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The Girl from the Emeraline Island
In earth's provincial culture after the interstellar war women were to marry young, bear sons, and obey their husbands, but Ellia Kellzi was tough, smart, and fast – and nobody was going to stand between her and independence. At the stone coast she learned to ride like the wind and fight like a man. In the great open city she won the trust of two of the People, wolf-like humanoids from a land across the sea. And in the dreaded blasted hills, she faced madness, terror, and even death to learn the most terrible secret of the Island.
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 12, 1984
38 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 5, 2025
Check out my full, spoiler free, video review HERE.
This one surprised me, after a bit of a slow start I got more and more interested and towards the end I couldn’t put it down. Civilization seems to be stuck around steam engine technology, there are aliens called the People and some sort of apocalyptic event has occurred at some point. Ellia is a strong-willed woman that can do everything the males can do, often times better. The problem is that this society has strict rules that women should focus on baby making while all males go off and learn skills and trades until they go through a rite of passage where half of them die, the survivors are not allowed to talk about any aspects of this rite, so this adds a lot of mystery to the novel. Ellia ends up disguises herself as a male to try and live a more fulfilled life and this ends up getting her into trouble along the way, but she also makes friends, including some of the aliens, who treat women as equal. All of this comes together in the end to make a great novel.
This one surprised me, after a bit of a slow start I got more and more interested and towards the end I couldn’t put it down. Civilization seems to be stuck around steam engine technology, there are aliens called the People and some sort of apocalyptic event has occurred at some point. Ellia is a strong-willed woman that can do everything the males can do, often times better. The problem is that this society has strict rules that women should focus on baby making while all males go off and learn skills and trades until they go through a rite of passage where half of them die, the survivors are not allowed to talk about any aspects of this rite, so this adds a lot of mystery to the novel. Ellia ends up disguises herself as a male to try and live a more fulfilled life and this ends up getting her into trouble along the way, but she also makes friends, including some of the aliens, who treat women as equal. All of this comes together in the end to make a great novel.
November 22, 2009
There is nothing I like better than a girl kicking ass in a male dominated society. Mostly fantasy with a smattering of sci fi, this little books has it all in one quick read. Great for fans of Tamora Pierce's work.
January 9, 2014
I'm tempted to give this book 5 stars, but I'm going to hold off as I read it more than 20 years ago. I wonder how it would hold up to a reread?
April 20, 2023
Had been sitting on Mt TBR forever. Glad i got to it. Imaginative story of a female protagonist that doesn't accept the no girls allowed rules.
June 16, 2013
A girl in a high gender-divided society disguises herself as a boy to take part in a challenging coming-of-age test.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews