Kingdom of Cages

by Sarah Zettel

As humanity faces extinction, Chena and Teal Trust are chosen to immigrate as part of the "Eden Project" devised by the brilliant ecologists of Pandora, a planet closely matching Earth. Once they arrive, the Trusts quickly learn the scientists don't want new blood—only raw DNA. When Chena's mother is killed, Chena and Teal vow to fight the system that killed her.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Dystopia, Science Fiction Fantasy, Novels

608 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Sarah Zettel is the critically acclaimed author of more than twenty novels, spanning the full range of genre fiction. Her debut novel, Reclamation, won the Locus Award for Best First Novel. Her second release, Fool’s War, was a 1997 New York Times Notable Book, and the American Library Association named Playing God one of the Best Books for Young Adults of 1999. Her novel Bitter Angels won the Philip K. Dick Award for best science fiction paperback in 2009. Her latest novel, Dust Girl, was named as one of the best young adult books of the year by both Kirkus Reviews and the American Library Association. Zettel lives in Michigan with her husband, her rapidly growing son, and her cat, Buffy the Vermin Slayer.

Reviews

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of a small family at the center of crises that could leave humanity extinct.

Chena and Teal, and their mother Helice Trust are barely surviving on Athena Station, the independent space station serving the planet of Pandora. Pandora is the closest match found to the original Earth biosphere before it was mostly devastated by humans. It's also ruled by cities of ultra-authoritarian conservationists who maintain order among themselves by using brain implants called Consciences to enforce conformity and loyalty. Normally that would be plenty of reason to leave them alone, but Pandora is the only place in the galaxy that humanity is not suffering a spectrum of conditions called the Diversity Crisis. Humanity is dying and they're all coming to Pandora for a cure.

The story begins with the small Trust family arriving on Pandora to build a life for themselves, unaware that the scientists of the conservationists (called hothousers because they live in domes) have identified Helice as having the perfect genetic makeup to be a subject of their experimental regime to "cure" the Diversity Crisis. They approach her, but she refuses. Unfortunately she's too important and they won't take no for an answer.

This book is all about desperate people in desperate situations where everything that's happening is monumentally unfair. It's about right and wrong in situations so dire that right and wrong may not even apply. The hothousers are in a completely unfair situation, people who just wanted to live a life of isolation but are now forced to deal with the rest of humanity. The immigrants also are in an unfair situation, denied the basics of medical care and education, and subject to experimentation. And all the humans in the galaxy dying of the Diversity Crisis with the Pandorans who just don't seem to care (they don't; there's a chip in their heads that makes it so they can't).

And what happens to the Trust family is even more unfair than any of that, because they are needed and that causes some profound violations.

This was really well written. You feel for most of the characters, even the one that's going slowly insane, and at most points in the book it's pretty clear that all of these characters are screwed. The hothousers in particular, and their biomechanical AIs, have a really alien point-of-view because of their Conscience chips that comes over strongly in the book. And that brings up a fairly major theme of the book as well: family, in-groups, out-groups, implicit and explicit othering. It's all very chunky.

The only criticism is perhaps that the overall length of the book makes the ending feel a little rushed, even though it's very satisfying.

[Viv JM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this a bit slow to get going, but once it did it was an intelligent and thought provoking read.

The characters in this book were all faced with terrible decisions and it was easy to see that, even when those actions seemed horrific, quite often they were acting in a way that they thought best for the Good of the Planet, or the Good of the People, or the Good of the Family. Zettel certainly makes you question your ethical views here, but never in a preachy way. There were no cartoon villains but a lot of flawed people making difficult choices.

In amongst the sci-fi action, there was a rather wonderful coming-of-age tale in the relationship between two sisters, and I really enjoyed that aspect too.

This is the first Sarah Zettel book I have read but I will definitely be seeking out more of her work.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lovely Michael Whelan cover!

[Tomer · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting unknown with several surprising twists along the way. Even with its faults I wish it would have continued into a series.

