Navohar

by Hilari Bell

As Earth's younger generations slowly succumb to a terrible disease without a cure, a deadly ailment linked to the alteration of the genetic code to prevent an alien invasion, expeditions are sent to search for lost human space colonies, where original human DNA may hold the key to Earth's salvation. Original.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

336 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 2000

About the author

As far as writing is concerned, I call myself the poster child for persistence. Songs of Power, the first novel I sold, was the 5th novel I'd written. When it sold I was working on novel #13. The next to sell, Navohar, was #12, and the next, A Matter of Profit, was #9. The Goblin Wood was #6, and the first Sorahb book, Flame (later renamed Farsala: Fall of a Kingdom), will be #15. You get the picture.

My reviews: Mea culpa! I got onto Goodreads years ago, and haven't been reviewing--but I now mean to start! I should add that as writer, I tend to read a bit more critically. Or at least, when I think a book is going off the rails I usually see technical, writer problems with it. In short, any time a book stops working for me, that author becomes an honorary member of my writing critique group--whether they want to or not! So I apologize in advance for any technical critiques my fellow writers may recieve.

Biography: My personal life? I was born in Denver in 1958—you can do the math. I'm single and live with my mother, brother and sister-in-law. I used to be a part time reference librarian for a mid-sized public library, but in the beginning of ’05 I achieved a writer’s dream and quit the day job. Librarian turned writer is a very schizophrenic state—when I try to urge people to buy my books, I have to beat down a lifetime of professional reflexes demanding that I tell them to check them out at the library instead.

I enjoy board gaming and fantasy gaming, both table top and live. But my favorite thing to do is the decadent version of camping my mom and I practice. We have a pop-up trailer with a fridge, a sink, a stove and (if electrical hookups are available) a space heater, heating pads and a toaster. Our motto is "No unnecessary work." We don't cook, we don't wash dishes, we don't...you name it. What we do is spend all day, every day, reading and hiking and reading some more. Camping is the only time I can get in enough reading. Well, I take that back—when it comes to reading, there's no such thing as enough.

Reviews

[Donovan Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good simple sci-fi with a moral message.

[Marsha Valance · Rating 3 out of 5]

A group of scientists from Earth is looking on many planets for survivors of human colonization. Earth’s young people are dying because humans were genetically altered in a war with an alien species. On the lost colony planet of Navohar, the scientists finally find human survivors, but they do not seem to be helpful. When one of their ill young members is kidnapped, his aunt, Irene Olsen, a specialist in genetics, sets off to search for him. She finds him healthy and that the colonists have a lot of secrets about his cure that they reluctantly allow her to research.

[Dainy Bernstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full review on Reader's Dialogue: http://readersdialogue.blogspot.com/2...

The biggest thing that stayed with me throughout the whole novel was an impression of just how richly and lushly detailed the world of Navohar is. First of all, the way the planet doesn't have just one alien race but a varied and layered ecosystem including micro-organisms and (six-legged) animals - I love that, it makes it so much more 3D, so complex and exciting to experience. And Irene is the perfect guide to experiencing these complex situations. Her propensity for profanity in a time when youths have become more conservative in their language (!), combined with her pig-headedness and determination, mean that we get to see the world of Navohar clearly and without (too much) bias, and her openness to new experiences means that we see everything through a wide-eyed wonder. Her tone is so irreverent, so openly annoyed and openly delighted at various points, that the whole story, though it actually is quite serious, ends up being a really fun, laughter-filled read.

I love the rest of the people in Navohar also, and some of them add to the fun quality of the book as well. They're just as multi-layered as the wildlife on Navohar, and it's really interesting to watch how things play out based on each character's personality. And what I loved was that we know of course that everyone is going to end up fine, that everything will be alright - but which everyone? With such a big split between the groups over the colonists' secret, I was kept guessing right up until the end. The last scene alone turns on itself so many times, first this group having the upper hand, then the other, that I didn't know how exactly the situation would be resolved until the last page.

The moral question of the story is part of what keeps us guessing until the end. It's not an easy decision. And what makes it more complex is Irene's statement at the beginning of the novel about what Captain Willard decided to do about the embryos found on each planet, when he decided to take them back to Earth since their colonists had all died, because "'Enough life has been lost already,' he said. A moral man." Which makes his future actions more ambiguous.

A small point I found amusing was the naming of the planets. Irene says in an aside that when people started colonizing planets, they had to find enough names for all of them, so they had a program randomly generate names and discarded only the ones that seemed silly. "After all, who wanted to colonize Grizzelskrink?" As an amateur linguist, I love that scenario.

And the end - it's perfect. I can't say too much about it without giving away all the little surprises that crop up throughout the book. But it's perfect because it captures how completely Irene accepts her decision and her situation - and it's funny!

[Aliya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had an amazing opportunity to read this book by the author herself via Goodreads. So needless to say I was thrilled to grasp the opportunity. Her first book that I read was "The Goblin Wood" and I absolutely loved it, so I was really looking forward to reading more of her books. I still am.

Navohar is one of many planets inhabited by humans in an attempt to keep the human race alive because Earth is no longer good enough. Typical, we all know we're going to destroy our planet (what makes us think we can thrive on another is beyond me though, I'll be pessimistic here and say that we'd bring destruction where ever we go because we have an uncanny tendency to not learn from our past). However, to be fair in the novel's case, Earth has become uninhabitable because humans were defending themselves against the invasion of an alien race. Their solution? Species-unspecified genetic warfare that backfires and harms not only the aliens but also the humans themselves.

The result? Humans need to find somewhere else to live, and one of these planets is Navohar. Irene is part of a crew going to the different planets, where they find out the colonists have all died. The one planet where they thrived, however, is Navohar, which definitely spikes the crews interest in the planet. The catch? Navohar is special and amazing because somehow something in its environment cures ailments but so far the how this happens has eluded the colonists. So Irene, the main character, tries to figure it out, but it's years of research in advance. This is problematic because the crew that Irene is part of wants to take the sentient creatures of the planet back to Earth to cure their genetically diseased children, but to do so would compromise ethics and morality.

It was fun to see Irene, the main character, get frustrated over and over again, and go through so many trials to find out if they could not only find but reproduce the curing aspect of the planet. However, as smart a scientist as she was, she was also very irrational and... arrogant, I would say. She never heeded advice and was stubborn to a fault that seemed to only serve moving on to the next stage of the story. Her actions at the end were very frustrating and ridiculously stupid. She did know better, but still decided to be irrational. I was very curious to see how the plot would play out and resolve itself, and must admit that I was very disappointed in how it turned out, how easily and conveniently things worked out.

Overall though, the story was great and I really enjoyed it.

[Aurora Dimitre · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is like, the most stereotypical-type science fiction novel I can imagine. Earth is no more, they're all in space ships, there are different planets, environmental panic, all of that jazz, complete with a very stereotypical science fiction cover.

And I... really enjoyed it.

I've said it many times, I'm not a huge science fiction fan. Like, the book either has to be written by Michael Grant or be really, really good, and this is basically neither. I mean, it wasn't bad, but I wouldn't say it was phenomenal. I do still prefer Bell's fantasy to this, but her talent for world-building really shone through here. Her characters were fun, and everything was pretty great, even the hit-you-over-the-head-with-save-the-earth type things.

But this was good. It was. It was an interesting story and I really did enjoy it.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book probably 6 years ago, and hundreds of books later, I still remember the plot and characters. It was a very thought-provoking read, and while I didn't like it all that much the first time I read it, I'm giving it 4 stars because of how it has stuck with me.

[Koji Mukai · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the author's first novel, I believe, which I enjoyed well enough (though not perfect). Since then, though, she seems to have switched to fantasies. A pity.