DREAMS OF DAWN

by Marti Steussy

The peaceful coexistence of the nonhuman natives of Karg and the human colonists breaks down when the Kargan young begin to die in droves and Nelda Nygren must find a way to save the Kargans without evacuating the humans.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction

313 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Robert Beveridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marti Steussy, Dreams of Dawn (Del Rey, 1988)

Steussy's second novel returns us to the same universe as her debut, Forest of the Night. The characters are different, but there are enough similarities to link the two without a problem. This time around, Circle Dawn, sort of the frontiersmen of the colonization movement, are called to a planet where, it seems, humans may have inadvertently broken the nonaggression treaty with the native race, the Karg; Kargan hatchlings are dying on their way through the change to adulthood. The book jacket goes much farther into the plot than this, but explaining the how and why of things would be, to me, a spoiler; you'll just have to read the thing.

I originally thought Dreams of Dawn was just getting off to a slow start, but what seemed to be a lack of ability to pace a novel is more Steussy's writing style. This is not necessarily surprising, considering her nonfiction publications (anyone seeing a title like Gardens in Babylon: Narrative Faith in the Greek Legends of Daniel, who has ever been exposed to literary criticism, will likely pull out the dictionary before even cracking the cover). And it can be a stumbling block for some readers, no doubt. But Steussy's strengths belie the weaknesses of pacing and somewhat leaden explication; her characters are very well-developed, the plot does move along (albeit slowly), and her ability to build tension under these conditions is somewhat, well, remarkable. By the time you're a quarter of the way through the novel, you're still in character development mode, and while the main problem has been advanced, Circle Dawn haven't really started the quest to figure out what the problem is yet... and you don't care. You're too busy getting to know these people. And liking them, for the most part. They help mask the relatively recycled plot and its underlying very recycled theme (to Steussy's credit, she never crosses the line between recycled and cliché, and never gets preachy on us; no one in the novel ever actually hugs a tree).

"Compelling" is not the right word to use for this novel, thanks to its leisureliness, but it kept me reading well enough. Worth a look for sci-fi fans. ***

[Erika Worley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up at a book sale, I believe. The cover was pretty interesting and I was intrigued by the question presented in the description: Is intelligence and sensitivity still valid when a species looks like a crab and metamorphoses in strange ways throughout its life? When I actually picked up the book to read, I was skeptical that it would successfully answer such a question. Some books introduce you to their fantasy world through immersion and this book really is one of them, never completely defining what some terms mean, instead letting the reader deduce it for themselves. That being said, once I got used to the characters and ideas, I became curious about where the story would go, in large part because the characters are well defined in their attitudes, habits, and uncertainties. And there is a distinctly sexy edge to many of them. While there is a solid main character, several others have a strong third person perspective. And the philosophies and sciences discussed pose other interesting questions about the nature of justice, cooperation, and sacrifice for the sake of the universe. I will soon be looking into Steussy's other work.

[Gribblet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up from the free table at work, mostly because of the fabulous illustration of a woman snuggling a very large crab on the front. The cover art promised terrible science fiction, and I was disappointed. It wasn't actually all that bad. The science was slightly better than the writing, but one so rarely gets a good scientific basis for science fiction these days that I was impressed anyway. Everything about this book is fine, actually, except the ending, which smacks of happy-ending-itis. It stays in my library so that I can reread it after I've read more of Steussy's work.