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Trade Pact Universe #1
A Thousand Words for Stranger
Sira is on the run. The mysterious Captain Morgan has a starship. But if she goes with him, who will be at risk? Meet the Clan, shadowy figures of unfathomable power. Meet Huido, the lobster-like restauranteur. Meet the Trade Pact Enforcers, who have their own intentions. For events are beginning to unfold that will affect them all.
Originally the first of the Trade Pact Universe Trilogy, THOUSAND is now book 4 of The Clan Chronicles. The three books of the Stratification Cycle, REAP THE WILD WIND, RIDERS OF THE STORM, and RIFT IN THE SKY tell the story of the Clan through the eyes of Sira's direct ancestor. The series will conclude with the Reunification Cycle, currently pestering the author.
Originally the first of the Trade Pact Universe Trilogy, THOUSAND is now book 4 of The Clan Chronicles. The three books of the Stratification Cycle, REAP THE WILD WIND, RIDERS OF THE STORM, and RIFT IN THE SKY tell the story of the Clan through the eyes of Sira's direct ancestor. The series will conclude with the Reunification Cycle, currently pestering the author.
368 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
82 people are currently reading
2,274 people want to read
About the author
Julie E. Czerneda
102Ìýbooks742ÌýfollowersHaving written 25 novels (and counting) published by DAW Books, as well as numerous short stories, and editing several anthologies, in 2022, Julie E. Czerneda was inducted in the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. Her science fiction and fantasy combines her training and love of biology with a boundless curiosity and optimism, winning multiple awards. Julie's recent releases include the standalone novel To Each This World, her first collection Imaginings, and A Change of Place, #3 in her Night's Edge fantasy series. Out July 2025 is A Shift of Time, #4 and the second last of the series.
For more visit czerneda.com Julie is represented by Sara Megibow of Megibow Literary Agency LLC.
For more visit czerneda.com Julie is represented by Sara Megibow of Megibow Literary Agency LLC.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 193 reviews
October 6, 2011
Three and a half stars, rounding up for a positive after-taste. Reminded me somewhat of Andre Norton's Witch World, only with more technologically advanced societies.
I love reading about the bird-person at the beginning, his thoughts on the mission and analyzing the trouble people had reading him due to lack of facial expression. Truly interesting, and it was sad to lose him to the main characters.
The progression of Sira and Morgan's relationship from an infatuated fixation on Sira's part and reluctant compassion on Morgan's to straight up love on both their parts is fun. So is Morgan the human telepath holding his own against Sira's people. The premise of the telepathic breeding was interesting. The settings were well done, from the shopping mall planet to the rural isolation of the hideaway. Overall, while mostly predictable, it still was an enjoyable ride.
I love reading about the bird-person at the beginning, his thoughts on the mission and analyzing the trouble people had reading him due to lack of facial expression. Truly interesting, and it was sad to lose him to the main characters.
The progression of Sira and Morgan's relationship from an infatuated fixation on Sira's part and reluctant compassion on Morgan's to straight up love on both their parts is fun. So is Morgan the human telepath holding his own against Sira's people. The premise of the telepathic breeding was interesting. The settings were well done, from the shopping mall planet to the rural isolation of the hideaway. Overall, while mostly predictable, it still was an enjoyable ride.
October 1, 2016
This is a debut novel? Really?
I am so glad I've been introduced to this author! I have previously read by the same author and was amazed by the wonder of her universe. But, for some reason, I prefer the characters in this debut novel.
What I really want from sci-fi is a sense of wonder and adventure and engaging characters and this book definitely succeeds on all fronts. I loved it!
I am so glad I've been introduced to this author! I have previously read by the same author and was amazed by the wonder of her universe. But, for some reason, I prefer the characters in this debut novel.
What I really want from sci-fi is a sense of wonder and adventure and engaging characters and this book definitely succeeds on all fronts. I loved it!
August 25, 2024
A very solid like on this one.
I’ve read one previous book by Czerneda, , which I quite enjoyed. This was also very good. Lovely characters that I wanted to see suceed, a story that moves along nicely, writing that is comfortable without going over into cozy territory. Cozy is loved by many but not totally my thing, however, this book gave me the cake I like without the icing I can do without.
It’s probably best described as lightly romantic SF adventure. There is real chemistry between the characters and the science is fictional—think Star Wars or Star Trek, that kind of world building. I can see why some people love and reread it. Likely I will read the next book in the series, , just to spend some more time with Sira and Morgan.
I’ve read one previous book by Czerneda, , which I quite enjoyed. This was also very good. Lovely characters that I wanted to see suceed, a story that moves along nicely, writing that is comfortable without going over into cozy territory. Cozy is loved by many but not totally my thing, however, this book gave me the cake I like without the icing I can do without.
It’s probably best described as lightly romantic SF adventure. There is real chemistry between the characters and the science is fictional—think Star Wars or Star Trek, that kind of world building. I can see why some people love and reread it. Likely I will read the next book in the series, , just to spend some more time with Sira and Morgan.
July 22, 2012
I believe this is Julie Czerneda's first published book, so I'm putting my review here. There are a few authors who (so far) have never published a book I didn't love. Julie Czerneda is one of them. What makes me love all of an author's books? When they consistently deliver a good story, with vivid characters, sparkling prose, and pacing that suits me to a "t".
Of course, not everyone will love the same authors I love. Everybody has different tastes in plotting, characterization, pacing, level of detail, originality, and a zillion other things that go into making a book "right" for you. But Julie Czerneda's books are awesomely "right" for me.
As for A Thousand Words for Stranger? I admit my evaluation may have been influenced by the glow of later books in the series. As a first book, I'm sure there were hiccups in the pacing and plotting... but I can't remember them. I've read the whole series (so far, and am eagerly awaiting the final trilogy), so it's all tied together in my mind. I can say that both Sira and Morgan are the kind of characters I love to read about - not perfect, certainly not superhuman, but genuinely good people, with flaws and quirks and depths that make them feel like real people, doing their best to meet the challenges thrown at them. And there are many challenges - yet another criterion for my tastes. I prefer genre fiction for a reason: I'm not a big fan of character studies or "day in the life" novels. I want something to *happen*. And I want it to happen at a relatively brisk pace, and take me out of the everyday world and draw me into another world so completely that I can't stop reading because I have to know what happens. And then, what happens next... and next... and... This book does that, and continued drawing me to the next book, and the next, and the next... well, you get the idea!
Of course, not everyone will love the same authors I love. Everybody has different tastes in plotting, characterization, pacing, level of detail, originality, and a zillion other things that go into making a book "right" for you. But Julie Czerneda's books are awesomely "right" for me.
As for A Thousand Words for Stranger? I admit my evaluation may have been influenced by the glow of later books in the series. As a first book, I'm sure there were hiccups in the pacing and plotting... but I can't remember them. I've read the whole series (so far, and am eagerly awaiting the final trilogy), so it's all tied together in my mind. I can say that both Sira and Morgan are the kind of characters I love to read about - not perfect, certainly not superhuman, but genuinely good people, with flaws and quirks and depths that make them feel like real people, doing their best to meet the challenges thrown at them. And there are many challenges - yet another criterion for my tastes. I prefer genre fiction for a reason: I'm not a big fan of character studies or "day in the life" novels. I want something to *happen*. And I want it to happen at a relatively brisk pace, and take me out of the everyday world and draw me into another world so completely that I can't stop reading because I have to know what happens. And then, what happens next... and next... and... This book does that, and continued drawing me to the next book, and the next, and the next... well, you get the idea!
November 16, 2007
This book would be greatly improved by less references to the captain's piercing blue eyes and more plot revelations. Isntead everything gets obliquely hinted at until the last twenty or so pages when everything is explained.
April 30, 2009
Well, I wrote an entire review for this � and one I was rather pleased with too � and then accidently overwrote the draft when I started typing up my notes for the book for my Spoilers, Notes and Theories blog. Here’s hoping I can remember enough to recreate something similar.
I first read Julie E. Czerneda’s A Thousand Words for Stranger (isn’t that such an evocative title?) several years ago, but unfortunately I remembered very little about it. In an effort to encourage myself to a reread, I kept nominating it for the SF read of the month at [Beyond_Reality:] and finally it got picked for February. It took me longer than I expected to read it � about a week � but it was because it was a detailed and somewhat complicated book, not because it was a bad one.
A young woman is travelling with an escort on the planet Auord when they are attacked and she escapes, fleeing into the rain. Memoryless, she finds herself driven by hidden compulsions to get herself off planet, preferably in the company of human spacer, Jason Morgan. So begins Sira’s journey to find out who she is, what has happened to her and why, and why she is being chased by multiple groups of people for a variety of inexplicable reasons. She and Morgan must face mysterious (and not-so mysterious) enemies as they find themselves caught up in an attempt by the humanoid but alien Clan to save themselves from extinction. They must also deal with space pirates, Trade Pact enforcers, a variety of Clansfolk with differing agendas and, just to make things more complicated, their own growing feelings for each other.
The above is a relatively straightforward description of what is actually quite a complicated book. Czerneda is a biologist and the central theme of this book is a biological “what if� that is explored in great detail, all while the novel masquerades as an action mystery with a hint of romance. Author John Scalzi hosts a regular feature on his blog, Whatever, where he asks authors to discuss the “big idea� behind their novels, and Czerneda’s contribution, which discusses the origins of the Clan, and with them, Sira and Morgan, can be found here. It’s an interesting read that intrigues without spoiling the books and it’s what encouraged me to reread A Thousand Words for Stranger.
The book is primarily written in first person POV, telling the tale through Sira’s eyes as she slowly gathers enough information and experience to find out who she is, what has happened to her and why. It is a good way to tell an amnesia story as the reader and the protagonist solve the mystery together. As well as Sira’s POV, the story includes interludes told is third person POV, which Czerneda uses to tell parts of the story where Sira is not present. This worked well for me as those little extra pieces put me, the reader, a slight step ahead of Sira. That meant that as she then discovered something new I had a little bit of extra information to help me make sense of it all. However, one of the members of [Beyond_Reality:] really disliked it and I got the impression it significantly spoiled the book for her because she felt it was a cheat on the author’s part. This is one of those things that is going to be very much a matter of personal taste.
Be warned that this is not a simple book. It’s not impossibly complicated � there are other SF books out there that have confused me much more than this one ever did � but you do have to pay attention and study the clues and explanations carefully if you want to fully understand Czerneda’s Clan and their problems. For all that I have a BSc(Hons) degree in chemistry and biochemistry, biology has never been one of my strong points. I never studied it at school (always planning to be a chemist) and had to play catch-up when I started my biochem papers to get some of the basic ideas down pat. (I’m a reactions and pathways girl and not into the squishy biology stuff.) All the same, I wanted to understand � so I took a lot of notes. Fortunately, I was reading this as an ebook and there are multiple bookmarks all through it as I highlighted passages that either seemed important or were confusing. (Those notes are over on my Spoilers, Notes and Theories blog.) By taking time to highlight text and then typing it out earlier today, I feel I do pretty much understand what was going on in the book. There are only two things I remain puzzled about and while one is a case of mild confusion (why is the Council’s last step in their plan to erase Sira’s mind to escape the “dictates of Choice�?), the other is something that I hope will be addressed in a later book (if Sira has given her Power-of-Choice to Morgan, how has and will that affect him?). But all in all, I feel Czerneda put in everything the reader needs to understand what is going on, and the degree to which one wants to understand determines how much work one needs to put into it.
This is a book about ideas (or perhaps more the ramifications of a particular idea) than it is a book about characterisation, but I still found the characters interesting and likeable. Sira and Morgan, as the main protagonists, are by far the most developed characters, while the more satellite characters are less rounded. Personally, I was reading the book for Sira, Morgan and the idea, so this worked fine for me. The others are sufficient for the tale that is being told and certainly don’t hurt it in any way. I very much liked the way Sira slowly found herself as the book progressed � and then discovered that the person she had been before was not someone she particularly liked. Her conflict at being two people, the now-Sira she has been since she lost her memory and the old-Sira who is a stranger to her, is nicely portrayed as is her journey from wanting to stay who she is now, even if that means not being a fully integrated person, to being ready to take the risk to become a third Sira who is a combination of the other two. While this is not really a book about identity, Sira’s struggles with these issues are nicely done.
I wasn’t until I read the author’s introduction to Ties of Power, the sequel to A Thousand Words for Stranger, that I realised we know very little about Morgan’s past beyond a vague reference to having made some bad choices. For all that, I got a solid feeling for his character and I like him a lot � which makes me look forward to Ties of Power all the more where Czerneda implies in the introduction that his past while be explored further. I’d particularly like to know what inspired him to paint most of his cabin with flora and fauna and when and how he discovered he had the talent to do so. (Me, I struggle with stick figures, so I appreciate how much talent is required to do something like that.)
Julie Czerneda is currently writing the third book in a trilogy about the Stratification, the time when the Clan spilt into those who could touch the M’hir, the main source of their power, and those who could not. Hints about this time are tossed out in A Thousand Words for Stranger, and knowing about the new trilogy, I made a point of taking notice of them. It looks like an interesting time and it should cover the origin of the biological impasse that is the crux of this book. After that, Czerneda plans to come full circle back to Sira and Moran and I guess/hope that she will come up with the solution to that issue. I’m looking forward to reading Ties of Power and I do hope that books continue to hold my interest as I like Sira and Morgan and the ideas Czerneda is exploring. If they do, there’s going to be a lot of good, biological SF in my future and that will be a good thing.
As I said right at the beginning, I do love the title of this book. There is something just so evocative about it. Everyone has become a stranger to Sira, and she says this to a woman who claims to be her sister. Rael replies:
There must be a thousand words for stranger in the explored galaxy. Let one of them be sister.
It doesn’t really mean anything special � or maybe it means everything � but I like it.
This isn’t the best SF novel I’ve ever read, but it is far, far from the worst as well. It was Czerneda’s first novel and I look forward to reading more of her work and seeing how it has developed in the years since A Thousand Words for Stranger was first published.
A Thousand Words for Stranger
Julie E. Czerneda
Trade Pact, Book 1
8/10
Notes for A Thousand Words for Stranger
Qualifies for: 100+ Reading Challenge, eBook Reading Challenge
Trade Pact:
A Thousand Words for Stranger
Ties of Power
To Trade the Stars
I first read Julie E. Czerneda’s A Thousand Words for Stranger (isn’t that such an evocative title?) several years ago, but unfortunately I remembered very little about it. In an effort to encourage myself to a reread, I kept nominating it for the SF read of the month at [Beyond_Reality:] and finally it got picked for February. It took me longer than I expected to read it � about a week � but it was because it was a detailed and somewhat complicated book, not because it was a bad one.
A young woman is travelling with an escort on the planet Auord when they are attacked and she escapes, fleeing into the rain. Memoryless, she finds herself driven by hidden compulsions to get herself off planet, preferably in the company of human spacer, Jason Morgan. So begins Sira’s journey to find out who she is, what has happened to her and why, and why she is being chased by multiple groups of people for a variety of inexplicable reasons. She and Morgan must face mysterious (and not-so mysterious) enemies as they find themselves caught up in an attempt by the humanoid but alien Clan to save themselves from extinction. They must also deal with space pirates, Trade Pact enforcers, a variety of Clansfolk with differing agendas and, just to make things more complicated, their own growing feelings for each other.
The above is a relatively straightforward description of what is actually quite a complicated book. Czerneda is a biologist and the central theme of this book is a biological “what if� that is explored in great detail, all while the novel masquerades as an action mystery with a hint of romance. Author John Scalzi hosts a regular feature on his blog, Whatever, where he asks authors to discuss the “big idea� behind their novels, and Czerneda’s contribution, which discusses the origins of the Clan, and with them, Sira and Morgan, can be found here. It’s an interesting read that intrigues without spoiling the books and it’s what encouraged me to reread A Thousand Words for Stranger.
The book is primarily written in first person POV, telling the tale through Sira’s eyes as she slowly gathers enough information and experience to find out who she is, what has happened to her and why. It is a good way to tell an amnesia story as the reader and the protagonist solve the mystery together. As well as Sira’s POV, the story includes interludes told is third person POV, which Czerneda uses to tell parts of the story where Sira is not present. This worked well for me as those little extra pieces put me, the reader, a slight step ahead of Sira. That meant that as she then discovered something new I had a little bit of extra information to help me make sense of it all. However, one of the members of [Beyond_Reality:] really disliked it and I got the impression it significantly spoiled the book for her because she felt it was a cheat on the author’s part. This is one of those things that is going to be very much a matter of personal taste.
Be warned that this is not a simple book. It’s not impossibly complicated � there are other SF books out there that have confused me much more than this one ever did � but you do have to pay attention and study the clues and explanations carefully if you want to fully understand Czerneda’s Clan and their problems. For all that I have a BSc(Hons) degree in chemistry and biochemistry, biology has never been one of my strong points. I never studied it at school (always planning to be a chemist) and had to play catch-up when I started my biochem papers to get some of the basic ideas down pat. (I’m a reactions and pathways girl and not into the squishy biology stuff.) All the same, I wanted to understand � so I took a lot of notes. Fortunately, I was reading this as an ebook and there are multiple bookmarks all through it as I highlighted passages that either seemed important or were confusing. (Those notes are over on my Spoilers, Notes and Theories blog.) By taking time to highlight text and then typing it out earlier today, I feel I do pretty much understand what was going on in the book. There are only two things I remain puzzled about and while one is a case of mild confusion (why is the Council’s last step in their plan to erase Sira’s mind to escape the “dictates of Choice�?), the other is something that I hope will be addressed in a later book (if Sira has given her Power-of-Choice to Morgan, how has and will that affect him?). But all in all, I feel Czerneda put in everything the reader needs to understand what is going on, and the degree to which one wants to understand determines how much work one needs to put into it.
This is a book about ideas (or perhaps more the ramifications of a particular idea) than it is a book about characterisation, but I still found the characters interesting and likeable. Sira and Morgan, as the main protagonists, are by far the most developed characters, while the more satellite characters are less rounded. Personally, I was reading the book for Sira, Morgan and the idea, so this worked fine for me. The others are sufficient for the tale that is being told and certainly don’t hurt it in any way. I very much liked the way Sira slowly found herself as the book progressed � and then discovered that the person she had been before was not someone she particularly liked. Her conflict at being two people, the now-Sira she has been since she lost her memory and the old-Sira who is a stranger to her, is nicely portrayed as is her journey from wanting to stay who she is now, even if that means not being a fully integrated person, to being ready to take the risk to become a third Sira who is a combination of the other two. While this is not really a book about identity, Sira’s struggles with these issues are nicely done.
I wasn’t until I read the author’s introduction to Ties of Power, the sequel to A Thousand Words for Stranger, that I realised we know very little about Morgan’s past beyond a vague reference to having made some bad choices. For all that, I got a solid feeling for his character and I like him a lot � which makes me look forward to Ties of Power all the more where Czerneda implies in the introduction that his past while be explored further. I’d particularly like to know what inspired him to paint most of his cabin with flora and fauna and when and how he discovered he had the talent to do so. (Me, I struggle with stick figures, so I appreciate how much talent is required to do something like that.)
Julie Czerneda is currently writing the third book in a trilogy about the Stratification, the time when the Clan spilt into those who could touch the M’hir, the main source of their power, and those who could not. Hints about this time are tossed out in A Thousand Words for Stranger, and knowing about the new trilogy, I made a point of taking notice of them. It looks like an interesting time and it should cover the origin of the biological impasse that is the crux of this book. After that, Czerneda plans to come full circle back to Sira and Moran and I guess/hope that she will come up with the solution to that issue. I’m looking forward to reading Ties of Power and I do hope that books continue to hold my interest as I like Sira and Morgan and the ideas Czerneda is exploring. If they do, there’s going to be a lot of good, biological SF in my future and that will be a good thing.
As I said right at the beginning, I do love the title of this book. There is something just so evocative about it. Everyone has become a stranger to Sira, and she says this to a woman who claims to be her sister. Rael replies:
There must be a thousand words for stranger in the explored galaxy. Let one of them be sister.
It doesn’t really mean anything special � or maybe it means everything � but I like it.
This isn’t the best SF novel I’ve ever read, but it is far, far from the worst as well. It was Czerneda’s first novel and I look forward to reading more of her work and seeing how it has developed in the years since A Thousand Words for Stranger was first published.
A Thousand Words for Stranger
Julie E. Czerneda
Trade Pact, Book 1
8/10
Notes for A Thousand Words for Stranger
Qualifies for: 100+ Reading Challenge, eBook Reading Challenge
Trade Pact:
A Thousand Words for Stranger
Ties of Power
To Trade the Stars
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 12, 2020
Mini-Review:
3.5 Stars for Narration by Allyson Johnson
4 Stars for Sira & Morgan
2 Stars for Story Development
Concepts were great but the actual storytelling was lacking. I liked the interactions between Morgan and Sira but there wasn't enough solid descriptions in the story to make it have color. It's like I got to know Sira & Morgan without knowing how either look or where they were. It's a big, blob of foggy gray. I'm listening to the audio and do not have the texture of words in print to add my own spin to visuals. Totally reliant on the words and how they are presented by author & narrator.
