Nicola Griffith
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By: Del Rey
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Subjects -> Science Fiction & Fantasy -> Authors, A-Z -> ( G ) -> Griffith, Nicola
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17
Average rating: 4.0 of 5
Something for everyone who likes science fiction 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 11 people found this review helpful.
This is a fantastic blend of lots of different science fiction elements: a quest story, a huge planetary landscape, anthropology, sociology, viruses and galactic political intrigue. It's populated by humans of all descriptions--flawed, complex, with good and bad intentions. It's a beautifully written book about people and how they respond to crisis and to change. I'm recommending it to all my friends and will definitely be looking for her other work.
An Interesting Mixture of Themes 4 out of 5 stars.
8 of 10 people found this review helpful.
Ammonite was an interesting blend of various themes, from the Wise Woman traditions to various concepts of hard SF. The basic premise, a personal awakening set within the backdrop of a women's only garden of eden, worked pretty well.
The text has many layers, and draws from many different sources. For example, Greek and Norse myth provide the plot, setting, and names and archetypes of the characters. A thorough critique of colonialism, militarization, globalization and corporate control are skillfully handled within this futuristic setting. Elements of the utopia theme of SF figure prominently in the story. New Age and eco-hip beliefs also find their way into the story, particularly in the heroine's ultimate choice of calling in life. Even the Garden of Eden (a planet where women can be womyn), complete with the Serpent(technology, or the cure to the virus), of biblical fame makes an appearance. These are but a few of the disparate ideas pulled into the story's orbit, and they work well here.
One element of the story, however, was weak. Spontaneous meiosis without a conjugating event is thoroughly unsupported by current science. This element of the storyline deviates significantly from the author's attempt to bring hard science to bear in making the story seem more real. The virus as vector (and possible conjugating element) would not be plausible, as viral genomes are way too small for such tasks. But this is a minor point, and in passing, much of the 'science' in SF classics we all know and love actually in many instances came to be realized. Still, female-only self-fertilization is an interesting idea, and may well be possible, if the gene jockeys can get around the self-imprinting problem.
I liked the story on the whole, and was surprised that someone could pull something this complicated off. The author even made the concept of Grrl Power interesting and viable. This book is a great entry in the SF genre.
Editorial Review:
In Ammonite, the 1994 James Tiptree Jr. Award winner, the attempts to colonize the planet Jeep have uncovered a selective virus that kills all men and all but a few women. The remaining women undergo changes that enable them to communicate with one another and the planet itself, and give to birth to healthy, genetically diverse children. Marguerite Angelica Taishan is an anthropologist who realizes this phenomena and makes the decision to give herself up to the planet to uncover its mysteries.