[Linda Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pristine world called Pandora with the ruling class living in villages protected with electric fences, and nature outside the fence that can kill. Sounds like James Cameron read this book. The plot is interesting: Helice Trust and her daughters, with all resources diminished, are forced to immigrate with the promise of a job for mom, and education for the girls. The conflict simmering in the background is an interplanetary disease called the Diversity Crisis. The stellar power entities - Called and Authority want Pandora's wilderness to populate. Pandora's ruling Family denies any landings because Old Earth's settlers in the galaxy continue the nuts they were in destroying Old Earth, and Pandora must be protected. So far, good. The Pandoran family has been studying the place for 2000 years, with results we don't ever discover. Pandora must be protected. Fine. The rest of the galaxy can just learn how to behave better, and stop chewing up their environments, or all die. The Family is connected in interesting ways, including with a city-mind named Aleph who convocates with other city minds, except for siblings who have a purposefully underdeveloped connector. The premise is solid, but the layers are flimsy. We aren't given to know why the Called and the Authority have only one planet to coerce into solving their problem, or why with evidence of superior weaponry, neither can come up with another alternative, or why Pandora is given 20 years to come up with a cure. Plot elements feel convenient rather than thought through. Perhaps it's part of all coming of age novels to have irritating characters, but the sisters Chena and Teal, knowing what is in store for them if they don't hunker down and figure out how to keep living, can't stop being stupidly petty. I was 30 pages away from dropping the whole thing if Chena bit her lip just one more time. There are other ways to express anxiety when being hunted down by organ harvesting cyborgs. I liked the story enough to want to read something else Zettel has written. Something shorter perhaps.

[Koji Mukai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps Zettel's best science fiction novel, although some may prefer the lighter touch of Fool's War - this one has strong female protagonists, and a dark future with a looming environmental disaster.

[Kathi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A unique and engaging story. It really made me think about ecological consequences, the role of conscience in our lives, and the lies and rationalization we tell ourselves to justify our actions.

[Aphelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoughtful SF story that feels especially timely at the moment with the current Climate Change crises. Two thousand years ago, Old Earth outgrew its resources. Splinter groups from the core (over)population spread out to the stars, attempting to build new settlements, but most have failed or are failing.

Called the Diversity Crisis, there is only one planet that may offer a solution - the scientific experiment in ecology known as Pandora. Initially a project meant to discover how humanity and a "pure" ecosystem can interact peacefully with each other, there are now two classes: the scientists, who call themselves the Family, and live secluded in their semi-organic pillow domes watched over by AI "city minds", and the townsfolk, who call them "hothousers".

Technology is limited to the Family; machinery is believed to be the gateway to pollution. Human labour powers the settlements, with every citizen taking shifts at certain tasks to contribute equally to society. However, there are no medicines and living is fraught with dangers that leave live expectancy low. The lush natural ecosystem the Family so jealously protects is guarded from townsfolk by electric shock fences (tastefully designed to blend into the surroundings) and human movement is severely limited and carefully regulated.

The Trust family - mother Helice and daughters Chena and Teal - were living on a space station but poverty forced them to go to Pandora. Unbeknownst to Helice until she arrives, her application was accepted only because her DNA made her a perfect carrier for the Family's new Project Eden, which will create genetically engineered humans who can never get ill, and therefore survive among the extreme conditions of the stars.

But when Helice is murdered and the baby Eden is stolen from her womb, Chena will not stop digging until she discovers who killed her mother, uncovering generations of nasty secrets among the Family along the way that will forever alter the world. Teal, meanwhile, dreams of finding the star pilot father that abandoned them and her only ambition is to get back to the station they left.

I really liked Aleph, the AI, and the interesting way she communicated with the other AI city minds, via avatars and "sending" sensations such as combinations of sights and smells to mimic emotions. She just wants to help her people, and her story was even more affecting than Chena's. I also enjoyed Tam's story. The science felt convincing and possible but never overwhelming; the story flowed easily and focused on Chena's coming-of-age. Thought-provoking and resonant!

[Althea Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to read this since it came out, just because of its lovely cover painting by Michael Whelan. (This shows how quickly I get around to reading new books - it came out in 2000.) However, I have to report, sadly, that evocative as the artwork is, it doesn't have anything to do with anything that happens in the book. I guess I will just have to appreciate it as artwork....

The book is not bad at all... Humanity has been colonizing other planets - but failing to prepare for the slight differences of other ecosystems, and the drastic consequences that may result... The only colony that seems to have been spared this "Diversity Crisis" is Pandora - but Pandora's government, ruled by AIs connected to "conscience" chips in the leading families' brains, has its own issues - namely that they are engaging in wholesale human experimentation on the 'villagers' of Pandora. Still, the sick and desperate masses are converging on the planet....
The story focuses on two young women, whose mother brought them to Pandora as immigrants, hoping to give them a better life than that on the Authority space station. Unfortunately for their family, their genetics seem to be the key to the experiment that Pandora is doing - and multiple factions each have their own ideas of how best to use the sisters...

