Denver Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club

THIS ALIEN SHORE
by
C.S. FRIEDMAN
This Alien Shore cover This Alien Shore (1998)
A New York Times Notable Book

DAW Books hardcover
(also available in paperback)
cover art by Michael Whelan
564 pages (left)		  
From inside flap of the hardback dust jacket:
        It is the second age of space colonization.  The first age, humanity's initial attempt to people the stars, ended in disaster when it was discovered that Earth's original superluminal drive did lasting genetic damage to all who used it -- permanently mutating Earth's far-flung colonists in mind and body.
       Abandoned by their home planet, exiles in alien star systems, these variant humans had no choice but to survive any way they could.
       Now, one of Earth's first colonies -- a world called Guera -- has given humanity back the stars.  But the new Outships can only be piloted by members of Guera's Outspace Guild, whose mysterious abilities allow them to monopolize galactic transportation, giving them control over all human commerce.
       Powerful companies from dozens of planets have tried to learn the secrets of the Guild, hoping to break the monopoly and topple Guera's stranglehold on the stars.  One of Guera's opponents has even launched a potentially deadly computer virus which could threaten the stability of humanity's interplanetary computer-linked civilization.  For to unseat the Guild could open the way to incalculable riches, and would be worth any risk.
       Jamisia has always lived in Shido Habitat, a corporate satellite in Earth's outer orbit.  She has no memories of her parents, but has been nurtured by the fatherly care of her tutor.  Protected by her biological brainware systems, and accompanied by the many voices in her head, she has grown into a resourceful, if unusual, young woman.  When Shido is viciously attacked by corporate raiders, Jamisia's tutor risks his life to smuggle her onto a ship bound for the nearest ainniq -- the Gueran jump station to the Up-and-Out.  But before he dies, he tells her something which rocks the foundation of her world -- the raiders were searching for her....

Read for group discussion on July 13, 2005
RATINGS:
How we each rated these books
Dan - Amy 8 stack of books 10   Wow! Don't miss it
8-9  Highly recommended
7    Recommended
5-6  Mild recommendation
3-4  Take your chances
1-2  Below average; skip it
0    Get out the flamethrower!
U    Unfinishable or unreadable
-    Skipped or no rating given
Cheri 8 Barb -
Aaron - Cynthia 8
Jackie - Ron 5
Christine - Deb 8
Mike 7 Stephanie 7
Gary 8 Patty 7.5
Bibliography:
C.S. Friedman (1957-    ) is a US writer of science fiction and fantasy.  The "C" in her name stands for Celia.

Braxi/Azea SF books:
-- In Conquest Born (1987), her first novel
-- The Wilding (2004)

Coldfire Trilogy:
-- Black Sun Rising (1991)
-- When True Night Falls (1993)
-- Crown of Shadows (1995)

The Magister Trilogy:
-- Feast of Souls (2007)
-- Wings of Wrath (forthcoming 2009)

Other science fiction books:
-- The Madness Season (1990)
-- This Alien Shore (1998)

Links:
Alien Shores: The Worlds of CS Friedman
C.S. Friedman - Wikipedia
The SF Site Featured Review: This Alien Shore

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 This page was last updated December 16, 2008