Karen Traviss Resident Scholar Profiles TOP SCHOLAR: Andrew Bendrien SCHOLARS:
Would you like to be a scholar and make five dollars per review?
Click here to submit a review!
Review Summaries
"
Eos, Feb 2004, 6.99, 406 pp.
ISBN 0060591695
Environmental Hazard Enforcement Officer Shan Frankland is looking forward to early retirement but Foreign Minister Perault gives her one last mission. A signal from the Constantine Colony was received and the authorities want to see for themselves if it is really suitable for the human race to reside there. Shan has a second mission, memory suppressed until she needs to know it.
When they arrive on Constantine, the colonists are not happy to greet them because they are there on sufferance. The planet belongs to an aquatic sentient species and is guarded by the Wess'har against the isenj who want to colonize Constantine. The major guardian is Aras, who is unique even among his own people, and finds in Shan a kindred spirit who has the same moral code that he abides by. When tragedy strikes, Aras is forced to break the rules of his own people to save Shan who might not thank him for her new life.
The world of Constantine is a fascinating one, a planet that four races have a stake in yet it only really belongs to the race that can't use any of “the land” mass but doesn't want humans polluting their pristine world or conquering it. Aras is there to make sure that does not happen but he is a very lonely person, isolated in many ways from his own kind and the original colonists on Constantine. Karen Travis is a talented storyteller and this reviewer would like to see more adventures starring Aras and Shan.
Harriet Klausner
"
Harriet Klausner, Resident Karen Traviss Scholar
Click above for the new Obama Girl Parody video!
Overall Review
Our unique search engine breaks down books and movies into
dozens of literary elements, all of which are searchable.
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 - 30% Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 20%
Tone of book
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION?
- science fiction story
Explore/1st contact/ enviro story
Yes
Plotlets:
- colonizing/homesteading another planet
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Cultural problems, alien culture
Yes
Culture clash-
- one culture tries to impose its culture on another group
Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Profession/status:
- government investigator
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 organization
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate 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 primitive/fantasy society
Planet outside solar system?
Yes
Style
Person?
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
How much dialogue?
- significantly more dialog than descript
TOP SCHOLAR: