Orphan of Creation

by Roger MacBride Allen

Dr. Marchando, a paleontologist, discovers a fossil with amazing implications on a Mississippi farm, and travels to Africa where she searches for a missing link

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

345 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1988

About the author

Roger MacBride Allen is a US science fiction author of the Corellian Trilogy, consisting of Ambush at Corellia, Assault at Selonia, and Showdown at Centerpoint. He was born on September 26, 1957 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He grew up in Washington D.C. and graduated from Boston University in 1979. The author of a dozen science-fiction novels, he lived in Washington D.C., for many years. In July 1994, he married Eleanre Fox, a member of the U.S. Foreign Service. Her current assignment takes them to Brasilia, Brazil, where they lived from 2007 to 2009.

Reviews

[julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had three main impressions as I read this book. At first, I couldn't figure out why it was listed as Science Fiction. Then the woman digs up a skull that is neither human nor ape and I had an 'a-ha!' moment. The science fiction is not in the space ships or technology that I'm used to, but rather in the idea that our predecesors, or cousins, did not die out but are alive and well. A fascinating idea. My second impression was that I really liked it. I liked the interactions of the main characters as they found more skeletons, I liked how they portrayed how science was supposed to be revealed to the masses, circumvented by an over-eager reporter who had no idea what he was doing, and I liked that the main character, Barbara, seemed like a strong woman handling difficult circumstances. Then, after they traipse to Africa and find a live person, I got my third impression, which was that the author somehow lost his focus. He had several threads he could have followed--creationism, evolution, the reaction of the public to a strange new world, all kinds of things like that. I felt he dropped the ball. He took Barbara and turned her into a mess. He took the person they found, named Thursday, and did nothing really with her. I thought she was way too docile or way too smart or even way too lazy. The men in the book were rather stereotypical at the end as well. So if you could read this book without finishing it, by all means, but otherwise I'm going to have to not recommend it.

[David]

The synopsis says a paleoanthropologist makes a discovery that raises questions of human origins. After reading 1/3 of the book, it introduced me to the paleoanthropologist's family and its traditional home, how paleoanthropologists plan and carry out the initial step of a dig, the first remains that suggest a another hominid species was alive in recent times, and the preparations for a thorough dig and the potential controversies that may arise... I had mixed feelings about whether to continue, but chose to move on to something else.

If the greater emphasis on these other elements would appeal to you, you might consider the book.

[Lynda Engler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this audiobook about 10 years ago (book published 1988) and I dug it out of my archives to listen again. It had a strong female lead character, an African-American paleoanthropologist who finds an odd anecdote about imported apes in her great-great-grandfather's account of growing up a slave in Mississippi, and pushes forward to investigate. Digging on her family's ancestral property, she discovers bones, not of apes, but several complete skeletons of australopithecines buried in the 1850s. That precursor to homo sapiens has been extinct for a million years. Or so they thought.

Barbara and her colleagues assess the implications while they try to keep the discovery a secret, interspersed with bits from the point of view of a young Australopithecus kept as a slave in an isolated village. Eventually, Barbara and her younger cousin Livingston head to Africa to look for living Australopithecus.

Roger McBride Allen has written Star Wars books, Asimov's Robot series books, and quite a bit more, and is quite a decent - if not very well-known - author.

The book is no longer available on Audible, but you can snag a paperback on Amazon. If you are into archeology, anthropology, or simply a great story, I highly recommend this classic.

[Silvio Curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel justified in outlining some parts of the plot without considering it spoilers, since suspense isn't really the point. The main character is a paleoanthropologist who finds an odd anecdote about imported apes in her great-great-grandfather's account of growing up as a slave in Misissippi, gets curious, and decides to make a small-scale excavation of the ape bones. Of course, what she finds is a much bigger deal - several complete skeletons of australopithecines buried fresh in the 1850s. The first section is about her and her colleagues slowly assimilating the implications while they try to keep the discovery secret, interspersed with bits from the point of view of a real live australopithecine kept as a slave in some isolated village. In the next part, the paleoanthropologists make an expedition to Africa to look for live australopithecines, and the last part is contact with the australopithecines. I thought the first part was excellent, the African section seemed too simplistic, the next part relies on some inexcusable misconceptions about sign language, and then the ending has an ethically bizarre but scientifically excellent twist.

[Jenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was excited about this book for several reason. I had previously read 'You Shall Know Them' by Jean Vercors which also dealt with finding a living 'missing link' and had been captivated by the idea and welcomed another book on this subject.

Unfortunately, the story never really drew me in. I loved the discovery of the long lost diary, the subsequent dig, the search through old newspaers etc, but the characters themselves left me cold. There also seemed to be a lack of suspense. The story just plodded along. I skimmed the ending because by that stage I really didn't care what happened.

A great disappointment.

[Johanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting premise and an engaging read ... what happens when a paleoanthropologist finds the very recent (150 years old) bones of a hominid species that should have been extinct many thousands of years ago. And when she's able to then find living examples of that species, bringing it to America, issues of how we define "personhood" are fundamental to the other problems faced. Food for thought. I liked this book quite a lot, but would have liked more time spent grappling with those central issues and less time finding the bones.

[Elenfuin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting story about what is a person? And what make us human? Where and what is that part that make us the dominant species on earth.

Using the event of discovering the bones of an Australopithecus in USA, the author take us into the adventures of Dr. Barbara Marchando, paleontologist of the Smithsonian museum, that will lose everything in the attempt to spare humans to lose it´s humanity.

[Kenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Begins as a discovery novel, as scientists track down surviving Australopithecines. Becomes more philosophical: what does human mean? in second half. Main character, Barbara, seems thin, especially her private life. Readable.

[Georgina Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel made you think, and had unbiased points of view, of the idea of where morals lie.