The first & last half of the book have extremely different writing styles & story narration. The book went from an "experience it from Sira's POV" to let me tell you everything you need to know info dumps.
I should have loved the book but it didn't really click for me. Not enough happened to validate the tail end of the story.
3.5 Stars for Narration by Allyson Johnson
4 Stars for Sira & Morgan
2 Stars for Story Development
Concepts were great but the actual storytelling was lacking. I liked the interactions between Morgan and Sira but there wasn't enough solid descriptions in the story to make it have color. It's like I got to know Sira & Morgan without knowing how either look or where they were. It's a big, blob of foggy gray. I'm listening to the audio and do not have the texture of words in print to add my own spin to visuals. Totally reliant on the words and how they are presented by author & narrator.
The first & last half of the book have extremely different writing styles & story narration. The book went from an "experience it from Sira's POV" to let me tell you everything you need to know info dumps.
I should have loved the book but it didn't really click for me. Not enough happened to validate the tail end of the story.
January 21, 2016
Abandoned after a few chapters. The prose is just not working for me... particularly it's not good enough to support a plot with both amnesia and teleportation.
Nice title, though.
Nice title, though.
January 18, 2025
A few days before I decided to read A Thousand Words for Stranger, I briefly wondered about all the former scientists who wrote science fiction, and how I hadn’t heard about any female scientists who did so. Imagine my delight when I found out that Julie Czerneda was a biologist.
The novel opens from the point-of-view of an avian alien, P’tr wit ‘Whix. The author’s attention to detail in regards to the intricacies of possible nonhumanoid people is immediately apparent, as is her dedication to a cosmopolitan future society, but not smothering in its detail. Each of them exhibit subtle differences in communication and outlook. That said, the novel is not hard sci-fi by any means, FTL travel and shipboard gravity are commonplace.
Shortly the reader is introduced to a young woman with severe amnesia as she runs from an unknown threat. She meets Captain Jason Morgan and invites herself onto his ship, and so begin their adventure of evading space pirates, the Trade Pact forces and the mysterious, telepathic Clan, while taking in the sights.
You know what? This is exactly what I had in mind when I said I wanted to read and like romantasy. Not that I’d know what the acceptable range for romance vs. story is for the genre, but in this novel at least, the two are quite interlinked. Czerneda is very good at slowly building a mystery, you’ll feel quite lost at first in the interludes appended to the ends of chapters, but they’re wonderfully intriguing in their own right. The politics between the Pact Enforcers and the Clan is complicated, Morgan’s presence makes it even more so . Sira’s troubles are revealed slowly, so the reader experiences her getting her bearings, sometimes without her volition as some key bit of her memory becomes unstuck, and her evaluation of Morgan changes from page to page. Morgan is just as lost as to what to make of her as he gets to know her, but it’s rather endearing—and believable--to watch him warm towards Sira. Parts of the narrative feel rather cosy as well, they take time to explore and relax in between the chase. She’s very enthusiastic to show us all the beauty and the strangeness she’s dreamed up. Hm, maybe it’s not quite right to call those lulls cosy, they’re... uh, lulls, in the action. As is typical in most other works.
The relationship between Sira and Morgan grows in importance and pagetime as the book crosses the halfway point, and the Clan’s secrecy and aminor rather major conspiracy come to the forefront. I’m guessing this is the point at which some readers will be turned off... but others will find the book sparks for them.
A few word choices I found to be a little awkward, like the naming of sentient species as “beings�, or the Mr or Ms replaced by Hom and Fem respectively, not that they affected my enjoyment. The same goes for all the talk of Choosers and Chosen and unChosen with the Clan, but I feel I can get used to these, given more depth. Another minor point is that the points-of-view in the interludes seem a little... wobbly? They sometimes appear to shift from one passage to the next. Ah well, they’re not as jarring as all that, seeing as how they’re very short. I don’t have much experience with older planetary romance, but I have a strong feeling that A Thousand Words for Stranger must read a bit like them. I was immediately and pleasantly reminded of Star Wars--not merely because the M'hiray are effectively a Jedi species--and certain episodes of Trek.
I will almost certainly continue the series (at my usual tortoise pace when it comes to series anyway) and I’ll be on the lookout for light adventure romances of the same calibre, this hit the mark perfectly.
The novel opens from the point-of-view of an avian alien, P’tr wit ‘Whix. The author’s attention to detail in regards to the intricacies of possible nonhumanoid people is immediately apparent, as is her dedication to a cosmopolitan future society, but not smothering in its detail. Each of them exhibit subtle differences in communication and outlook. That said, the novel is not hard sci-fi by any means, FTL travel and shipboard gravity are commonplace.
Shortly the reader is introduced to a young woman with severe amnesia as she runs from an unknown threat. She meets Captain Jason Morgan and invites herself onto his ship, and so begin their adventure of evading space pirates, the Trade Pact forces and the mysterious, telepathic Clan, while taking in the sights.
“I can’t possibly sleep and miss all this,� I told Morgan firmly. “How often in our level of civilization can life return to the primeval� fire against night demons—brain and brawn against the predators lurking in the dark?�
You know what? This is exactly what I had in mind when I said I wanted to read and like romantasy. Not that I’d know what the acceptable range for romance vs. story is for the genre, but in this novel at least, the two are quite interlinked. Czerneda is very good at slowly building a mystery, you’ll feel quite lost at first in the interludes appended to the ends of chapters, but they’re wonderfully intriguing in their own right. The politics between the Pact Enforcers and the Clan is complicated, Morgan’s presence makes it even more so . Sira’s troubles are revealed slowly, so the reader experiences her getting her bearings, sometimes without her volition as some key bit of her memory becomes unstuck, and her evaluation of Morgan changes from page to page. Morgan is just as lost as to what to make of her as he gets to know her, but it’s rather endearing—and believable--to watch him warm towards Sira. Parts of the narrative feel rather cosy as well, they take time to explore and relax in between the chase. She’s very enthusiastic to show us all the beauty and the strangeness she’s dreamed up. Hm, maybe it’s not quite right to call those lulls cosy, they’re... uh, lulls, in the action. As is typical in most other works.
I smiled to myself, gazing upward. True darkness hadn’t lasted long. Almost immediately, it had been broken by the opening of large, glowing white flowers suspended throughout the canopy overhead. The soft light of their petals attracted hapless flying things; once close, they were captured by tendrils dangling almost invisibly below. Although the thought of feasting plants bothered me at first, I admired the flowers.
The relationship between Sira and Morgan grows in importance and pagetime as the book crosses the halfway point, and the Clan’s secrecy and a
A few word choices I found to be a little awkward, like the naming of sentient species as “beings�, or the Mr or Ms replaced by Hom and Fem respectively, not that they affected my enjoyment. The same goes for all the talk of Choosers and Chosen and unChosen with the Clan, but I feel I can get used to these, given more depth. Another minor point is that the points-of-view in the interludes seem a little... wobbly? They sometimes appear to shift from one passage to the next. Ah well, they’re not as jarring as all that, seeing as how they’re very short. I don’t have much experience with older planetary romance, but I have a strong feeling that A Thousand Words for Stranger must read a bit like them. I was immediately and pleasantly reminded of Star Wars--not merely because the M'hiray are effectively a Jedi species--and certain episodes of Trek.
I will almost certainly continue the series (at my usual tortoise pace when it comes to series anyway) and I’ll be on the lookout for light adventure romances of the same calibre, this hit the mark perfectly.
February 3, 2020
“What’s been done to you wasn’t to help you. And what was blocked is much worse than losing your past. If you were once so powerful, so gifted� Sira, they’ve blinded and crippled you.� “I don’t feel blind or crippled. I feel sick. And I’m scared.�
Excellent science fiction. A non-Star Wars take on a Force-like power, those who can connect and the muggles. Most told from the point of view of a sort-of human character whose memory and abilities have been blocked. Through the story she must discover not only who she can trust but who she is.
“You have touched the M’hir. Part of our unconscious selves is always there, mingling on some level with all other living Clan, as the air on your ship moves in and out of all our bodies. The M’hir is inseparable from the Clan; it gives us abilities and strengths your species needs machines to accomplish. But the M’hir has also been a curse to some.� (AKA the Force)
Czerneda handled shifting point of view by casting the main story in first person and other characters� storylines in third. Well done. A dash of humor and romance.
“Morgan’s tanned, regular features assumed the almost angelic innocence I knew signified full-speed plotting.�
Few technical quibbles. Very little science in this science fiction. Most tropes are common to popular SF literature: faster than light travel, artificial gravity, ray-type weaponry. No light sabers.
‘Sira won’t be happy if she finds out she’s killed you.� “I won’t be too happy about that either.�
Excellent science fiction. A non-Star Wars take on a Force-like power, those who can connect and the muggles. Most told from the point of view of a sort-of human character whose memory and abilities have been blocked. Through the story she must discover not only who she can trust but who she is.
“You have touched the M’hir. Part of our unconscious selves is always there, mingling on some level with all other living Clan, as the air on your ship moves in and out of all our bodies. The M’hir is inseparable from the Clan; it gives us abilities and strengths your species needs machines to accomplish. But the M’hir has also been a curse to some.� (AKA the Force)
Czerneda handled shifting point of view by casting the main story in first person and other characters� storylines in third. Well done. A dash of humor and romance.
“Morgan’s tanned, regular features assumed the almost angelic innocence I knew signified full-speed plotting.�
Few technical quibbles. Very little science in this science fiction. Most tropes are common to popular SF literature: faster than light travel, artificial gravity, ray-type weaponry. No light sabers.
‘Sira won’t be happy if she finds out she’s killed you.� “I won’t be too happy about that either.�
May 8, 2016
This was not really what I expected. I expected a space opera in an SF world, I expected a little bit of cheesiness, and I expected a focus on characters over story - and I got all of that. I didn't expect, however, the fantasy elements, the incredible amount of cheesiness, and the excessive explanation of every character's motivations that contribute to one of the most convoluted plotlines I've ever read. I expected to love it, and I just didn't. I did get sucked in, I was invested in the story, cared about the characters, wanted to know how things would end up. But there were very noticeable rough patches that made it hard to get through.
There was a lot about this book that was frustrating. The pacing is first and foremost. So many goddamn things happen, and every moment is treated as if it's Incredibly Important and Crucial, which made the whole thing feel melodramatic and made it hard to tell when something ACTUALLY important was happening. There was a point where I thought the story was almost over - and then realized I was exactly halfway through and still had SO MUCH MORE to get through. There were too many villains, too many unnecessary journeys (why did they even need to stop on that planet where Morgan had a delivery? Nothing narratively important happened there that didn't happen elsewhere, too).
There was also the narrative devices - half the story, all of the "chapters," are first-person from Sira's perspective. The other half is made of "interludes" from an omniscient narrator from various characters' perspectives. I feel like in this case, less would have been more. We know way too much to keep the story interesting, while Sira knows too little. We're supposed to be invested in Sira finding out about her life and history but we already know all of the (very obvious) answers, so it doesn't really work. In general, I feel like we got all kinds of information way too many times; there was no subtlety. We get an explanation of Choosing several times, we get incessant descriptions of how Morgan and Sira feel for each other, we get long descriptions of how particular characters feel about things every time we visit those characters. Everything is overdone.
The relationship between Sira and Jason Morgan was inexplicable and overdramatic. I mean, I guess the eventual plot twist of the story explains why it happened so quickly, but there was no chemistry between them. Talking excessively about how it feels to touch hands or to see each other or to be around each other sounded super forced and not romantic at all - otherwise their relationship would have been right at home in a romance novel, because of the sappiness and artificiality of their interactions. And the rest of the characters were pale, underdeveloped shams.
Despite all that, I did kind of enjoy the plot. And the world-building was pretty good - I liked some of the details of the worlds, like the giant space station that's a mall, and there's at least an attempt at some sort of culture-building as well.
I will attempt to go through the plot, step by step, but I'm probably going to leave out a lot because so much happened.
The novel starts with the perspective of Terk, a non-human whose body seems to be chicken-like. He's a Trade Pact Enforcer, which deals with all off-world crime involving member species of the Trade Pact, and he's following two members of the Clan. Clan members look human, but have extraordinary telepathic ability - while some humans have telepathy, it's much rarer and much less strong than Clan telepathy. The Clan members are attacked; one gets away, the other is severely injured and Terk takes him into custody.
The one who got away is Sira, though she doesn't know it. Blocks have been put on her memories during travel to keep her safe. From what? We don't know yet. The one in custody is a relative of hers, Barac, who was her escort. Sira hears compelling voices in her head telling her to find a ship and get off the planet. She runs into a human, Captain Morgan (lol) who initially refuses to take her on. Barac pays Morgan a visit, as they happen to be friends, and tells him that he's looking for Sira. Sira, meanwhile, gets captured by a slaver named Roraqk and after some disorienting hijinks she escapes.
When Sira approaches Morgan again, he agrees to let her work as temporary crew until they get to another planet. He doesn't tell her what he knows about her - he suggests she goes by Sira, but doesn't tell her it's her own name, and she thinks she's human and he doesn't correct her. So Morgan and Sira leave the planet, but Barac - working begrudgingly with the Trade Pact Enforcers - follows. Oh, and Barac has also contacted Sira's sister, Rael, who is also there. Sira begins to learn how to be a crewperson on a ship, and very suddenly falls in love with Morgan, who gently rejects her advances. This is important, because Barac keeps talking about Choice, which is when female Clan choose their male partner - and apparently, if the female is much stronger than the male, he will die.
So anyone. Sira and Morgan land on a planet where Morgan is delivering technology parts to some local important guy. En route, though, Morgan gets a message from the lead Enforcer telling him to give Sira to said local important guy so the Enforcers/Barac can pick her up. I'm a little fuzzy on why he agrees to do this, since he's clearly very reluctant to give her up and wants to protect her. He get in trouble with some local priests, and Sira can somehow sense his danger, and she goes and rescues him - even after realizing he was going to turn her over. Then they discover that when they touch, Sira can kind of partially enter her head. Sira, who doesn't remember anything about anything, especially that telepathy exists, is very freaked out by this. Morgan kind of explains telepathy to her a little bit. I think this is the point where Rael kind of appears as a ghost and gives them a little more information, but I'm not sure. Morgan also reveals to Sira that he knows her memory has been blocked, and he knew all along that she was telepathic, and also that he was working with her family. But he doesn't tell her she's not human, apparently - I didn't even realize that until she later finds out and throws a fit about it. Anyway, he removes some of the blocks on her memory, so she starts remembering more, but gradually.
Then they go to a giant space mall, I think. Sira plans to leave him behind at some point because she's just a danger to him. Oh, also, they're kind of definitely in love at this point and consider each other family. He realizes she's going to leave and convinces her not to. Instead, they crash with his lobster-like friend at his restaurant for a few days. Then Sira decides to run away and promptly gets caught by Roraqk - that slaver who captured her like 150 pages before. He's discovered who she is and that there's a bounty on her from a bad guy whose name I cannot remember. At this point, I thought I was at the climax of the story - and then realized I was literally only halfway through. Morgan and lobster friend find Roraqk's ship (and Sira) and then Roraqk launches from the space mall station and takes off for the bad guy's planet. The Enforcers and Sira's family follow.
Morgan, Sira, and lobster manage to take over the ship and kill Roraqk - but one of the crew is taken over by the bad guy - who is, like Sira, a Clan member - sets the ship on course to the bad guy's planet, and destroys the control panels. Sira is rapidly getting better at telepathy. She calls on her sister and tells her the bad guy's name, and the sister freaks out because he's Clan and he's supposed to be dead and also very bad. Morgan, Sira, and Lobster decide to take escape pods down to the planet so they don't end up exactly where the bad guy expects. They don't quite land all together - Sira and Morgan are separated from Lobster. Then the bad guy kidnaps Morgan and Sira and Lobster rescue him, but that gets Sira trapped in the process. Then she escapes. Then she gets captured again, and finds out he means to make her Choose him - and if she doesn't, he'll just take her mind over and wipe it with his mind and use her body to make babies, because apparently Sira is the most powerful telepath ever produced by the Clan's selective breeding program.
Morgan teams up with Barac and everyone helps save Sira - and Sira, who was supposed to be in a state of Choosing, has suspended her Choice, which is something no one has ever done. She is not Chooser or Chosen (it doesn't make sense the women that have made their selections are called Chosen but w/e) so she has no Clan rights. She has to go back to the Clan now. So she does, and meets her father, who explains to her that she was the one who wanted her memory blocked, because she WANTED to go off and marry Jason Morgan, because the Clan Choosers were getting too powerful and would never find a suitable match that they wouldn't destroy. Why would it help to pair with humans who are a lot weaker? NO clue. At this point, Morgan has been sent off-planet but he turned right around to go rescue Sira (even though there was no indication she needed rescuing). Anyway, it turns out that the father, who was supposed to be on Sira's side, really just wants the same thing the bad guy wanted: he agrees with the council that if she can't find a match, they'll just wipe her and use her body to breed stronger people.
So Morgan shows up, I think Sira Chooses him, and they leave together. The end.
There was a lot about this book that was frustrating. The pacing is first and foremost. So many goddamn things happen, and every moment is treated as if it's Incredibly Important and Crucial, which made the whole thing feel melodramatic and made it hard to tell when something ACTUALLY important was happening. There was a point where I thought the story was almost over - and then realized I was exactly halfway through and still had SO MUCH MORE to get through. There were too many villains, too many unnecessary journeys (why did they even need to stop on that planet where Morgan had a delivery? Nothing narratively important happened there that didn't happen elsewhere, too).
There was also the narrative devices - half the story, all of the "chapters," are first-person from Sira's perspective. The other half is made of "interludes" from an omniscient narrator from various characters' perspectives. I feel like in this case, less would have been more. We know way too much to keep the story interesting, while Sira knows too little. We're supposed to be invested in Sira finding out about her life and history but we already know all of the (very obvious) answers, so it doesn't really work. In general, I feel like we got all kinds of information way too many times; there was no subtlety. We get an explanation of Choosing several times, we get incessant descriptions of how Morgan and Sira feel for each other, we get long descriptions of how particular characters feel about things every time we visit those characters. Everything is overdone.
The relationship between Sira and Jason Morgan was inexplicable and overdramatic. I mean, I guess the eventual plot twist of the story explains why it happened so quickly, but there was no chemistry between them. Talking excessively about how it feels to touch hands or to see each other or to be around each other sounded super forced and not romantic at all - otherwise their relationship would have been right at home in a romance novel, because of the sappiness and artificiality of their interactions. And the rest of the characters were pale, underdeveloped shams.
Despite all that, I did kind of enjoy the plot. And the world-building was pretty good - I liked some of the details of the worlds, like the giant space station that's a mall, and there's at least an attempt at some sort of culture-building as well.
I will attempt to go through the plot, step by step, but I'm probably going to leave out a lot because so much happened.
The novel starts with the perspective of Terk, a non-human whose body seems to be chicken-like. He's a Trade Pact Enforcer, which deals with all off-world crime involving member species of the Trade Pact, and he's following two members of the Clan. Clan members look human, but have extraordinary telepathic ability - while some humans have telepathy, it's much rarer and much less strong than Clan telepathy. The Clan members are attacked; one gets away, the other is severely injured and Terk takes him into custody.
The one who got away is Sira, though she doesn't know it. Blocks have been put on her memories during travel to keep her safe. From what? We don't know yet. The one in custody is a relative of hers, Barac, who was her escort. Sira hears compelling voices in her head telling her to find a ship and get off the planet. She runs into a human, Captain Morgan (lol) who initially refuses to take her on. Barac pays Morgan a visit, as they happen to be friends, and tells him that he's looking for Sira. Sira, meanwhile, gets captured by a slaver named Roraqk and after some disorienting hijinks she escapes.
When Sira approaches Morgan again, he agrees to let her work as temporary crew until they get to another planet. He doesn't tell her what he knows about her - he suggests she goes by Sira, but doesn't tell her it's her own name, and she thinks she's human and he doesn't correct her. So Morgan and Sira leave the planet, but Barac - working begrudgingly with the Trade Pact Enforcers - follows. Oh, and Barac has also contacted Sira's sister, Rael, who is also there. Sira begins to learn how to be a crewperson on a ship, and very suddenly falls in love with Morgan, who gently rejects her advances. This is important, because Barac keeps talking about Choice, which is when female Clan choose their male partner - and apparently, if the female is much stronger than the male, he will die.
So anyone. Sira and Morgan land on a planet where Morgan is delivering technology parts to some local important guy. En route, though, Morgan gets a message from the lead Enforcer telling him to give Sira to said local important guy so the Enforcers/Barac can pick her up. I'm a little fuzzy on why he agrees to do this, since he's clearly very reluctant to give her up and wants to protect her. He get in trouble with some local priests, and Sira can somehow sense his danger, and she goes and rescues him - even after realizing he was going to turn her over. Then they discover that when they touch, Sira can kind of partially enter her head. Sira, who doesn't remember anything about anything, especially that telepathy exists, is very freaked out by this. Morgan kind of explains telepathy to her a little bit. I think this is the point where Rael kind of appears as a ghost and gives them a little more information, but I'm not sure. Morgan also reveals to Sira that he knows her memory has been blocked, and he knew all along that she was telepathic, and also that he was working with her family. But he doesn't tell her she's not human, apparently - I didn't even realize that until she later finds out and throws a fit about it. Anyway, he removes some of the blocks on her memory, so she starts remembering more, but gradually.
Then they go to a giant space mall, I think. Sira plans to leave him behind at some point because she's just a danger to him. Oh, also, they're kind of definitely in love at this point and consider each other family. He realizes she's going to leave and convinces her not to. Instead, they crash with his lobster-like friend at his restaurant for a few days. Then Sira decides to run away and promptly gets caught by Roraqk - that slaver who captured her like 150 pages before. He's discovered who she is and that there's a bounty on her from a bad guy whose name I cannot remember. At this point, I thought I was at the climax of the story - and then realized I was literally only halfway through. Morgan and lobster friend find Roraqk's ship (and Sira) and then Roraqk launches from the space mall station and takes off for the bad guy's planet. The Enforcers and Sira's family follow.
Morgan, Sira, and lobster manage to take over the ship and kill Roraqk - but one of the crew is taken over by the bad guy - who is, like Sira, a Clan member - sets the ship on course to the bad guy's planet, and destroys the control panels. Sira is rapidly getting better at telepathy. She calls on her sister and tells her the bad guy's name, and the sister freaks out because he's Clan and he's supposed to be dead and also very bad. Morgan, Sira, and Lobster decide to take escape pods down to the planet so they don't end up exactly where the bad guy expects. They don't quite land all together - Sira and Morgan are separated from Lobster. Then the bad guy kidnaps Morgan and Sira and Lobster rescue him, but that gets Sira trapped in the process. Then she escapes. Then she gets captured again, and finds out he means to make her Choose him - and if she doesn't, he'll just take her mind over and wipe it with his mind and use her body to make babies, because apparently Sira is the most powerful telepath ever produced by the Clan's selective breeding program.
Morgan teams up with Barac and everyone helps save Sira - and Sira, who was supposed to be in a state of Choosing, has suspended her Choice, which is something no one has ever done. She is not Chooser or Chosen (it doesn't make sense the women that have made their selections are called Chosen but w/e) so she has no Clan rights. She has to go back to the Clan now. So she does, and meets her father, who explains to her that she was the one who wanted her memory blocked, because she WANTED to go off and marry Jason Morgan, because the Clan Choosers were getting too powerful and would never find a suitable match that they wouldn't destroy. Why would it help to pair with humans who are a lot weaker? NO clue. At this point, Morgan has been sent off-planet but he turned right around to go rescue Sira (even though there was no indication she needed rescuing). Anyway, it turns out that the father, who was supposed to be on Sira's side, really just wants the same thing the bad guy wanted: he agrees with the council that if she can't find a match, they'll just wipe her and use her body to breed stronger people.
So Morgan shows up, I think Sira Chooses him, and they leave together. The end.
October 22, 2021
EXACT RATING: 1.75 stars
I gave this book more than a fair chance. The cover makes it look like a sci-fi/fantasy/romance novel you’d buy at the airport, but I’ve read books like that before and enjoyed them.
There are a lot of things I disliked about this book, but first I’ll start with a few aspects that I did appreciate.
First, the first half of the story features what I’d consider pretty decent world-building. A universe featuring space pirates and an inter-species trade pact and a single species outside that governance with unique telepathic abilities. That’s a solid foundation.
Second, the first few chapters provide an intriguing setup. An assassination attempt, a stranded amnesiac with unusual powers. A handsome ship’s captain.
And third, I believe the author is at certain points attempting some kind of commentary on virginity as a social construct. It’s very unclear as to what exactly she’s trying to say, but the whole idea about “Choosers� and the “Unchosen� and these elaborate mating rituals…it could have gone somewhere interesting. But it never did.
Czerneda’s writing style was really bland. It reminded me of the worst parts of JK Rowling. Corny dialogue, vague descriptions, even poorly constructed sentences. One of the main characters is named “Jason Morgan�, and he is described as having “regular, tanned features.� Truthfully, I don’t think she ever described anything about Morgan besides saying “piercing blue eyes� 100 times. Even the characters you spend the most time with are extremely two-dimensional. The majority of the book is written from Sira’s perspective, but she has absolutely no agency. She is just swept along by forces outside her control. And the plot! I can deal with poorly-formed prose and even sub-par characterizations if the plot is engaging, but “Thousand Words for Stranger� spends way too much time with the characters hiding and talking or running away and talking or resting and talking.
I also HATED how every character had to finish every sentence by saying a descriptive word about the character they were talking to. It was constant!
“What are you doing here, Human?�
“Nice try, Clansman.�
“You’ll never harm her again, betrayer!�
Also, she had so little faith in the reader that she’d spend pages discussing something that I’d known for the whole book. What?? That character isn’t a human? But what does this mean? Of course they aren’t. It’s been obvious since we first met them.
And the book does this awfully disorienting thing of switching randomly between “Chapters� told in the first person, and “Interludes� told in the third person. I don’t understand why she made this choice. The only purpose of the interludes seemed to give the reader insight as to how other characters were feeling about Sira.
And often the dialogue just didn’t make sense. I’d often go back and re-read conversations multiple times but they would turn out to be kind of gibberish. Here’s a real example of a conversation between 3 characters:
Rael: “I’m so glad you’re alright, Sira!�
Barac: “Is she?�
Sira: “Shouldn’t I be the one asking that question, Barac?�
Barac: “My apologies, Chooser.�
Rarl: “How dare you speak in such a way, Unchosen!�
Barac: “Am I struck dead by your outrage, Clanswoman?�
And trust me, the context doesn’t help.
There was also this huge, important element to the story that the author really struggled to describe effectively. Many of the characters had telepathic abilities, and they would “battle� each other and could also “attack� characters who didn’t have these abilities. But the author never found a way to describe these moments in any kind of interesting way, at all. She would just say, “they struggled intensely with each other and felt each other’s power,� or “suddenly the pirate dropped dead, a victim of a mental attack.�
There were also a couple of shocking moments that were passed over by the author very quickly. I’ll describe only the worst one, with a r*pe trigger warning. So the book has an element of romance, although I personally was never able to buy into it. When this relationship is in its early stages, there are elements of telepathy and mind-sharing that are really confusing. Both to the characters and to the reader. At one point, the characters end up in the bedroom together, and I started to expect a love/sex scene of sorts, but instead the male character grabs the female character and she says “before the protest could leave my lips, his hand pressed into my forehead.� When she wakes up she says, “What did you do to me?� And he says “What I vowed I’d never do to anyone, but I had to, my trusting friend. And the real joke of it is that I found I wasn’t the first to rip my way through your mind without asking. Oh no, and that person did a much more thorough rape than I.�
And she feels very hurt and betrayed for a page or two, but then it’s never mentioned again and we’re supposed to root for their relationship which was at least partially “commenced� in this way.
Actually one of my favorite parts of the book was this section of 3-4 pages where the author tells you about the origins of this gigantic supermarket in space. About the woman who started it and all the difficulties she endured. And I kind of wish that’s the story she had chosen to tell.
I gave this book more than a fair chance. The cover makes it look like a sci-fi/fantasy/romance novel you’d buy at the airport, but I’ve read books like that before and enjoyed them.
There are a lot of things I disliked about this book, but first I’ll start with a few aspects that I did appreciate.
First, the first half of the story features what I’d consider pretty decent world-building. A universe featuring space pirates and an inter-species trade pact and a single species outside that governance with unique telepathic abilities. That’s a solid foundation.
Second, the first few chapters provide an intriguing setup. An assassination attempt, a stranded amnesiac with unusual powers. A handsome ship’s captain.
And third, I believe the author is at certain points attempting some kind of commentary on virginity as a social construct. It’s very unclear as to what exactly she’s trying to say, but the whole idea about “Choosers� and the “Unchosen� and these elaborate mating rituals…it could have gone somewhere interesting. But it never did.
Czerneda’s writing style was really bland. It reminded me of the worst parts of JK Rowling. Corny dialogue, vague descriptions, even poorly constructed sentences. One of the main characters is named “Jason Morgan�, and he is described as having “regular, tanned features.� Truthfully, I don’t think she ever described anything about Morgan besides saying “piercing blue eyes� 100 times. Even the characters you spend the most time with are extremely two-dimensional. The majority of the book is written from Sira’s perspective, but she has absolutely no agency. She is just swept along by forces outside her control. And the plot! I can deal with poorly-formed prose and even sub-par characterizations if the plot is engaging, but “Thousand Words for Stranger� spends way too much time with the characters hiding and talking or running away and talking or resting and talking.
I also HATED how every character had to finish every sentence by saying a descriptive word about the character they were talking to. It was constant!
“What are you doing here, Human?�
“Nice try, Clansman.�
“You’ll never harm her again, betrayer!�
Also, she had so little faith in the reader that she’d spend pages discussing something that I’d known for the whole book. What?? That character isn’t a human? But what does this mean? Of course they aren’t. It’s been obvious since we first met them.
And the book does this awfully disorienting thing of switching randomly between “Chapters� told in the first person, and “Interludes� told in the third person. I don’t understand why she made this choice. The only purpose of the interludes seemed to give the reader insight as to how other characters were feeling about Sira.
And often the dialogue just didn’t make sense. I’d often go back and re-read conversations multiple times but they would turn out to be kind of gibberish. Here’s a real example of a conversation between 3 characters:
Rael: “I’m so glad you’re alright, Sira!�
Barac: “Is she?�
Sira: “Shouldn’t I be the one asking that question, Barac?�
Barac: “My apologies, Chooser.�
Rarl: “How dare you speak in such a way, Unchosen!�
Barac: “Am I struck dead by your outrage, Clanswoman?�
And trust me, the context doesn’t help.
There was also this huge, important element to the story that the author really struggled to describe effectively. Many of the characters had telepathic abilities, and they would “battle� each other and could also “attack� characters who didn’t have these abilities. But the author never found a way to describe these moments in any kind of interesting way, at all. She would just say, “they struggled intensely with each other and felt each other’s power,� or “suddenly the pirate dropped dead, a victim of a mental attack.�
There were also a couple of shocking moments that were passed over by the author very quickly. I’ll describe only the worst one, with a r*pe trigger warning. So the book has an element of romance, although I personally was never able to buy into it. When this relationship is in its early stages, there are elements of telepathy and mind-sharing that are really confusing. Both to the characters and to the reader. At one point, the characters end up in the bedroom together, and I started to expect a love/sex scene of sorts, but instead the male character grabs the female character and she says “before the protest could leave my lips, his hand pressed into my forehead.� When she wakes up she says, “What did you do to me?� And he says “What I vowed I’d never do to anyone, but I had to, my trusting friend. And the real joke of it is that I found I wasn’t the first to rip my way through your mind without asking. Oh no, and that person did a much more thorough rape than I.�
And she feels very hurt and betrayed for a page or two, but then it’s never mentioned again and we’re supposed to root for their relationship which was at least partially “commenced� in this way.
Actually one of my favorite parts of the book was this section of 3-4 pages where the author tells you about the origins of this gigantic supermarket in space. About the woman who started it and all the difficulties she endured. And I kind of wish that’s the story she had chosen to tell.
June 21, 2011
This first novel opens with a classic situation, the main character's, a young nameless woman, amnesic. Fortunately, her POV is compensated by other characters that we follow.
I had a lot of difficulties to suspend my disbelief at characters who are not only telepaths, but who can also teleport themselves, or project their mind light-years away for a little chat...
The "of course" section:
1- Of course, there had to be limitations to those awesome powers: the main character is amnesiac, wears a dampening mental shield so she can't use those amazing powers. The reader, progresses along with her.
2- Of course: she is stalked by unknown enemies and must find help! Cue the ruggedgly handsome male character, a Hans Solo type who name her Sira.
3- AND of cooourse, Sira happens to be the most totally gifted powerful member of her species! Cue the arch-enemy who wants to mate with her.
I did enjoy the chase, the story has picked up the pace about half way, and (once the tele-everything premisses are accepted) is getting more entertaining. We see the characteristic voice of Czerneda emerging in witty descriptions of the various E-T encounters.
-------------en francais:
Une bonne aventure, mais des héroines télépathes ne sont plus ma tasse de thé depuis longtemps, i.e. depuis Marion Zimmer Bradley. Et quand en plus cette race peut se téléporter sur de grandes distances, voire même converser à travers des années-lumières...
Ca prend évidemment des limitations pour faire une intrigue, donc: l'héroine est amnésique et porte un "champ neutralisant" pour ne pas se servir de ssspouvoirs. Qu'elle va ré-apprendre à maitriser jusqu'a l'affrontement final, car il va y en avoir un.
Dans l'ensemble, une lecture satisfaisante une fois qu'on passe par-dessus les pouvoirs psy.
I had a lot of difficulties to suspend my disbelief at characters who are not only telepaths, but who can also teleport themselves, or project their mind light-years away for a little chat...
The "of course" section:
1- Of course, there had to be limitations to those awesome powers: the main character is amnesiac, wears a dampening mental shield so she can't use those amazing powers. The reader, progresses along with her.
2- Of course: she is stalked by unknown enemies and must find help! Cue the ruggedgly handsome male character, a Hans Solo type who name her Sira.
3- AND of cooourse, Sira happens to be the most totally gifted powerful member of her species! Cue the arch-enemy who wants to mate with her.
I did enjoy the chase, the story has picked up the pace about half way, and (once the tele-everything premisses are accepted) is getting more entertaining. We see the characteristic voice of Czerneda emerging in witty descriptions of the various E-T encounters.
-------------en francais:
Une bonne aventure, mais des héroines télépathes ne sont plus ma tasse de thé depuis longtemps, i.e. depuis Marion Zimmer Bradley. Et quand en plus cette race peut se téléporter sur de grandes distances, voire même converser à travers des années-lumières...
Ca prend évidemment des limitations pour faire une intrigue, donc: l'héroine est amnésique et porte un "champ neutralisant" pour ne pas se servir de ssspouvoirs. Qu'elle va ré-apprendre à maitriser jusqu'a l'affrontement final, car il va y en avoir un.
Dans l'ensemble, une lecture satisfaisante une fois qu'on passe par-dessus les pouvoirs psy.
July 21, 2017
That's a zero, not a one star. I do not even know where to start with discussing how bad this was - the whole plot could have fit into a short story? The characters were made of cardboard? And not even well cut cardboard, more like the kind of cut-out figures a kindergarten-child may make. The world was totally incoherent. The powers were conveniently made to fit the plot without any attempt to create something coherent. Insta-love, of course. Awful language, full with meaningless phrases.
I so wanted another female SF writer to love, but well ... Let's continue the search.
I so wanted another female SF writer to love, but well ... Let's continue the search.
October 23, 2016
What a wonder! Once you read an actual science fiction novel, I guess you can never go back. Once I used to dabble in light science fiction, and it's no wonder that people turn to these 400+ page tomes. There's really no comparison between this book (a debut novel) and books like Sirantha Jax. (Yes, I'm comparing Sirantha Jax again, just because the premise was so promising, the ratings are oh-so-deceivingly high, but the delivery, characters, and weak alien planets so incredibly disappointing and protocols beyond unrealistic.)
Meet Sira. She's human. Probably. She's lost her memory, and the entire universe is after her. She's pretty insignificant, so what gives? All she knows is a compulsion in her head that tells her to avoid the Enforcers (police/FBI), find a space ship, get off this planet (Aourd). She runs into Captain Morgan, a sympathetic human who nonetheless refuses to bring her on-board. Roraqk, a snake-like humanoid species with incredibly fast reflexes and disgustingly flexible limps, hisses out threats and kidnaps her with dire threats. Oh, and he also shoots to kill every other person on his own team that displeases him.
Here I must interject that my first impression of the inevitable romance between Sira and Captain Morgan was good. Having read many, many romances in my lifetime, the initial contact is what makes or breaks a plot. Here, we have two characters who are not particularly good-looking (what a first!) and Captain Morgan who is sympathetic but not falling head over heels and in fact, rejects helping her aside from giving her some money. A few chapters on, he's compelled to help her, but because his old-time Clansman friend appears to persuade him to do so.
I would separate this book into three distinct sections: (1) Sira's run from Aourd and finding out her abilities, (2) Sira's meeting with the evil villain behind it all, Yihtor, and (3) Sira's showdown with the Council. All three could honestly have been books of their own, but I appreciated that the author didn't try to stretch it out into a trilogy. This is a very meaty, plot-intense, action-packed, exciting suspenseful tale set in outer space, but underneath it all, of a woman on the run trying to find out what's in her past.
What really shines through the book is Czerneda's background as a biologist. Maybe I haven't read enough good science fiction, but I was entranced by her descriptions of various alien races, and lo and behold, they weren't all macho, masculine hotties. As Sira goes on the run, she travels from Aourd to three different planets and a marketplace station on an asteroid belt. The difference in settings are thrilling and full of life and culture. One planet is mud-bound and the natives are an amphibious humanoid race. Another race is primarily made of giant-eyed Turrneds, who are religious to the extreme. Even the marketplace station is given its own background, as a refinery that went bust and was remade into a giant, booming bazaar, where visitors are tagged at the entrance and billed for the air they breathe and given a colored tag to indicate their visa status.
What didn't work for me turned out to be a couple of things that really should have been picked up by the editor. One thing was the romance. Some reviewers got really annoyed by the mention of Captain Morgan's blue eyes, but in fact, he just annoyed me all over. He was kind of a nonentity, and his eyes, always shining with sympathy, got kind of old. He never explained anything to Sira, and that made him untrustworthy to the reader, even as he kept chanting, "Trust me." It seemed that the initial distance he kept between them and her infatuation should have kept them from each other, but somehow, in one bound, he suddenly was the one clinging to her. Kind of weird, really, but though the romance was a little the purpose of the story (because it propelled Sira into becoming who she was), luckily it failed to detract from the story.
Another issue I had was with how some scenes were a bit confusing. When Sira was running away from Roraqk, in one scene, suddenly "a knife appeared in the side of his neck," him being Roraqk's guard. I had to reread that paragraph five times, and I still could not, for the life of me figure out what that scene was saying. In fact, if anyone could explain it to me, I'd be much obliged. There were a couple of other scenes that I felt were rushed and therefore confusing.
My biggest issue, though, was the ending, which was the most confusing scene in the entire book. After all that we had sat through in Sira's trials and tribulations, I would have liked a little more explanation as to what happened in the final showdown in which Sira somehow lost her "power-of-choice," which somehow was hinted to have transferred to Morgan. Or was it? You see, she snarled something at the Council, and I know I'm supposed to read between the lines, but it's the conclusion, so a little more emphasis would have been nice. And the other villain turned out to her father? So he faked his death to them to give them a chance to run, but it was really so that the Council could catch them? You see my problem.
But as this was her debut novel, it really was quite a stunner. I would give it 4 stars, but because the inconclusive and slightly depressing note at the end really detracted from a pleasant aftertaste. So I subtracted a star. But this is still an author to be followed.
Meet Sira. She's human. Probably. She's lost her memory, and the entire universe is after her. She's pretty insignificant, so what gives? All she knows is a compulsion in her head that tells her to avoid the Enforcers (police/FBI), find a space ship, get off this planet (Aourd). She runs into Captain Morgan, a sympathetic human who nonetheless refuses to bring her on-board. Roraqk, a snake-like humanoid species with incredibly fast reflexes and disgustingly flexible limps, hisses out threats and kidnaps her with dire threats. Oh, and he also shoots to kill every other person on his own team that displeases him.
Here I must interject that my first impression of the inevitable romance between Sira and Captain Morgan was good. Having read many, many romances in my lifetime, the initial contact is what makes or breaks a plot. Here, we have two characters who are not particularly good-looking (what a first!) and Captain Morgan who is sympathetic but not falling head over heels and in fact, rejects helping her aside from giving her some money. A few chapters on, he's compelled to help her, but because his old-time Clansman friend appears to persuade him to do so.
I would separate this book into three distinct sections: (1) Sira's run from Aourd and finding out her abilities, (2) Sira's meeting with the evil villain behind it all, Yihtor, and (3) Sira's showdown with the Council. All three could honestly have been books of their own, but I appreciated that the author didn't try to stretch it out into a trilogy. This is a very meaty, plot-intense, action-packed, exciting suspenseful tale set in outer space, but underneath it all, of a woman on the run trying to find out what's in her past.
