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Lyhhrt Trilogy #1
Flesh And Gold
A mature alien woman judge sees an amphibious human woman, obviously a slave, displayed in a tank in front of a sex palace. And so an interstellar plot of murderous proportions involving many races and planets, galactic corporations, exploitive sex and horrible slavery is revealed.
288 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 1998
5 people are currently reading
321 people want to read
About the author
Phyllis Gotlieb
57 books25 followersPhyllis Fay Gotlieb, née Bloom, BA, MA was a Canadian science fiction novelist and poet.
The Sunburst Award is named for her first novel, Sunburst. Three years before Sunburst was published, Gotlieb published the pamphlet Who Knows One, a collection of poems. Gotlieb won the Aurora Award for Best Novel in 1982 for her novel A Judgement of Dragons.
She was married to Calvin Gotlieb, a computer science professor, and lived in Toronto, Ontario.
The Sunburst Award is named for her first novel, Sunburst. Three years before Sunburst was published, Gotlieb published the pamphlet Who Knows One, a collection of poems. Gotlieb won the Aurora Award for Best Novel in 1982 for her novel A Judgement of Dragons.
She was married to Calvin Gotlieb, a computer science professor, and lived in Toronto, Ontario.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
May 15, 2012
This was a re-read.
I recommended it to my book club, and then couldn't make the meeting due to a family commitment, so I felt a little apprehensive about that. What if I didn't like it as much on a second reading? How would I justify myself?
Well, I should have trusted myself. I LOVE this book. If anyone else doesn't - well, then they don't, and we will have to disagree.
All I have to say is, I don't think Ursula LeGuin has ever steered me wrong. (She blurbed this book, and while many authors' praise is for sale, I don't believe that LeGuin's is.)
Primarily, this book is a mystery. But it's a mystery set in a vibrant, multi-species, semi-near future setting (500 years from now?) slightly reminiscent of ST:TNG. The main character is Skerow, a legal judge on a regular circuit. She's working on a rather backwater planet when her partner is murdered, and, simultaneously, she discovers a mysterious mermaid-woman enslaved in a brothel.
She embarks on a mission to bring justice to the enslaved and solve the mystery of the murder - but staying alive herself may turn out to be more difficult than anticipated.
The different races portrayed in the story are unique, believable, and finely drawn. The politics are seedy, cutthroat, and fun. There's human trafficking, gladiatorial combat, prostitution - and of course, everything comes down to money in the end.
The book really shines in the characterization, though. No one in this story is a stereotype... and even when they're a 7-foot-tall reptile, they're completely well-rounded, "human" beings with various interests and believable thought processes.
But what I truly love about it it how it presents a realistic world, where horrible things happen, and people are as nasty to each other as they can possibly be - without actually having a bleak world view at all. The existence of awful things does not negate the beauty to be found in life, or the possibility of making a change for the better.
Plus, it's just a great story.
I recommended it to my book club, and then couldn't make the meeting due to a family commitment, so I felt a little apprehensive about that. What if I didn't like it as much on a second reading? How would I justify myself?
Well, I should have trusted myself. I LOVE this book. If anyone else doesn't - well, then they don't, and we will have to disagree.
All I have to say is, I don't think Ursula LeGuin has ever steered me wrong. (She blurbed this book, and while many authors' praise is for sale, I don't believe that LeGuin's is.)
Primarily, this book is a mystery. But it's a mystery set in a vibrant, multi-species, semi-near future setting (500 years from now?) slightly reminiscent of ST:TNG. The main character is Skerow, a legal judge on a regular circuit. She's working on a rather backwater planet when her partner is murdered, and, simultaneously, she discovers a mysterious mermaid-woman enslaved in a brothel.
She embarks on a mission to bring justice to the enslaved and solve the mystery of the murder - but staying alive herself may turn out to be more difficult than anticipated.
The different races portrayed in the story are unique, believable, and finely drawn. The politics are seedy, cutthroat, and fun. There's human trafficking, gladiatorial combat, prostitution - and of course, everything comes down to money in the end.
The book really shines in the characterization, though. No one in this story is a stereotype... and even when they're a 7-foot-tall reptile, they're completely well-rounded, "human" beings with various interests and believable thought processes.
But what I truly love about it it how it presents a realistic world, where horrible things happen, and people are as nasty to each other as they can possibly be - without actually having a bleak world view at all. The existence of awful things does not negate the beauty to be found in life, or the possibility of making a change for the better.
Plus, it's just a great story.
November 26, 2021
Gorgeous writing, wonderful 1960-ish space-opera plot, marred by an unsuccessful ending. Recommended. I rated it 4.5+ stars after my first read, and downgraded it a bit on the reread. Still a near-great book.
Sta'atha Anfa Skerow is a senior interworld judge on the GalFed Assizes Circuit. A citizen of the Northern Spine Federation on Khagodis, she resembles (to Solthree eyes) a "streamlined baby allosaurus". A routine smuggling trial on Fthel V opens a trapdoor into a cesspool of treachery and corruption, cruelty and murder, slavery and redemption in a far-distant future.
Here are the opening paragraphs:
"My knife is missing," Nohl said.
"What does that matter?" Ferrier turned his eyes from the smoking volcanic peak on the horizon to the east and watched the waters of the bay dancing in glints of light from the lowering sun. On Khagodis the air is so thin that the stars are sometimes visible in daylight; now in the flaring blue Ferrier could see three of the system's other worlds. He had hooked the oxygen tube into the corner of his mouth and it bubbled slightly.
Amber lights glinted on Nohl's scales. With a pearl talon he flickedaway an insect buzzing near his eye and looked down at the the thin figure whose head came to his elbow. Ferrier was wearing white against the equatorial heat; his short jacket was closely fitted, and had double-breasted black buttons. Nohl was thinking that Ferrier's eyes were like the buttons, fixed and sharp on white skin. A thin skin over arrogance and greed.
Ursula K Le Guin's great cover blurb:
"Sex, violence, intricate plotting, light-speed pacing, an amazing variety of aliens, touches of Philip K Dick's sardonic humor and Cordwainer Smith's obstinate idealism make this novel dazzling."
More at my 1998 review, updated after a 2012 reread:
https://www.amazon.com/review/R1KVKYP...
Gerald Jonas brief 1998 NYT review is, as always, the pro review to read: https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytim...
"If you have been wondering what a distinguished Canadian poet writes about when she writes science fiction, the answer is: sex and violence. The characters who inhabit Phyllis Gotlieb's FLESH AND GOLD (Tor/Tom Doherty, $23.95) have little time for anything else. Much of the action (and there is a great deal of it) takes place in a far-future brothel of labyrinthine design, where connoisseurs of the more than ''15 kinds of humanity'' come to gratify their outre desires. ..."
Sta'atha Anfa Skerow is a senior interworld judge on the GalFed Assizes Circuit. A citizen of the Northern Spine Federation on Khagodis, she resembles (to Solthree eyes) a "streamlined baby allosaurus". A routine smuggling trial on Fthel V opens a trapdoor into a cesspool of treachery and corruption, cruelty and murder, slavery and redemption in a far-distant future.
Here are the opening paragraphs:
"My knife is missing," Nohl said.
"What does that matter?" Ferrier turned his eyes from the smoking volcanic peak on the horizon to the east and watched the waters of the bay dancing in glints of light from the lowering sun. On Khagodis the air is so thin that the stars are sometimes visible in daylight; now in the flaring blue Ferrier could see three of the system's other worlds. He had hooked the oxygen tube into the corner of his mouth and it bubbled slightly.
Amber lights glinted on Nohl's scales. With a pearl talon he flickedaway an insect buzzing near his eye and looked down at the the thin figure whose head came to his elbow. Ferrier was wearing white against the equatorial heat; his short jacket was closely fitted, and had double-breasted black buttons. Nohl was thinking that Ferrier's eyes were like the buttons, fixed and sharp on white skin. A thin skin over arrogance and greed.
Ursula K Le Guin's great cover blurb:
"Sex, violence, intricate plotting, light-speed pacing, an amazing variety of aliens, touches of Philip K Dick's sardonic humor and Cordwainer Smith's obstinate idealism make this novel dazzling."
More at my 1998 review, updated after a 2012 reread:
https://www.amazon.com/review/R1KVKYP...
Gerald Jonas brief 1998 NYT review is, as always, the pro review to read: https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytim...
"If you have been wondering what a distinguished Canadian poet writes about when she writes science fiction, the answer is: sex and violence. The characters who inhabit Phyllis Gotlieb's FLESH AND GOLD (Tor/Tom Doherty, $23.95) have little time for anything else. Much of the action (and there is a great deal of it) takes place in a far-future brothel of labyrinthine design, where connoisseurs of the more than ''15 kinds of humanity'' come to gratify their outre desires. ..."
June 3, 2021
This first of a trilogy is good gutsy SF. Several plot strands across multiple worlds and involving both human and alien protagonists weave a narrative of a future corporation with a slave breeding process, using cloning technology to create a slave race, and trying to create fertile clones who can therefore self-reproduce. The Galactic Federation, Gotlieb's far future space "Empire," acts in its usually only barely effective way to try to stop this. Great characterization, some genuinely unsettling concepts, but overall leavened with a strong sense of hope and potential, as Gotlieb's work usually is. Recommended for fans of literate and complex SF.
March 26, 2019
I am not entirely sure what I just read. Too many alien forms and characters to keep track of; it all was spaghetti in my head.
