention leapt from image to image like an electric shock, dredging up related thoughts and flashes of memory as it went along, quickly giving Mahntik a clearer vision of our suspicions.

Back off, I demanded in thought. She did. Then she pressed deeper, beyond my natural shields. She tore at the core of my emotions, until it took great effort to protect sensitive roots. Gradually, one by one, my poorly developed human defenses fell—the anger at being badly treated on Earth, the frustration that no one would listen, then the guilt at leaving Earth's crises behind for a better life. And Orram. Fear of being too dependent on him. All was raw and exposed.

Here's the link to a review by Douglas Cobb, including an overview of the entire series THE ARCHIVES OF VAROK. WEBS is the second in the series, which is setup in A PLACE BEYOND MAN.
http://www.bookspotcentral.com/2012/1... A Place Beyond Man: The Archives of Varok

Conn watched Nidok with anxious eyes, knowing that the beast had come to some decision. His plans were far too important to be entrusted to an elll who might yet fall into the wrong hands. "So what the hell," Conn laughed to himself. "Might as well put on a good berry-stupor with the clatter-plated chap."

He scooped up a pile of berries from Nidok's wing-plate and stuffed them into his mouth. "Down the hatch, Cave Buddy. Here's to ahlork. May their nests ring forever with praise for the courage of Nidok."

"May their wing-plates crackle with the name of Sartak, enemy of the True Flock," Nidok bellowed in muscular tones, and his greater lip wrapped around a substantial heap of berries.

"The True Flock flies forever." Conn sang out. "May its droppings find Mahntik's long hair."

"May Susheen fly up her fine robes." Nidok laughed heartily—a deep gargling sound—and lumbered off to fill a large skin with berries. He settled on the edge of the pool while Conn relaxed into the water, and, as the light-period waned, the berries disappeared at a great rate.

The elll and the ahlork continued making toasts as their mouths grew thick with the berries' acrid taste and their minds grew loose and careless with its drug. The dark-period turned the cave black, and occasional flashes from far-off sheets of misted lightning lit their faces as they wallowed in exaggerated emotions, verbosely grateful to each other for saving lives and flock.

"I don't know how to pet an ahlork," Conn said drunkenly, looking for a soft spot to vent his inflated affection on Nidok. "If I were a human and you were a dog, I would pat your head. If you were a varok, I'd give you a spiral salute. If you were a human, I'd kiss your fat broken lip. You're the most unlovable piece of walking crockery in this solar system, Nidok. Frustrating.”

"Who knew sustainable economics could be so much fun? Served up with large helpings of adventure and novel romance, the post-growth society of Neeper’s complex but completely imagined world on a hidden moon of Jupiter is the setting for a page-turning struggle between the eternal themes of personal accumulation vs. the common good. . . ."

—Kathy Campbell, past president, League of Women Voters New Mexico

"Cary Neeper deftly weaves the various points of view she writes about into a page-turning novel that will keep you interested and wanting to read more from the start to the finish. With her in-depth descriptions of the moon, she displays incredible world-building skills and makes Varok seem like it could be a real place with a myriad of life forms.

The Webs of Varok is a spellbinding read and a great addition to Neeper’s series, The Archives of Varok. . . ."

—Douglas Cobb, author and book blogger, Book Spot Central. Here's the link to his comprehensive review:
http://www.bookspotcentral.com/2012/1...

I just received notice from reviewer Frank Kaminski that he has reviewed both books of The Archives of Varok, including wonderful synopses I wish I could have written as well. It has appeared in three online sites.
Here are are few excerpts:
"...it is an involving, well-plotted story that does justice to both the hard science underpinning its interplanetary settings and the long evolutionary perspectives typical of the old scientific romances.
"...what a worthy revival it is, in both its continued timeliness and its intelligent, believable rendering of alien values and cultures.
"Its sequel, The Webs of Varok, was a long time in coming, but it's finally here waiting to be discovered by a new generation. ...the 38-year lapse between offerings has not dimmed Neeper’s storytelling ability nor dampened her ambition: the new novel is every bit as well made, poignant and entertaining as its predecessor.
"Three more Archives of Varok novels are in the works and are set to be released between now and the end of 2014. I look forward to seeing what additional insights their alien worlds have to contribute to the growing debate about our species’ predicament."
Here are the links: Reviews at variantperception.com and
http://www.resilience.org/stories/201...