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© 2002 Ernest Lilley / SFRevu |
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Trade the Stars by Julie
E. Czerneda What an enjoyable novel! If you’ve had enough of science fiction writers, trying to be clever and narrating what will happen to society if a small twist occurs (as I temporarily was), then this is definitely what the doctor ordered. Oh, the novel still has enough going on that you
won’t be bored, but the focus is on the adventure and not the whys and
wherefores. It’s a space adventure with aliens and a bit of mystery and
romance added for good measure and I’m glad. In a way, I’m also
relieved that I haven’t read the first two novels in the Trade
Pact Universe trilogy. I can find out how the story started with
just a quick trip to the bookstore. There’s no indeterminate number of
years as I await the next installment, like those who began with One
Thousand Words for a Stranger in 1997, or Ties of Power in 1999
and had to wait anxiously. To sum up what I gleaned, members of the Clan are
telepathic and communicate through the M’hir. They can make objects
appear and disappear into that realm or teleport themselves from one
planet to another. In the beginning of To Trade the Stars,
Sira is Joined to Jason Morgan, a Human. Sira’s Talent as a telepath is
of legendary proportions. However, Sira’s got a few holes in her memory
because her daring interspecies Joining was the first of its kind, and a
bit traumatic. Jason has his own conflict, and wants revenge on Ren Symon
an old friend who has turned into a hated enemy. Add in a little
intergalactic politics, as well as a few friends of different species and
the turmoil deepens. (My guilty pleasure was the Claws and Jaws
restaurant, though.) Comparisons to Star
Wars come to mind – Sira is a wise female in a diplomatic role
(like Princess Leia) and her husband is a trader with a spaceship (like
Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon). Combine that with a showdown on a
desert planet (Tatooine) and the likeness continues. However, to perform a
strict comparison would not do justice to the novel. Lucas might have his
mythic elements, but Czerneda has her craft and writer’s techniques to
lift her work up from the ordinary. There are writers choose not to develop their
characters and you can tell they just insert a hero or villain where
appropriate. However, Czerneda has created a cast and that gives the story
an added depth. Not only that, I chortled at the frustrations the
characters suffered. Every time they were close to achieving their goal,
Czerneda would prevent them from achievement and I felt giddy and uttered
a mental “take that” to the good guys. Another evidence of craft was
the way Czerneda would end a chapter with a thematic element or quote,
with one set of characters. Then she would pick up the same element or
reverse it in the next chapter with another set of characters that were
struggling with a different battle across the universe. This wove the
fabric of the different scenarios closer together. The last thing I noticed (and maybe I’m analyzing
too closely) was a peculiar passage. “The
Clan who remained there [on Acranam] still
preferred an ofttimes paralyzing form of group consensus. As a result,
they were agonizingly slow making decisions; once decided they could be
frustratingly stubborn.” I just found the comment close to how
Canadians sometimes view the American political structure, as careful
compromise can seem agonizing in comparison to swift decisions by the
party in power. I was recently exposed to Czerneda with her series of children’s sci fi anthologies from Trifolium that were constructed as part of a teaching resource for the classroom. Now to see her power as a writer of adult science fiction, my respect for her has doubled. Again, To Trade the Stars is a thoroughly enjoyable novel and I certainly wouldn’t trade any stars for my copy. |
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