April 17, 2020
A wild ride. Psychic komodo dragon intergalactic judge alien and conglomerate membrane alien in a golden robot body take on mermaid slave traders.
Four oddly placed Russian people are there in the future out of five.
Four oddly placed Russian people are there in the future out of five.
March 3, 2024
This book was a disaster. None of the races have any description, I dont know what anyone looks like except one or two defining features like scars or scales... The story was mid, at best, and I felt like all the characters were dull and lifeless.
The author also has such a bizarre way of writing, I found myself rereading sentences trying to understand what was being said. It was confusing, if it wasn't such an old book, I would have thought some parts were written with AI, it was that bad.
The author also has such a bizarre way of writing, I found myself rereading sentences trying to understand what was being said. It was confusing, if it wasn't such an old book, I would have thought some parts were written with AI, it was that bad.
April 27, 2020
This was a confusing jumble of aliens and subplots. It’s kind of a murder mystery, kind of a noir, kind of a space opera. I had higher expectations of this book as it is written by a woman considered to be the Grande Dame of Canadian Science Fiction. On top of that Ursula LeGuin was a first reader and wrote a high praise blurb for it. But I spent most of this book trying to figure out who was who, particularly, who was really an undercover agent. I thought the writing was passable and the world building insufficient for the number of alien races presented. All in all, a disappointing read.
Come visit my blog for the full review…
https://itstartedwiththehugos.blogspo...
Come visit my blog for the full review…
https://itstartedwiththehugos.blogspo...
May 15, 2020
Tiptree shortlist 1998
June 3, 2020
Started slow, seemed like she couldn't decide if this was a detective novel or a scifi novel. By the middle of novel it started to come together. All and all an enjoyable read.
August 25, 2024
Flesh and Gold, published in 1998, is the first book of the Lyhhrt Trilogy by Phyllis Gotlieb, who is known as the “Grande Dame of Canadian science fiction.” I had tried to read this book years ago, but didn’t quite finish it after getting lost in one of the plot’s twists. Through most of the book, anyway, I had been thinking, “What is this stuff I’m reading?”
With my second attempt at the book, I have a different approach, and Flesh and Gold makes more sense. Gotlieb was a poet who turned to writing science fiction to overcome writer’s block. Her poet’s sensibilities are very much apparent in the book. One of the main characters, a dinosaurian Khagodi judge, writes sensitive haiku-like poetry. Gotlieb writes mostly in the third person, but sometimes she dives deeply into a character to speak intimately as this character in the first person. It gives the book an interesting texture. Gotlieb's writing can be dense and intricate, and I found it best to read slowly to appreciate its careful construction.
Flesh and Gold shares the same Galactic Federation (GalFed) setting of all almost all of Gotlieb’s science fiction. There are many inhabited planets and many alien races. However, Gotlieb’s approach is most unusual in that these alien races are all “human.” Even the Lyhhrt themselves, who are lumps of protoplasm inhabiting metal bodies, are human.
“Human” means having the same kinds of thoughts and emotions as we “Solthree” humans, and subject also to the gamut of human weaknesses to which we are prey. The morality of Gotlieb’s alien races is as human as our own.
Sometimes, Gotlieb’s approach reminds me of the anthropomorphism of Wind in the Willows or Watership Down , where the speaking animals portrayed are effectively human. However, her writing is deeper than this. The author, I think, is making a point about the universality of human experience. She’s not saying that Solthree humans and her whacky collection of aliens spring from the same origin, but rather that a kind of humanity is where evolution will eventually lead, no matter its disparate origins.
Of course, one may read Gotlieb’s work as a grand metaphor on the universality of the human spirit on our own planet, Solthree, no matter our different backgrounds, skin colours, and so on.
The plot is complicated, and the twists and turns are difficult to keep track of. I found that appreciating the book is as much about savouring the texture of the writing, its beauty and complexity, as it is in following the overall plot.
With my second attempt at the book, I have a different approach, and Flesh and Gold makes more sense. Gotlieb was a poet who turned to writing science fiction to overcome writer’s block. Her poet’s sensibilities are very much apparent in the book. One of the main characters, a dinosaurian Khagodi judge, writes sensitive haiku-like poetry. Gotlieb writes mostly in the third person, but sometimes she dives deeply into a character to speak intimately as this character in the first person. It gives the book an interesting texture. Gotlieb's writing can be dense and intricate, and I found it best to read slowly to appreciate its careful construction.
Flesh and Gold shares the same Galactic Federation (GalFed) setting of all almost all of Gotlieb’s science fiction. There are many inhabited planets and many alien races. However, Gotlieb’s approach is most unusual in that these alien races are all “human.” Even the Lyhhrt themselves, who are lumps of protoplasm inhabiting metal bodies, are human.
“Human” means having the same kinds of thoughts and emotions as we “Solthree” humans, and subject also to the gamut of human weaknesses to which we are prey. The morality of Gotlieb’s alien races is as human as our own.
Sometimes, Gotlieb’s approach reminds me of the anthropomorphism of Wind in the Willows or Watership Down , where the speaking animals portrayed are effectively human. However, her writing is deeper than this. The author, I think, is making a point about the universality of human experience. She’s not saying that Solthree humans and her whacky collection of aliens spring from the same origin, but rather that a kind of humanity is where evolution will eventually lead, no matter its disparate origins.
Of course, one may read Gotlieb’s work as a grand metaphor on the universality of the human spirit on our own planet, Solthree, no matter our different backgrounds, skin colours, and so on.
The plot is complicated, and the twists and turns are difficult to keep track of. I found that appreciating the book is as much about savouring the texture of the writing, its beauty and complexity, as it is in following the overall plot.
February 21, 2010
Disappointing.
When reading a book full of dozens of alien species I ask, "what do these alien types add to the book?" In this case, I really can't tell.
The plot: a telepathic judge investigates a murder and human trafficking. But really it's more like, "a bunch of alien types bump around while a morose and naive judge (with 25 years experience) is shocked--shocked!--that corruption takes place. And then she writes haikus."
I've been slowly working my way through the Tiptree awards shortlist, but all too often I find shallow books that feature a weird sex scene or have a female protagonist and that seems to be enough to qualify them.
When reading a book full of dozens of alien species I ask, "what do these alien types add to the book?" In this case, I really can't tell.
The plot: a telepathic judge investigates a murder and human trafficking. But really it's more like, "a bunch of alien types bump around while a morose and naive judge (with 25 years experience) is shocked--shocked!--that corruption takes place. And then she writes haikus."
I've been slowly working my way through the Tiptree awards shortlist, but all too often I find shallow books that feature a weird sex scene or have a female protagonist and that seems to be enough to qualify them.
April 21, 2012
I wondered if, in such a diverse universe with so many different planets of origins, the court system would really resemble our so much; wouldn't there be other conceptions? But I liked the judge character, especially; I also liked that all sentient beings were called "humans", whatever planet they came from (solthree, for example). Raises some interesting issues about sexuality, power, and etc.
March 13, 2015
What a great discovery Phyllis Gotlieb has been. Whats starts as somewhat confusing introductions to an array of strange characters is eventually woven together into a fantastic and sordid story. My measure of a good science fiction novel is to imagine if it would be able to stand if re-told in a different genre. Flesh and Gold stands to that measure. A good piece of Canadian Sci-fi and Canadian literature.
January 31, 2016
It took me 3 quarters of this book to finally get some sense of all the different life forms in it. There is lots of them. Some you just get to know by a quick mention. There are very few descriptions of how they look like or why it matters that they're from planet so and so. Just when things start to get good or I should say mildly interesting, the book ends. It doesn't leave you wanting to read more ( being part of a trilogy and all) The story is weak. Hints of noir but not good enough.
June 13, 2012
I abandoned it. I am loving her writing style, but the story is simply not gripping me.
I really wanted to like this book because Gotlieb is a Canadian author and I really try to get as much CanCon as possible in my life. But, this just ain't cutting it.
In other news, I'm going to start Stranger in a Strange Land tonight, hopefully that one will go better!
I really wanted to like this book because Gotlieb is a Canadian author and I really try to get as much CanCon as possible in my life. But, this just ain't cutting it.
In other news, I'm going to start Stranger in a Strange Land tonight, hopefully that one will go better!
July 17, 2017
A sort of film noir social sf novel that leaves just one too many questions for me. The atmosphere is well done but you don't get the impression of why this particular future is the way it is. A fun read, though.
UPDATE: I just read again and am adding a star. This book really stuck with me in and odd way and I enjoy the pulpiness mixed with a sort of sordid noir feel.
UPDATE: I just read again and am adding a star. This book really stuck with me in and odd way and I enjoy the pulpiness mixed with a sort of sordid noir feel.
September 20, 2011
Well written in the unmemorably way. I liked it at the time, and the world is well realized, but it did not stick. I liked it for the single enormous surprise, the first time an author had killed a character I quite liked with no warning.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 26, 2012
I never thought of the possibility of aliens as being sex-obsessed. I always thought aliens would be vicious genius mass murderers at worst, or arrogantly snobbish like Q at their best ... but never like this. Not sure what to think of it all.
started_finish_later
November 6, 2010really wanted to like this one but the ratio dated/writing style is too unfavorable for me
April 12, 2016
Good solid fun. If you read enough you already know the plot, but here language is the field of play and characters act under true motivation, and respond also.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews