House of Reeds - Thomas Harlan Book Review

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"House of Reeds"
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Review Summaries

" Tor, Feb 2004, 25.95, 414 pp. ISBN: 0765301938 Xenoarcheologist Gretchen Anderssen looks forward to some well deserved R&R especially quality time with her children whom she has not seen in what seems like eons. However, at the space transport, she learns that the Company needs her and her team to take a short detour to investigate rumors of a possible major find of a First Sun artifact on the planet Jagan. Her Hesht companion Magdalena and her pilot David Parker feels they are being set up and their misgivings prove valid as the trio has landed in the middle of an armed conflict. The Méxicali has declared war on the Jehanan, assumed to have been native to Jagan by the Empire, to enable Tezozómoc, the Emperor's youngest son to taste blood. The dynamic threesome spend most of their time working to avert a war through political negotiations and discovering the secret to the HOUSE OF REEDS. This exciting sequel to WASTELAND OF FLINT provides further adventures of the Japanese-Aztec Méxicali Empire on numerous sentient species with the confrontation occurring on Jagan. The story line is character driven, but not just by the intrepid fully developed archeological trio as the secondary cast adds depth in terms of military, planetary history, and non-human intelligent races. Though some readers may find the military tactics quite lengthy (it is a military science fiction tale) fans will cherish this tale that brings alive the various races that populate Harlan's universe. Harriet Klausner"
Harriet Klausner, Resident Thomas Harlan Scholar

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Overall Review

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 10%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 10%

Tone of book - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story
Political power play Yes
Political plotlets - preventing/managing clash/war between govts/kingdoms
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book

Main Character
Identity: - Female
Profession/status: - champion of justice
Age: - 20's-30's
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - an entire race
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - an average amount
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Setting
A substantial portion of this book takes place on a non-Earth planetary body: - humans in a futuristic society
Planet outside solar system? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
scientific jargon? (SF only) - none/very little science jargon needed
How much dialogue? - significantly more dialog than descript

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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

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