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting if a bit confusing at times

[Juan Sanmiguel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great castrophe has befallen human colonies. The Diversity Crisis is the result of environmental disasters on several planets. One planet, Pandora, seems to be the most perfect world for human life. It is stricitly controlled by several families. Pandora is forced to take on refugees. The are also working on a cure to the crisis. They think they may have come across a cure. To test it they need a woman, Helice Trust to give birth to a child. At first she refuses to particpate but is forced to. She gives in for her daughters' sake. Before the birth of the child, Helice is murdered by someone unknown. This is impossible since each city or hothouse have an AI which monitors everything. Furthermore the inhabitants of the hothouse all have implants which function as consciences. Helice daughters, Chena and Trust, go back to the villiage where they started as refugees. Chena becomes a healer and vows to discover what happened to her mother. There are plots within plots here. There is a lot going on here and its all good. We wonder of who watches the watchers in regards to the implants. Chena is a great character. She tries to do right for her family at whatever the cost. It is some satisfying SF.

[Noel Palisoc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kingdom of Cages is not your usual sci-fi book in that the protagonist is not seeking to liberate the galaxy or to lead a starship in exploring the universe. Instead, Chena and Teal Trust just want to live a normal life. Unfortunately for them, their genes are perfect to save the multi-planetary human species.

I loved Chena’s hunger for exploring the planet Pandora and to seek opportunities to help her family. I also loved Aleph as a character. She is the city-mind of the Alpha Complex and despite being an AI, she also had an organic brain which meant she can also feel emotions. I identified with her conflicts and struggles to find her purpose and her true friends.

Despite the fact that this is the second time I read this book, it still felt fresh to me. The books of Sarah Zettel had a sense of timelessness and so much potential to be turned into a series like The 100 or a movie like Ad Astra.

If you’re a sci-fi lover like me, then this book’s certainly for you. It only took me about three weeks to finish because I just couldn’t let go of it.

[Sarah Rigg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got a free copy of this book and wasn't sure if I would like it, but I was hooked after a few chapters. The backdrop is a future where humanity is suffering a "diversity crisis" because most worlds don't have enough genetic diversity to birth new healthy generations of children. The unspoiled planet of Pandora is one of the few places untouched by the crisis, but there's pressure on it to open up to refugees. The book follows a few characters involved in the crisis, particularly a pair of teenage sisters, Chena and Teal. I had a few issues with the writing- for instance, Sarah Zettel used the time-worn and worn-out device of having someone catch a glimpse of himself in a mirror so we could get a description of him. But most of the writing is quite good, and the characters are really fleshed out and sympathetic. The ideas in the book about balancing human needs and social justice with ecology were interesting, too.

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Took a little time to get into, but got engaged after a bit. The characters are all interesting, no easy choices. The City-Minds reminded me a lot of the Ancillary series by Ann Leckie. Also the adjustments were right in synch with the non-fiction book Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahnmeman, about how we associate feelings with rational thought, creating that sense of "being right".

[Marsha Valance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two orphaned girls must solve their mother’s murder and prevent the extinction of the human race.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Christy Van Dam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Teal is a snotty spoiled brat and I would slap the shit out of her if I could.

[Sierra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kingdom of Cages is a unique coming of age story set in a challenging future with strong female heroines. It takes place in humanity’s distant future, where colonists have spread out among the habitable planets. After rendering Earth practically uninhabitable by raping it of all natural resources, colonists fail to learn their lesson and treat the new planets with the same disrespect. Because of this, entire populations are dying from a disease called the Diversity Crisis on all colonies except Pandora. Pandora’s extreme example of planet preservation may be it’s key to keeping its population safe from the Diversity Crisis. At least that’s what the Authority thinks when they force the planet to find a cure.

Pandora’s scientists are no closer to a solution after 10 years of trying and humanity is becoming desperate enough to converge upon “safe” Pandora at any time, not aware that Pandora is prepared to keep them away at all costs.

Rebellious teenager Chena Trust, her mother, Helice and little sister, Teal have just arrived on Pandora, refugees from the orbiting Athena Station where overcrowding and lack of credits have forced them into debt so deep they can no longer afford air.

When they arrive on Pandora, initial screenings indicate that Mother Trust has a genetic code that could very well contribute to a cure for the Diversity Crisis. When Mother Trust refuses to become an experiment, life becomes tougher & tougher for them until they are forced to comply. Chena’s mother is made pregnant and when she is near term she is murdered and her fetus stolen. Now Chena & her sister Teal are on a mission to stay out of trouble just long enough to see if they can solve this mystery without becoming experiments themselves.

This is a reprint (prior to edits) of my original review in the Aug/Sep 2002 issue of Explorations.

[Megan Nourse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that people have been quick to compare Kingdom of Cages to C.J. Cherryh and Joan D. Vinge because they are well-known female sci-fi authors (as though there was a "girls style" or a "guys style" to write in). At least the comparison isn't an unfavourable one. Kingdom was published in 2000, but it feels a lot older to me. It reminds me of Larry Niven and David Brin and a bunch of other people who write a lot about alien worlds, although there are no aliens.

In the world of this story, humans have colonized a thousand worlds, but they are all falling apart; all except one. This world is Pandora, a place where scientists religiously study the world and keep anyone from messing with it. It's a bit like the Prime Directive in Star Trek, except these people actually follow it. And they have these little computers in their minds to keep track of what they do and make them follow the rules.

The story mainly follows the Trust family, a group of immigrants to Pandora who are trying to adjust to the rules. Of course, it's not nearly as simple as that. Kingdom of Cages read fairly slow in its first half, where a lot of time is spent setting things up, as well as spiralling further and further into trouble. Just to explain the title, there is neither an actual kingdom nor literal cages, but it's certainly a good analogy for the stifled life that Pandora offers.

I definitely enjoyed the second half of the book more, where the characters (particularly Chena Trust) actually come into their own. For a while, I was worried that Zettel wouldn't be able to offer up an ending to the story worthy of all that came before, but I was both surprised by and satisfied with the final solution. I would recommend Kingdom of Cages to anyone who likes their sci-fi with a classic feel.

[Punk · Rating 3 out of 5]

SF. The colonized worlds are failing, being destroyed by the Diversity Crisis. The human race is dying out on every planet but Pandora, a highly regulated world where people live in domes and fenced-in villages in order to keep the wilderness pristine. Pandora is the only place safe from the crisis and people will do anything to get there, and the guardians of the planet will do anything to stop them.

This is the struggle between environmental conservation and human survival taken to extremes, and both sides labor under flawed thinking and poor decision making. The trouble is I didn't care one way or the other how things worked out. The story is competent, but seems reluctant to engage in the conflict it sets up. And there's plenty of conflict: government-sponsored kidnappings, villagers forced to live inside electric fences and selected for involuntary human experimentation, fallible city-wide artificial intelligences that oversee the domes, and Conscience chips implanted in city servants that ensure their loyalty to the cause. There's a lot going on, but it just didn't work for me. The pieces don't join up neatly and the characters' motivations are often difficult to grasp; this isn't helped by the fact that many of them have similar sounding names, making them hard to tell apart.

Three stars for the world-building and the story it tried to tell, even if it fell short of the mark. And zero stars for whoever was in charge of the cover, which has nothing to do with the story at all. I'm not even sure who that chick's supposed to be.

[Graculus · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story in Kingdom of Cages is that of two sisters, Teal and Chena, who travel with their mother from the claustrophobic confines of the Athena space station to live on the planet Pandora. This planet, alone of all those colonised by humans, has not rejected the newcomers and holds the possibility of successful re-colonisation elsewhere. Meanwhile, the inhabitants of the unsuccessful colonies are starting to pile up in Athena and elsewhere, looking for somewhere else to live.

Alongside this, the sisters find themselves living first in 'the hothouse', where their mother's genetic material is being exploited, then escape back into village life on Pandora itself, always one step ahead of the people who want to use their DNA like they did their mother's. In the 'hothouse' matters are controlled by an Artificial Intelligence, who then discovers it's being manipulated by an unscrupulous scientist who is also tinkering with the implants of her fellow scientists to get her own way, no matter what.

Kingdom of Cages is a dense story with an interesting plot, set in a universe that is all too realistic. Resist as they might, the people of Pandora must inevitably bow to the demands of those from elsewhere, while at the end of the day the others are just looking to survive. I enjoyed this book and plan to read more by Zettel in the future.

