Customer Reviews (1)

Beautiful Tale of Salvation Wrapped in Doomsday Aliens meet Small Town Pennsylvania
The Wall around Eden is a cautionary tale that illustrates consequences of human tendancies to solve problems through violence. Joan Slonczewski spins the tale at leisurely pace and develops the cast of characters to teach lessons of utmost importance that face human survival. As a lover of Science Fiction, this is a worthy gem to appreciate.

As a resident of Pennsylvania, this novel helps me appreciate the world view of the Quakers and the rationale of their practices. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is curious about the Quakers. Congratulations Joan on this masterpiece! ... Read more

Product Description
CONTENTS: ~ ~~ ~ SERIAL: Survival Instinct (Conclusion) [Edward M. Lerner]; NOVELETTES: Ineluctible [Robert J. Sawyer]; Truck Stop [Walter F. Cuirle]; SHORT STORIES: It's Only Human [Brian Plante]; Tower of Babel [Grey Rollins]; The Cat and the Pendulum [Kathy Oltion]; The Human Equations [Dave Creek]; ARTICLES: Stem Cells and Human Cloning [Joan Slonczewski]; Niven's Laws, 2002 [Larry Niven]; To Describe or Prescribe [Stanley Schmidt]; Biolog: Kathy Oltion [Jay Kay Klein]; Quark Stars [John G. Cramer] ... Read more

Product Description
The planet of Prokaryon is harshuninhabitable to normal humans, accessible only to those willing to be genetically altered, a painful process. It is the perfect site for a colony of orphans founded by Brother Rod. When Proteus Unlimited, a greedy corporation, reveals its plans to terraform Prokaryon, making it habitable to humans and thereby netting huge profits, the research for native life becomes a race against time. Lost in this shuffle of bureaucracy is this colony of orphans, which will be wiped out when the entire surface of the planet is boiled off. Will the hidden masters surface in time to save their planet? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

The title doesn't do the book justice
The Children Star turned out to be surprisingly engaging.It seems to straddle the target reader market of teenagers and adults.I liked the concepts presented concerning biology, but wish some of the other characters had more detail and development. The Elysium world that Joan Slonczewski created has interested me enough to look at other books from her.

This book just crossed my mind
I read this 10+ years ago when it was serialized in Analog.I kept reading month after month, mainly because I liked Brother Rod's story, where the rest of the universe didn't make the most sense. He realizes that he's changing, both spiritually and physically, and addresses these transitions well.I learned later, that this was the third in a series. One of these days, I'll find the other volumes and give them as shot.Maybe I'll be lucky enough to have them turn up as one of my buck-a-book finds.

Morality and Biology on Prokaryon
The Children Star tells the story of newly discovered planet from a both a biological and political perspective. The plot itself is surely one any sci-fi reader has read before, but its perspective and characters are original and thought-provoking, written with an eye for both the beautiful and ugly aspects of humanity.

Slonczewski portrays aspects of modern society as species of the "Fold", cleverly having them play out a modern day drama in the discovery of the new planet Prokaryon. The immortal Elysiums (the wealthy) in cahoots with the profit minded Proteus Corp. (big business) combine to find a new home for the overpopulated L'li that doesn't involve the refugees cluttering up the home world of the rich and powerful. These pathetic L'ils, like poverty stricken populations of our third world country, even take desperate treks through space on overcrowded starships to crash land on planets where they have no home, no money and no hope for survival. The fact that Prokaryon is already teeming with inhabitants, perhaps intelligence ones, does little to hinder the Fold's plan to create a new colony for the sick and poor. Money and influence quickly win and a tense struggle to save the indigenous species ensues.

This story unfolds around a religious colony struggling to co-exist with the planet, where young orphans live off the land, taken care of by sentient machines who have found their calling in the "Spirit". The author's play of species off species, including sentient machines that earn their freedom through consciousness and work furlough, was fascinating. While I just skimmed through the biology lecture sections of the book, I didn't feel that took away anything from the story, and some may find it enhances it for them. I haven't read the other books in the Elysium Cycle (Door into Ocean and Brain Plague) but I plan to now. I'm hoping they have less bizarre alien physiology and more inter-galactic policy.

Inventive science, difficult fiction
This science fiction novel, written by a biologist, gives us an unusually thorough description of an alternate biology.The flora and fauna of the imaginary world Prokaryon are intriguing, particularly when they begin to reveal a hidden intelligence.The visitors to Prokaryon are diverse, including different sorts of humans and intelligent machines, all communicating effortlessly with each other.Medical nanotechnology sends microscopic probes through bodies to remove unwanted organisms.Less inventive is the ubiquitous nanoplast, a substance that shapes and reshapes according to need but is never explained.Neutrinograms allow faster than light communication, another version of an old science fiction device.The densely written story, involving a large number of human and non-human characters, is laborious to read.Only dedicated science fiction fans will make it all the way through.

Fine environmental SF
The Children Star is a far future tale about the ethical problems involved in extending human civilization.Like Slonczewski's earlier novels Still Forms on Foxfield, A Door into Ocean andDaughter of Elysium, she takes on such accepted science fictional tropes asterraforming and weather control, opting for adjusting human biology forthe specific planet humans plan to settle.Unfortunately, this medicaltechnology is still in its infancy and those best suited for the processare infants because their body chemistry adjusts most quickly to theconditioning.Thus, the arsenic-based planet Prokaryon has been settled bya small colony of refugee orphans established by an ancient Holy Ordercalled the Spirit Callers.The orphans are cared for by Brother Rhodonite,once a professional soldier and two sentient robots, Reverend MotherArtemis, a nanoplastic nana with tentacles and multiple breasts and BrotherGeode, a six limbed, multicolored tarantula-like farm and mining machine. The characterization is well developed and believable. The plot revolvesaround an attempt by a corporate conglomerate to uproot the colony and burnoff the planet with a terraforming white hole.Fighting this project is ahardy band of environmentalists who want to protect the unique Prokaryonecosystem which is based on prokaryotes, or Cheerio-shaped chromosomes. Will the researchers be able to prove their claims of planetary sentiencebefore time runs out and the conglomerate is allowed to destroy theecoysystem?The story is exciting and Slonczewski, a workingmicrobiologist, has done an excellent job in developing the hard scientificbasis for her worldbuilding.Highly recommended for science fictionreaders and environmentalists. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Post Doomsday Quaker and Jewish lessons about compassion and stewardship
The Wall around Eden is a cautionary tale that illustrates consequences of human tendancies to solve problems through violence.Joan Slonczewski spins the tale at leisurely pace and develops the cast of characters to teach lessons of utmost importance that face human survival.As a lover of Science Fiction, this is a worthy gem to appreciate.

As a resident of Pennsylvania, this novel helps me appreciate the world view of the Quakers and the rationale of their practices.I highly recommend this book to anyone who is curious about the Quakers.Congratulations Joan on this masterpiece! ... Read more