Kingdom of Cages - Hardcover

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Sarah Zettel has written numerous science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories. She lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Rezensionen

As environmental deterioration and incurable pandemics sweep the colonized worlds, the Colonial Shipping Authority seeks aid from the isolated and apparently untouched planet of Pandora, resorting to threats of contamination to force assistance from a world unwilling to risk itself for the greater good. As relations between the Authority and the planet worsen, the fate of humanity hinges on two young women, whose genes hold the key to savingor destroyingthe human race. Zettel (Reclamation; Fool's War) crafts a taut, action-filled coming-of-age tale. Recommended for both adult and YA sf collections.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Nothing is the least bit forced or overly clever in this winning coming-of-age story, a seamless blend of concept, plot and characterization. Chena Trust grows up on an overcrowded space station where her family has had to toil endlessly to make enough money to pay for their air. When she finally moves down to Pandora, the planet around which the station orbits, she has to work even harder than on the space station to pay for her upkeep and has to endure the humiliation of communal showers; in addition, force fields keep her away from the native Pandoran wild life. She has no idea how lucky she is. On all the other worlds humanity has colonized, the people are dying of horrible mutations as their planets' biospheres fall apart. The Hothousers who rule Pandora, and have made protecting the biosphere their mission, are dragged into using genetic engineering to help the rest of humanity overcome the "diversity crisis." An essential part of the Eden plan involves the Trust family, but they are unwilling to cooperate. Zettel (The Quiet Invasion) masterfully creates her world and allows her adolescent protagonist to mature slowly and logically. The plot moves along nicely, but at times Pandora's general serenity seeps into the main story and smothers some of the tension. (Aug. 28)Forecast: The strong female protagonists in this work will appeal to many, and there will be some YA appeal as well. While this novel won't go flying off the shelves, its catchy title may help to get it into a solid number of hands.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Plagues are decimating the Earth-colonized worlds known as the Called. Only Pandora thrives, thanks to immigration restriction and its cities' interaction with nature, practices enforced by the implanted mechanical consciences all Pandorans possess. Selected individuals from an industrial space station are allowed on the planet but, lacking consciences, have none of the rights and comforts of regular colonists and serve as subjects of genetics experiments. Then representatives of the desperate other planets threaten to overrun Pandora unless its genetic wizards come up with cures for them. A potential biological fix is formulated, and Pandora's leaders search for someone with the right gene map to carry it. Recent immigrant Helice Trust is discovered and pressured into becoming the host mother, which costs her her life. Helice leaves her two daughters to pursue wildly different paths, which for each girl leads to the heart of the ethical conflict that swirls around Helice's murder and the child of her womb. Zettel realizes that conflict as well as she paints the personalities driving it to a startling conclusion. Roberta Johnson
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