What really shines through the book is Czerneda's background as a biologist. Maybe I haven't read enough good science fiction, but I was entranced by her descriptions of various alien races, and lo and behold, they weren't all macho, masculine hotties. As Sira goes on the run, she travels from Aourd to three different planets and a marketplace station on an asteroid belt. The difference in settings are thrilling and full of life and culture. One planet is mud-bound and the natives are an amphibious humanoid race. Another race is primarily made of giant-eyed Turrneds, who are religious to the extreme. Even the marketplace station is given its own background, as a refinery that went bust and was remade into a giant, booming bazaar, where visitors are tagged at the entrance and billed for the air they breathe and given a colored tag to indicate their visa status.
What didn't work for me turned out to be a couple of things that really should have been picked up by the editor. One thing was the romance. Some reviewers got really annoyed by the mention of Captain Morgan's blue eyes, but in fact, he just annoyed me all over. He was kind of a nonentity, and his eyes, always shining with sympathy, got kind of old. He never explained anything to Sira, and that made him untrustworthy to the reader, even as he kept chanting, "Trust me." It seemed that the initial distance he kept between them and her infatuation should have kept them from each other, but somehow, in one bound, he suddenly was the one clinging to her. Kind of weird, really, but though the romance was a little the purpose of the story (because it propelled Sira into becoming who she was), luckily it failed to detract from the story.
Another issue I had was with how some scenes were a bit confusing. When Sira was running away from Roraqk, in one scene, suddenly "a knife appeared in the side of his neck," him being Roraqk's guard. I had to reread that paragraph five times, and I still could not, for the life of me figure out what that scene was saying. In fact, if anyone could explain it to me, I'd be much obliged. There were a couple of other scenes that I felt were rushed and therefore confusing.
My biggest issue, though, was the ending, which was the most confusing scene in the entire book. After all that we had sat through in Sira's trials and tribulations, I would have liked a little more explanation as to what happened in the final showdown in which Sira somehow lost her "power-of-choice," which somehow was hinted to have transferred to Morgan. Or was it? You see, she snarled something at the Council, and I know I'm supposed to read between the lines, but it's the conclusion, so a little more emphasis would have been nice. And the other villain turned out to her father? So he faked his death to them to give them a chance to run, but it was really so that the Council could catch them? You see my problem.
But as this was her debut novel, it really was quite a stunner. I would give it 4 stars, but because the inconclusive and slightly depressing note at the end really detracted from a pleasant aftertaste. So I subtracted a star. But this is still an author to be followed.
October 28, 2024
A bit more convoluted than necessary, which got in the way of forming strong attachments to characters. Still, a good first novel and I will probably explore other books from this universe. 3.5 stars
December 28, 2022
4 stars,
Summary
After an assault in which her companion was taken, a woman finds herself alone in a dark, dangerous city, with no memory of who she is or why she's there, only some vague compulsions pushing her to find a starship offworld. But finding the ship is only the first step; getting aboard is even harder.
Review
As with many, this is the book through which I first encountered Julie Czerneda’s writing, and now the start of the middle act of her trilogy of trilogies. Re-reading them now in chronological order, I’ve been very pleased to find I liked the prequel trilogy more than I recalled. It’s disappointing but perhaps not surprising that the converse is somewhat true for this first book. It has a lot of strengths, but its flaws are now more clear, and I’m spotting it part of a star for its initial impact. It’s still quite a good book, though, and I’ve not been sorry that it started me following Czerneda’s career.
I was surprised to find just how much of the M’hiray mythology is set out or hinted at in this first book. I don’t know whether Czerneda had it all planned out, or just faithfully followed her own trail. However, in some ways, this book really works better as a sequel, and I’m glad I decided to re-read the full saga in this order. It is, sadly, undermined by Czernada’s fumble of a transition between the Stratification trilogy (via an unsatisfying epilogue novelette in the last book) and this Trade Pact trilogy. That squandered a lot of what she had so carefully built up, and it’s tough to patch over what should have been a smooth bridge, even as relatives of some key characters turn up.
The book starts very well, but bogs down in its last third, rushing frenetically by one idea after another without making much progress. The end is rushed as well, and there’re quite a few threads left dangling. When I first read this, though, I was so taken with the novelty of the concept that I didn’t mind it, finding it more intriguing than frustrating. Either way, it’s still a good introduction to Czerneda. A fast paced, fun, romantic adventure.
Summary
After an assault in which her companion was taken, a woman finds herself alone in a dark, dangerous city, with no memory of who she is or why she's there, only some vague compulsions pushing her to find a starship offworld. But finding the ship is only the first step; getting aboard is even harder.
Review
As with many, this is the book through which I first encountered Julie Czerneda’s writing, and now the start of the middle act of her trilogy of trilogies. Re-reading them now in chronological order, I’ve been very pleased to find I liked the prequel trilogy more than I recalled. It’s disappointing but perhaps not surprising that the converse is somewhat true for this first book. It has a lot of strengths, but its flaws are now more clear, and I’m spotting it part of a star for its initial impact. It’s still quite a good book, though, and I’ve not been sorry that it started me following Czerneda’s career.
I was surprised to find just how much of the M’hiray mythology is set out or hinted at in this first book. I don’t know whether Czerneda had it all planned out, or just faithfully followed her own trail. However, in some ways, this book really works better as a sequel, and I’m glad I decided to re-read the full saga in this order. It is, sadly, undermined by Czernada’s fumble of a transition between the Stratification trilogy (via an unsatisfying epilogue novelette in the last book) and this Trade Pact trilogy. That squandered a lot of what she had so carefully built up, and it’s tough to patch over what should have been a smooth bridge, even as relatives of some key characters turn up.
The book starts very well, but bogs down in its last third, rushing frenetically by one idea after another without making much progress. The end is rushed as well, and there’re quite a few threads left dangling. When I first read this, though, I was so taken with the novelty of the concept that I didn’t mind it, finding it more intriguing than frustrating. Either way, it’s still a good introduction to Czerneda. A fast paced, fun, romantic adventure.
January 26, 2009
Julie E. Czernada is an author whose books I see on the science fiction/fantasy shelves all the time, yet I've never read any of them. "A Thousand Words for Stranger" was her first novel. While I liked it, I strongly suspect that I'm not going to remember much about it a month or two from now. It took about 100-150 pages for the story to start congealing into anything that made much sense. I really disliked how it jumped from the main chapters narrated by Sira to "interludes" told by an omniscient third-person narrator. The longer Czernada stuck with Sira's viewpoint, the more compelling the story was. I think she would have done better to have chosen one point of view and have stuck with it.
July 2, 2010
Based on Hannah's strong recommendation, shoving it into my hands and giving me that puppy dog look. Based on the two chapters I read last night this is space-opera-ish/romance-ish ... which I have no objection to at all. More later ...
UPDATE: Aaargh, having struggled (and I do mean struggled) through 150 pages of this book I am throwing in the towel. It is the author's first book and it shows in so many ways, beginning with predictability.
UPDATE: Aaargh, having struggled (and I do mean struggled) through 150 pages of this book I am throwing in the towel. It is the author's first book and it shows in so many ways, beginning with predictability.
April 2, 2017
I'm pretty sure I've read other books by this author. And I liked them. So I hunted down this, the first book. And it was pretty disappointing. The ideas were okay and the powers. And there were hints of interesting aliens. But in general the pace was plodding. And I just didn't care about the characters. I wanted to care. But I never learned enough of who the good guys were for that to happen. If this had been the first book I had read, I probably wouldn't have read the second.
June 4, 2020
A solid enjoyable sci fi book. My only complaint is that Morgan’s character wasn’t as completely developed as I would have liked. It made him a bit of a card board character. I did still enjoy the relationship between him and the heroine. The only other complaint I had was the ending was a bit too abrupt. This was my first book by this author. I liked it well enough to try more of her stuff..
October 9, 2007
I honestly never really could figure out quite what was going on in this book. It was difficult to read and difficult to follow.
January 16, 2019
Voice didn't work for me.
May 22, 2019
CW:
This review should perhaps be taken with a grain of salt, because I paid $9.99 for it and did not feel it was worth it. This feeling was heightened by the fact that I think I've read it before. (No actual spoilers, just a ramble about having possibly read the book before): Anyway, I think I was going to end up reading this book eventually because I just love the title, and that kept pulling me in.
I highly dislike plot-lines where the romances include some sort of "Choice" or "Chosen", especially when it is magically binding/the person is magically/psychically drawn to another person. To be fair, there is choice (sort of?) and this is part of the main conflict - overcoming this magical system that this species has used to select themselves into a corner.
This review should perhaps be taken with a grain of salt, because I paid $9.99 for it and did not feel it was worth it. This feeling was heightened by the fact that I think I've read it before. (No actual spoilers, just a ramble about having possibly read the book before): Anyway, I think I was going to end up reading this book eventually because I just love the title, and that kept pulling me in.
I highly dislike plot-lines where the romances include some sort of "Choice" or "Chosen", especially when it is magically binding/the person is magically/psychically drawn to another person. To be fair, there is choice (sort of?) and this is part of the main conflict - overcoming this magical system that this species has used to select themselves into a corner.
April 28, 2020
I'm glad I read this book after I read the prequel books (which were written later), because if I had started the series with this book, I wouldn't have kept going. I really, REALLY, reeeeally hate amnesia plotlines. They are so stagnant! A character has ZERO personality if their memories have been deleted. A protagonist with no motive or skill is a snoozefest.
It's like:
Sira: I don't understand what is happening!
Morgan: I will not tell her what is happening. She must figure it out for herself...
^ over, and over, and over again. And then, just when we see a ray of hope:
Random Person: Hey there, Sira! I can make your amnesia go away!
Sira: WHO ARE YOU??? I don't trust you! Don't you dare make my amnesia go away!!!
It's such a contrived plot device. It makes me want to strangle whoever invented the amnesia plot. Plus, who on earth would fall in love with someone with no memories? It's like falling in love with a baby. It's creepy, and it literally makes no sense! (side-eyes Stephenie Meyer)
It's like:
Sira: I don't understand what is happening!
Morgan: I will not tell her what is happening. She must figure it out for herself...
^ over, and over, and over again. And then, just when we see a ray of hope:
Random Person: Hey there, Sira! I can make your amnesia go away!
Sira: WHO ARE YOU??? I don't trust you! Don't you dare make my amnesia go away!!!
It's such a contrived plot device. It makes me want to strangle whoever invented the amnesia plot. Plus, who on earth would fall in love with someone with no memories? It's like falling in love with a baby. It's creepy, and it literally makes no sense! (side-eyes Stephenie Meyer)
July 7, 2024
Not quite 4 stars. I found myself rather confused in the beginning, but I liked the characters and the writing so I kept reading. I'm glad I did, although I might have liked it better if the world building had been done earlier in the book. Having said that, I look forward to the next book in the series.
July 27, 2013
The first time that I read A Thousand Words for Stranger, I was about middle school age. I was pulled in by the title, as I recall, and I loved the book! This was space opera before I knew what space opera was called, and all that I knew was that I loved it. The world of competing cultures and fantastical alien races gripped me thoroughly. I don't think that I finished the book, which is extremely rare for me (I can count on one hand the number of books that I've began but not finished in my life), but, on this recent second reading of the novel, I found that I eventually crossed a point beyond which I remembered nothing.
I also found that the book read quite differently over twenty years later.
I'll say up front, this is Czerneda's debut novel, and debut novels seldom carry the strengths of an author's later works. That disclaimer out of the way, what she does so strongly in this book is to create such a wildly imaginative world (that will be the basis for a series, the rest of which I own but have never gotten around to reading). In these pages you will find creative new aliens, worlds, and cultures, which are painted with prose that, while perhaps not literary genius, certainly has its flashes of brilliance. I had no difficulty soaking in the scenes that were being painted for me here, and, were I to identify a single strength of the author, this would be it.
The alien race with which we become most familiar is the Clan, a race that looks Human, but is a race of reclusive, arrogant, and very powerful telepaths, who consider themselves far above races without telepathic abilities. They look down on the use of technology, seeing it as a tool that inferior races use to place themselves onto somewhat equal footing with more advanced races. This is an interesting theme to develop in a science-fiction novel, that of technology being viewed as inferior to natural, organic abilities. Certainly, it's been done before, but Czerneda explores it well here.
The theme that she is exploring more than any other, though, is the power of choice, the fight to master one's own fate. Sira, our protagonist, wakes on a planet with no recollection of who she is, what she is doing...or of what she is capable. When she discovers the truth, finally won as she fights through webs of deception, she discovers that she has become someone entirely new during the journey, someone that she likes better. Will she be able to push back on the powers that seek to set her destiny for her and choose her own? Well, I'll avoid spoilers, but that should tempt you a bit.
The problem that glared at me reading this as an adult is how Czerneda flirts with a romantic sub-plot (pardon the pun). More than the simple issue that romance is not at all a genre that I read, is the issue that she introduces romantic elements, but never brings them to fruition. Romance is a key conflict for storytelling, but it must be permitted to run it's course once it has been introduced. Czerneda feels timid in writing this element, seeming to toy with the idea and then retreat, all while leaving us with about one hundred too many references to Morgan's blue eyes. Perhaps this was a plot point that she was coerced to emphasize beyond what she wished by an editor? In any case, it feels forced, and was distracting enough to pull me away from the story on many occasions.
When I initially placed this book on my Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ shelf, I rated it with five stars based entirely on my childhood recollection. Now, with much maturity between readings, that rating falls by two stars. I think that, if you're interested in reading a story with a very spectacular world, then you should give this a try. I think that the rest of the series will get better, and I hope to make time to read it soon.
I also found that the book read quite differently over twenty years later.
I'll say up front, this is Czerneda's debut novel, and debut novels seldom carry the strengths of an author's later works. That disclaimer out of the way, what she does so strongly in this book is to create such a wildly imaginative world (that will be the basis for a series, the rest of which I own but have never gotten around to reading). In these pages you will find creative new aliens, worlds, and cultures, which are painted with prose that, while perhaps not literary genius, certainly has its flashes of brilliance. I had no difficulty soaking in the scenes that were being painted for me here, and, were I to identify a single strength of the author, this would be it.
The alien race with which we become most familiar is the Clan, a race that looks Human, but is a race of reclusive, arrogant, and very powerful telepaths, who consider themselves far above races without telepathic abilities. They look down on the use of technology, seeing it as a tool that inferior races use to place themselves onto somewhat equal footing with more advanced races. This is an interesting theme to develop in a science-fiction novel, that of technology being viewed as inferior to natural, organic abilities. Certainly, it's been done before, but Czerneda explores it well here.
The theme that she is exploring more than any other, though, is the power of choice, the fight to master one's own fate. Sira, our protagonist, wakes on a planet with no recollection of who she is, what she is doing...or of what she is capable. When she discovers the truth, finally won as she fights through webs of deception, she discovers that she has become someone entirely new during the journey, someone that she likes better. Will she be able to push back on the powers that seek to set her destiny for her and choose her own? Well, I'll avoid spoilers, but that should tempt you a bit.
The problem that glared at me reading this as an adult is how Czerneda flirts with a romantic sub-plot (pardon the pun). More than the simple issue that romance is not at all a genre that I read, is the issue that she introduces romantic elements, but never brings them to fruition. Romance is a key conflict for storytelling, but it must be permitted to run it's course once it has been introduced. Czerneda feels timid in writing this element, seeming to toy with the idea and then retreat, all while leaving us with about one hundred too many references to Morgan's blue eyes. Perhaps this was a plot point that she was coerced to emphasize beyond what she wished by an editor? In any case, it feels forced, and was distracting enough to pull me away from the story on many occasions.
When I initially placed this book on my Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ shelf, I rated it with five stars based entirely on my childhood recollection. Now, with much maturity between readings, that rating falls by two stars. I think that, if you're interested in reading a story with a very spectacular world, then you should give this a try. I think that the rest of the series will get better, and I hope to make time to read it soon.
July 18, 2019
Fumbling but beautiful
August 3, 2008
The moment I finished Reap the Wild Wind, I had to immediately jump back to A Thousand Words for Stranger just to remind myself of what had been previously established about the Om'ray--and of course to re-read the story of Sira and Morgan, which was an excellent little love story in general.
Re-reading this, I'm amused to find that the book actually has a fairly small cast of main characters, despite being set in a starfaring society. The spacer Jason Morgan in particular is a hub of connections, and has had past dealings with the Clansman Barac, the Pact Enforcer Lydis Bowman, and the pirate Roraqk. There are even reasons that Sira seeks out Morgan in particular at the beginning of the story, despite her being amnesiac. This may make the plot a bit too close and convenient for some readers, though it didn't actually bother me; Czerneda has gotten better about this since this, her first novel.
It's particularly interesting, though, to re-read this book and see mentions of what's very likely to come in the Stratification series. That specific term is mentioned in this novel, as is the leaving of Sira's people from their original homeworld--and I further noted that Sira's people call themselves the M'hiray, and that they are a specific faction whose ancestors had begun to manifest much more power than the rest of their kind. And I was amused as well to see a character named Bowman here, because of Marcus Bowman in Reap the Wild Wind; that similarity of names can't be a coincidence, and I find myself wondering if Marcus is an ancestor of Lydia.
For me, though, as is the case every time I re-read this book, Sira and Morgan are the main attraction. The progression of their relationship from an infatuated fixation on Sira's part and reluctant compassion on Morgan's straight up to love on both their parts is fun. So is Morgan the human telepath holding his own against Sira's people.
Fun book all around! Five stars.
Re-reading this, I'm amused to find that the book actually has a fairly small cast of main characters, despite being set in a starfaring society. The spacer Jason Morgan in particular is a hub of connections, and has had past dealings with the Clansman Barac, the Pact Enforcer Lydis Bowman, and the pirate Roraqk. There are even reasons that Sira seeks out Morgan in particular at the beginning of the story, despite her being amnesiac. This may make the plot a bit too close and convenient for some readers, though it didn't actually bother me; Czerneda has gotten better about this since this, her first novel.
It's particularly interesting, though, to re-read this book and see mentions of what's very likely to come in the Stratification series. That specific term is mentioned in this novel, as is the leaving of Sira's people from their original homeworld--and I further noted that Sira's people call themselves the M'hiray, and that they are a specific faction whose ancestors had begun to manifest much more power than the rest of their kind. And I was amused as well to see a character named Bowman here, because of Marcus Bowman in Reap the Wild Wind; that similarity of names can't be a coincidence, and I find myself wondering if Marcus is an ancestor of Lydia.
For me, though, as is the case every time I re-read this book, Sira and Morgan are the main attraction. The progression of their relationship from an infatuated fixation on Sira's part and reluctant compassion on Morgan's straight up to love on both their parts is fun. So is Morgan the human telepath holding his own against Sira's people.
Fun book all around! Five stars.
October 28, 2016
A mysterious woman turns up on planet Auord with no idea of who she is or what she is doing there. All she knows is that she's driven by an inner compulsion to find an unnamed space ship, and leave the planet on it. And she is hunted, by pirates and worse. Why are the powerfully telepathic humanoids known as the Clan so interested in her, when they despise Humans so much? Will Captain Jason Morgan, who saves Sira from her immediate peril, prove to be a friend or a betrayer?
This is a compelling read, an original take on some familiar themes. It's a page-turning story underpinned by well-developed and complex political relationships. It has an intriguing cast of characters (not all humanoid). The central evolutionary premise of the book is also fascinating: what would happen if a race of beings became more powerful with every generation, but that very power reduced their chances of being able to find a mate? How could they avoid self-extinction?
It's not a flawless book: some of the plot twists are a little hard to follow, the story takes place in a rather unbelievably truncated timeframe, and the book's resolution is somewhat rushed and a bit confusing. The writing is usually reasonably clear and assured, particularly for a first novel, but some of the references become a little repetitive. However, I found it easy and a real pleasure to immerse myself in the world that Julie Czerneda has created.
I'm very glad that a friend recommended that I read this. It's going to prove expensive though. Although this story can happily stand alone, there are two subsequent books in the immediate Trade Pact series, and several others set in the same universe. I foresee many parcels winging their way to me from Amazon...
This is a compelling read, an original take on some familiar themes. It's a page-turning story underpinned by well-developed and complex political relationships. It has an intriguing cast of characters (not all humanoid). The central evolutionary premise of the book is also fascinating: what would happen if a race of beings became more powerful with every generation, but that very power reduced their chances of being able to find a mate? How could they avoid self-extinction?
It's not a flawless book: some of the plot twists are a little hard to follow, the story takes place in a rather unbelievably truncated timeframe, and the book's resolution is somewhat rushed and a bit confusing. The writing is usually reasonably clear and assured, particularly for a first novel, but some of the references become a little repetitive. However, I found it easy and a real pleasure to immerse myself in the world that Julie Czerneda has created.
I'm very glad that a friend recommended that I read this. It's going to prove expensive though. Although this story can happily stand alone, there are two subsequent books in the immediate Trade Pact series, and several others set in the same universe. I foresee many parcels winging their way to me from Amazon...
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