SOLVED. Timothy Zahn book? two death row felons carried on every ship. [s]

[D.M.]

This is an odd request. I remember this novel as being written by Timothy Zahn, but I can't find it under his name.

Details are sketchy. What i recall the most was that it was about a planet where something odd was happening, and it was related to God...maybe divine voices or some other phenomena. A believer girl was part of a science team sent to investigate it, and part of the book was her conflict of faith. I remember it mostly because it was respectful of her.

Any ideas?

[Bryan457]

Possibly

[D.M.]

No, it's not that. I've read it, that's about "angels" which people wear around their neck, that come from a black hole. This was more people landing on a physical planet where people thought it might actually have divine beings. I think it was intangible voices that people heard or thought were angels or god. the spoiler is that they weren't, they were aliens, but what was unique was the believer girl wasn't a caricature, and neither was the revelation of the "voices," That's part of why I think it was Zahn.

If it's not Tim Zahn, it really read close to him, and I could swear I read it close to his book A Coming of Age. Sorry, I don't have much more info except I think it was a full novel, not a novella or story in an anthology.

[Michelle]

Did it have to do with a female character under a death sentence? And the main protagonist is working with/for to find out the truth? If so, I think I know the title but I'm at work and the books at home on my shelf. I can't for the life of me recall the name. If that helps, I'll go shelf-hunting :D

It does very much have a divine touch, and there are Priest/Resolver characters in it. It also has actual pieces of the Talmud, Torah, and the Christian Bible IN the work

The book is called "Deadman Switch"

And the blurb on the back is very miss leading. There's a planet, convicts, aliens, The Halo of God, Shepherds, and a whole lot of cool stuff that goes on that sounds REALLY close to what you're looking for (planets with living plants and thunderheads) but NONE of that is on the back cover of the book. It's a sneaky book.

Here's the stats:

Publisher: Baen Books
Published: 1988
Title: Deadman Switch
ISBN: 067197864

[D.M.]

Thanks, I'll check it out. The whole "human sacrifice" aspect seems to have slipped my mind, but it's the closest I can think of to that book. I'll report back when I read it.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

D.M., is this Solved yet? The thread has been languishing in Possibly Solved for 9 years.

[D.M.]

Yes, solved. It’s been forever since I used here, sorry

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

No problem. What is the title and author, so we can shelve it?

[D.M.]

Deadman switch by Timothy zahn

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Great.