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Lear's Daughters #2
Reign Of Fire
A Terran mining expedition to the planet Fiix is jeopardized by violent weather patterns that the Sawl natives believe are evidence of a battle between the goddesses Valla and Lagri
382 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1986
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 27, 2021
This series and this book I enjoy the getting there more than the ending. The ending is hurried, rushed, unmaginative even but the story up to there is interesting and compelling.
A prequel about FIIX would be exciting to read.
A prequel about FIIX would be exciting to read.
September 20, 2025
As suspected this is a direct sequel to the first book, to the point where I believe they should be one book, albeit quite large. Not sure why it was split in two I'm guessing publisher decision.
The four star rating is on account of treating this and its predecessor as one story. In that regard it is generally quite good, but a lot of it is carried by the strength of its antagonist.
The key thematic shift in this second part of the story is the focus on the characters as the key threat and agent of action within the narrative. The weather takes something of a back seat as it becomes less erratic, therefore acts less as an object of consideration, but instead becomes increasingly lethal serving as driving force for the characters act.
The path of their actions serves as the core of the story: the clashing views of the crew between scientific inquiry, completing the mission and their current & future relationship with the native Sawls. Its a strong idea that is executed well eventually driving home the desperate state of things and leads to some actions that may seem predictable but make complete sense in the context of the story and character motivations.
The pacing initially retains its very slow tempo until the second half of the book where things start to ramp up very quickly especially in the last quarter leading to a suitable almost actiony but very highly tense climax.
The biggest issue I can foresee readers having is to do with the relationship of one character with the Sawls especially due to their relation to how the main story eventually ends. It contains considerable spoilers so will be continued further down. Overall though a solid Sci-fi story in the ecological / planet exploration / first contact sub-genre.
The key issue is that the main resolution is an almost exact depiction of a saviour narrative. A foreign (in this case extra terrestrial) comes to new culture/society grasps a concept of their culture that they all missed and literally saves their world becoming their holy leader chosen one figure. This is abetted somewhat by the narrative explaining why this is the case and the native Sawls are depicted as being an incredibly savvy, practical and fiercely intelligent people; several of who exercise considerable doubt about the protagonist. I didn't have an issue with it for these reasons and in fact liked the stylistic choice to have all the POV characters be the humans to add to the alien nature of the Sawls. Potentially problematic but something I was able to see past.
The four star rating is on account of treating this and its predecessor as one story. In that regard it is generally quite good, but a lot of it is carried by the strength of its antagonist.
The key thematic shift in this second part of the story is the focus on the characters as the key threat and agent of action within the narrative. The weather takes something of a back seat as it becomes less erratic, therefore acts less as an object of consideration, but instead becomes increasingly lethal serving as driving force for the characters act.
The path of their actions serves as the core of the story: the clashing views of the crew between scientific inquiry, completing the mission and their current & future relationship with the native Sawls. Its a strong idea that is executed well eventually driving home the desperate state of things and leads to some actions that may seem predictable but make complete sense in the context of the story and character motivations.
The pacing initially retains its very slow tempo until the second half of the book where things start to ramp up very quickly especially in the last quarter leading to a suitable almost actiony but very highly tense climax.
The biggest issue I can foresee readers having is to do with the relationship of one character with the Sawls especially due to their relation to how the main story eventually ends. It contains considerable spoilers so will be continued further down. Overall though a solid Sci-fi story in the ecological / planet exploration / first contact sub-genre.
The key issue is that the main resolution is an almost exact depiction of a saviour narrative. A foreign (in this case extra terrestrial) comes to new culture/society grasps a concept of their culture that they all missed and literally saves their world becoming their holy leader chosen one figure. This is abetted somewhat by the narrative explaining why this is the case and the native Sawls are depicted as being an incredibly savvy, practical and fiercely intelligent people; several of who exercise considerable doubt about the protagonist. I didn't have an issue with it for these reasons and in fact liked the stylistic choice to have all the POV characters be the humans to add to the alien nature of the Sawls. Potentially problematic but something I was able to see past.
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October 23, 2025A Terran mining expedition to the planet Fiix is jeopardized by violent weather patterns that the Sawl natives believe are evidence of a battle between the goddesses Valla and Lagri
June 8, 2017
Very imaginative setting with compelling characters that you love or love to hate. Kellogg did a superb job of rendering science in ways that were both intelligible and plot-relevant. For the best reading experience, pick up the two volume Lear's Daughters version, as the first book alone is really an extended prelude to the faster-paced action of the second. I didn't have the second book immediately on hand when I finished the first and was very frustrated. Satisfying ending that brings the whole story full-circle.
August 30, 2009
Lot's of technical science, but great premise. I read it in the two volume edition called Lear's Daughters.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews