Brightness Falls from the Air - James Tiptree Jr. (3 1/2 stars)

[Cora]

Brightness Falls from the Air - James Tiptree Jr.

3 1/2 stars

Brightness Falls from the Air is a novel by classic science fiction writer James Tiptree Jr. It is the story of a group of tourists traveling to a planet to watch the final stages of a nearby nova event. The planet is the home to a species of humanoid that resembles angels or fairies. In the past, these people were exploited and tortured because when they in pain their bodies create a secretion that can be developed into a very potent and desirable drug. Because of these atrocities there a small group of guardians whose job it is the protect the indigenous beings to make sure no one comes to exploit them again. They do allow small groups of tourists though. I thought that this book had a lot of interesting ideas. I could tell it was very progressive for its time, but it also seemed a bit outdated in some aspects. There were a lot of characters and a lot of subplots and I thought that they were not all necessary. It was a bit jumbled and confusing at times, but other times it was moving. I think that Tiptree tried to include so much that it diluted the main point of the story somewhat. I think I would like to read more by Tiptree, but I would like to try her short fiction, which was the primary form she wrote.