Tropic of Creation

by Kay Kenyon

In the bloody war that ended between Th Congress Worlds and the alien ahtra, Captain Eli Dammond had distinguished himself as an officer who could no wrong--until his last catastrophic battle.  Now, with his shining reputation tarnished, the commander finds himself assigned to a grimy kettle of a ship making basic transport missions.  Routine work -until he arrives on a barren, scorned world at the mercy of two suns.  Here, a marooned human outpost  has survived for three years until their rescue by Eli's ship.  But on this austere planet, the human newcomers are about to learn a harsh that nothing is quite as it seems.  For soon a new season will call forth a hidden ecology both exquisite and deadly.  And Null will test the survivors in a fight no soldier was ever trained for, and few can predict - while a young the survivors in a fight no soldier was trained for, and few predict - while a young woman of privilege may well prove to be their finest warrior.

Yet for Eli Dammond, the worst struggle will unfold below the surface.  There he will discover a threat to all the settle human worlds, even as he matches wits an adversary both familiar and alien.  The odds are against human survival on null's surface or indeed, in the galaxy-- unless Eli succeeds in bringing home the hard-won secret that neither human nor ahtra can hear.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

400 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 31, 2000

About the author

Kay Kenyon is a fantasy and science fiction author. She is now working on her 21st novel, a fantasy. She has been a finalist for the Philip K. Dick Award and several others and recently had a trilogy optioned for film, The Dark Talents: At the Table of Wolves.

Her newest fantasy series is The Arisen Worlds quartet. Book 1, The Girl Who Fell Into Myth, Book 2, Stranger in the Twisted Realm, Book 3, Servant of the Lost Power and Book 4, Keeper of the Mythos Gate. "A story of powers and magic on a grand scale.” —Louisa Morgan, author of The Secret History of Witches.

Her acclaimed 4-book series, The Entire and The Rose, has been reissued with new covers: Bright of the Sky. Called "a splendid fantasy quest" by The Washington Post.

She loves to hear from readers, and you can contact her at http://www.kaykenyon.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a captivating hard-science fiction novel that ties anthropology, linguistics, ecology, and political intrigue into an interstellar suspense thriller. Never a dull moment.

[Kristel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this authors writing style.

[Lucy Cummin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eli Dammond, not a war hero because no one believes his story of what happened with the Ahtra is, like everyone in that region, on the lookout for a missing space ship and finds it on the planet Null. Crashed three years back. He is now captain of a freight ship, and is carrying the family of General Ridenhour to a conference (daughter, spouse, child). The planet is desertlike, no rain, water can be had from a certain banyany type of tree. But Eli senses a mystery. The strange hexadron machines are for digging. Why? No sooner does he take one and dig down than it begins to rain. He finds a hidden world of Ahtra and discovers too, that they have a complex relationship with the primary predators living on the surface (now coming out of dormancy with the rain)--and others. Kenyon does a good consistent job at inhabiting the ahtran minds. The story pivots around the concept of mercy. A good read. ****

[Annette · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting story that includes a lot of plot lines and themes for its size. Despite this, the story remains clear. The characters were fairly well developed, although I could have done without the inter species sex. It really killed a lot of my enjoyment in the book.

The world building was excellent, and I loved her development of the environment, especially of UpWorld.

[Hildegart · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I first tried reading this book, I couldn't even get through the first chapter. For whatever reason, it just wasn't keeping my attention. When I tried reading it a year later, I persevered, and it quickly became an enjoyable read.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ties my love for anthropology, languages, humanism, and sci-fi all together.