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1981 SF in which humans attempt to colonize a beautiful but distinctly hostile planet, Destiny. Among many other problems, a one-off solar flare causes lethal mutations in the fetuses of most pregnant women. The six surviving babies are strange and have strange powers, and are reared mostly isolated from the rest of the colony.
This sounds very much like something I would like. Van Scyoc wrote another fantasy novel, Darkchild, which I like very much. And yet Sunwaifs joins the list of Van Scyoc books I bought on the strength of Darkchild, every single one of which had a cool premise and interesting ideas, but was ultimately unsatisfying for hard to pin down reasons.
The main problem here is the characters. Only the six mutant kids really get any characterization, and they're archetypes rather than realistic characters. Archetypes are fine and in this case make a lot of sense in context, but they're vaguely unlikable/unappealing and also generally vague rather than being vivid. There's a stolid bull boy with cow powers, a flirty/bratty bird girl with bird powers, an angsty precognitive boy, a plant boy who's always rushing around because he starts to root if he stands still, and an affectless healer girl who drains herself to heal. Some of them eventually get some nice twists on their powers, but they're largely more boring than they sound.
The most interesting character is Corrie, who was born intersex but assigned as female - I'm using female pronouns as that's what she uses in the book, though it's clear that the assignment was only an assignment. Her twin died in the womb and she remembers this, she has storm powers, and she believes that she's the avatar of death and destruction. She and the precognitive boy, Nadd, alternate narration in first person. It's very tell-not-show, and it feels like not much is happening even when stuff objectively is.
I liked the late reveals and the ending, but overall the premise was better than the book.
It turns out the the planet, Destiny, is sentient and is physically hurt by the colonists - not by pollution, but all its previous animals were tiny birds and getting stepped on by cows is literally painful. The colonization has been as difficult as it is because Destiny has been actively trying to kill the colonists!
Plant Boy rushes around not to prevent himself from rooting, but because Destiny is actively fighting against him rooting, and he needs to do it to survive. He runs from place to place, getting in a bit of rooting before she hardens the earth enough to stop him.
Corrie isn't an avatar of death, but of duality: rain and storms, which can be destructive but are also necessary for life. This ends with Corrie staying her dramatic stormy self, but with the knowledge that she is life as well as death. By far, this was the most satisfying part of the book. It felt happy, appropriate, and earned.
The kids manage to broker a peace with Destiny, and by the end they've integrated into the community. The next generation of children is born more mutated than them, and better able to mesh with Destiny.
Both covers are accurate and convey the same scene, but talk about different vibes!
This sounds very much like something I would like. Van Scyoc wrote another fantasy novel, Darkchild, which I like very much. And yet Sunwaifs joins the list of Van Scyoc books I bought on the strength of Darkchild, every single one of which had a cool premise and interesting ideas, but was ultimately unsatisfying for hard to pin down reasons.
The main problem here is the characters. Only the six mutant kids really get any characterization, and they're archetypes rather than realistic characters. Archetypes are fine and in this case make a lot of sense in context, but they're vaguely unlikable/unappealing and also generally vague rather than being vivid. There's a stolid bull boy with cow powers, a flirty/bratty bird girl with bird powers, an angsty precognitive boy, a plant boy who's always rushing around because he starts to root if he stands still, and an affectless healer girl who drains herself to heal. Some of them eventually get some nice twists on their powers, but they're largely more boring than they sound.
The most interesting character is Corrie, who was born intersex but assigned as female - I'm using female pronouns as that's what she uses in the book, though it's clear that the assignment was only an assignment. Her twin died in the womb and she remembers this, she has storm powers, and she believes that she's the avatar of death and destruction. She and the precognitive boy, Nadd, alternate narration in first person. It's very tell-not-show, and it feels like not much is happening even when stuff objectively is.
I liked the late reveals and the ending, but overall the premise was better than the book.
It turns out the the planet, Destiny, is sentient and is physically hurt by the colonists - not by pollution, but all its previous animals were tiny birds and getting stepped on by cows is literally painful. The colonization has been as difficult as it is because Destiny has been actively trying to kill the colonists!
Plant Boy rushes around not to prevent himself from rooting, but because Destiny is actively fighting against him rooting, and he needs to do it to survive. He runs from place to place, getting in a bit of rooting before she hardens the earth enough to stop him.
Corrie isn't an avatar of death, but of duality: rain and storms, which can be destructive but are also necessary for life. This ends with Corrie staying her dramatic stormy self, but with the knowledge that she is life as well as death. By far, this was the most satisfying part of the book. It felt happy, appropriate, and earned.
The kids manage to broker a peace with Destiny, and by the end they've integrated into the community. The next generation of children is born more mutated than them, and better able to mesh with Destiny.
Both covers are accurate and convey the same scene, but talk about different vibes!