[Beverly K · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first foray into a new author and I greatly enjoyed the romp. Originally, I picked it up because the dust jacket mentioned she was similar to C.J. Cherryh, who is one of my favorite authors. While she isn't entirely like her, I suppose the world building might be considered similar enough to suffice. But Sarah Zettel has a style all her own. Sure, there were a few rough spots here and there-- the names, for one thing, sounded like she'd plucked them out of a hat. And the copy editor missed a few typos and grammatical problems. But nothing's perfect.

This story was riveting and I plowed right through it. I had to find out what was going to happen to the characters- not so much Dionte, because I didn't care much for her or Tam. But I greatly cared about Chena and Teal, not to mention Nan Elle, and I would like to see another book with them in it. Our time together was far too short.

Zettel wove the story together in such a way that it fell right into place, while leaving a few loose ends. We never do find out what caused the Diversity Crisis, nor do we discover whether Eden will actually serve his purpose. And if this was the solution, then why wasn't it implemented earlier?

Still, minor quibbles. The book holds together nicely, with good pacing and well developed main characters. I'll be keeping an eye out for Sarah Zettel.

[Ericy Yine · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is about a girl who must overcome a whole new hard life with her sister and mom, with people who help them on their life, and people who try to make life hard for them. But what if the people who help them are taken away from them and they are forced to move again into a strange, unknown place. With their mom murdered now, what will they do? Who will support them? How? (I did NOTcopy this from the book's summary)

I picked up this book because I brought it 5 years ago at a book store because it was on sale and never touched it since, but I got bored and started reading it. Since this book is like a series of chapters, the chapter always ends with a foreshadowing, so it gives you the temptation to continue and find out what happens next, so I ended up finishing it up.I would recommend this to anyone who likes futuristic fiction, because this book is based on a time where people no longer live on Earth, but on many other planets. It is so imaginative and futuristic that it is almost like fantasy, so I would also recommend this to fantasy lovers too.

[Akira Rodriguez Komatsu · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I pick up this book, I never read or heard anything of Sarah Zettel, so I was at the expectative of ending reading this book and have a point of view of how she work.
In the start of this novel, it was slow in te develop of the trama of the history as different sotries that connect, but when I continue reading and learning the new world and how the characters act and believe and how she projected the Earth will evolve if the humanity continue with their actions and how by genetical engineering the try to create the solution to the Crisis that is isolating this futuristic vision of the world I really like how the author connects everything and give a good ending.

[• Tom • · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. It's technically a sci-fi, but the sci-fi is just the background story. The real story is individuals vs the government vs the other government. Centered mostly on one family.
Up until the middle of the book, you know who you're supposed to root for, but it's hard when you see several sides to the story.
After the first half, the good guys & bad guys are getting clearer.
I didn't consider it to be young fiction, but it's pretty easy reading and I think it's something young people would enjoy.

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't sure if I would like this or not since I don't normally like space-age sci-fi, but since it was on the used rack for $3 I thought it was worth a shot.

Chena Trust makes for a good heroine. She's flawed and rebellious and doesn't always make the smartest moves, which makes her believable. I don't think the plot has the most original twists and turns and it isn't all that hard to see where the book will eventually end up, but the pacing is steady and I enjoyed the book overall.

[Jenny Byers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, I was amazed at the unexpected turns that kept happening in this plot. It was intelligent and imaginative. I was awed. It may have been a "young adult" book, cuz the lead characters were a teen girl and her younger sister, but the themes were not YA. Lots of world building, environmental science, sociology- had conflicting people and politics but there was no clear bad guys or good guys. Each made great arguments for their actions based on their beliefs.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book despite some things that would usually put me off of it quite a bit. At no point during the book do I feel that we get a clear view of where the book is heading or what the end goal is. Even upon completion, it feels a bit unresolved. Things have happened but very little is concluded.
All this being said, I enjoyed the writing quite a bit. Another chapter at the end or even a longer epilogue could have raised this to a 4 star for me.

[Christine · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'll admit it; I'm more of a fantasy geek than a Sci-Fi geek.

I like the end behind this story, but, man it could be shorter. The characters are flat for the most part, and no one seems to grow, even though they age. It's hard to remember that the two central characters are 19 and 16 for the second part because they still act 10 and 13.

Good ideas and themes though.

[Lauren Sampson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I've decided that I'm not much of a si-fi fan...or it could just be this writer. I found the book hard to get through. I wasn't attached to any of the characters(probably because there were TOO many of them) and felt a little lost because of lack of details about the world the story took place in.