[BYA]⇒ PDF A Woman of the Iron People Eleanor Arnason 9780759224162 Books

A Woman of the Iron People Eleanor Arnason 9780759224162 Books

Download As PDF : A Woman of the Iron People Eleanor Arnason 9780759224162 Books

A Woman of the Iron People Eleanor Arnason 9780759224162 Books

I really like Eleanor Arnason's writing, which I first found in the "Chicks in Chainmail" series - not what you think ;-) But This was a disappointment. Inside is a first contact novel, with a fascinating alien culture, every character of which is interesting and fleshed out, quirks and all.

Surrounding that is a large amount of padding (dreams, stories - yes, this is an anthropological novel, but not an anthropology textbook) and every single human character is boring, stupid, arrogant, and full of themselves. It might have appeared to be a good idea to contrast the alien culture to humans who have swallowed the Kool-Aid of whatever ideology seemed cool at the time (and several of them are portrayed here), but it detracts from the novel because they are simply not appealing.

Perhaps I was especially let down because I had just finished reading her wonderful "Ring of Swords."


Tags : A Woman of the Iron People [Eleanor Arnason] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Lixia and the members of her human crew are determined not to disturb the life on the planet circling the Star Sigma Draconis which they have begun exploring. But the factions on the mother ship hovering above the planet may create an unintended chaos for both the life on the planet and the humans exploring it. As the anger increases on the ship,Eleanor Arnason,A Woman of the Iron People,e-reads.com,0759224161,Science Fiction - General,FICTION Science Fiction General,Fiction,Fiction - Science Fiction,Fiction-Science Fiction,GENERAL,Science Fiction

A Woman of the Iron People Eleanor Arnason 9780759224162 Books Reviews

This was a well written narrative showing none of the usual typos or grammatical horrors with several interesting characters, both human and alien. What was disconcerting was the abrupt ending. There really isn't much of a story arc here the story just stops. Obviously there is going to be a sequel but it was handled poorly so be prepared or it will be a bit off-putting. If you are not bothered by a meandering story line with no real resolution for any character then by all means read it.
I loved this book - its a fascinating take on the first contact narrative. The writing was excellent - the text reads like a set of field notes from an anthropologist but there are levels of meaning here in terms of the human condition - how we see ourselves and how we see others. Having myself lived in a number of different cultures this book really resonated. Cant recommend this highly enough. Personally I found it hard to put down. Only the second 5 star review I have given on reviews.
Rarely write reviews (and feel guilty about it, since I rely on others so much), so decided to review A Woman of the Iron People.

This will sound like hyperbole, but Ms. Arnason's writing style reminds me of Hemingway. Sparse, no long flowery descriptions, but she still puts you in the scene.

Character development is good, not great like U.K. LeGuin, but then there is only one UKL. I love Nancy Kress' characters (Beggars in Spain; Yesterday's Kin; Steal Across the Sky) and would rank Arnason at that level.

The storyline is original, engaging (I will let your read other reviews, all much better than mine, for plot details), which I always look for. As much as I love science fiction, sometimes they start to feel like the same book re-written with the names changed. Not this one. Novel, interesting.

A friend and I are always on the look out for what we call "literary science fiction", which makes us sound snobby (maybe we are about books, I guess), and I'm a tough grader for poor writing, regardless of how great the plot might be. Arnason is a good writer.

So, there, I reviewed a book!
A starship arrives at a planet after its journey from Earth. The four teams consisting of one woman and one man are star people from Earth. They who have come to explore the planet. Social scientists are sent to the surface to discover its people. The descriptions of the people from the starship and their interaction with the locals are kind and as non-interfering as possible. The star people find the locals live in towns populated of all women. They go through a period of fertility, mate with the roaming men, and when their children are born, teach the girls to be good mothers. They help the boys reach puberty and then send them on their way. They secure a territory, mate with women, during the time they are fertile. The spaceship people observe the society and find that they become part of the life of the people and are no longer "just" observers. Many discussions occur between the starship people and their colleagues about how their contact will change the natives.
Some women are comfortable traveling with the starship people and willing to introduce them to society. Others, in towns, are not so sure about the strangers.
About a quarter through this book, I was ready to discard it. But, something, perhaps its strangeness, kept me reading. I found I liked the strong women, those who ruled and those who lived alone. When the book ended, it didn't finish.
I'm looking forward to the sequel.
A realistic alien world, realistic aliens, fully rounded and conceived, and a space ship of socialists whose ideas have been overtaken in their original home. The customs and habits of the ironage people are truly fascinating, while the visitors from Earth are sensitive to the prospect of wrecking the society and world of the aliens they meet. So far so not entirely original, but what makes this book special is the absolute credibility of both aliens and visitors. No plagues, no disasters, no wars, no rapes, no collapse of social systems; just intelligent people on both sides trying to do what is best for both in the future. And plenty happens despite the lack of the usual adventure cliches. Actually quite a woman's book; and of its time (1991). More recently it has become the fashion to write about societies where women are dominant, and behave like men, in a bad sense; they treat men as objects and exploit them, they fight all the time, they have cruel societies. Heroic. I prefer this gentle, thoughtful, old fashioned way of feminist thinking. Maybe its futurology is out of date; the planet is not poisoned, socialism collapsed and was shown to be more polluting and careless in its resource use than capitalism. But that didn't affect the readability and interest of the book for me. I found Arnason through a short story in an anthology, and this on . Im not sure she has written anything else, but I hope to find out she has.
I really like Eleanor Arnason's writing, which I first found in the "Chicks in Chainmail" series - not what you think ;-) But This was a disappointment. Inside is a first contact novel, with a fascinating alien culture, every character of which is interesting and fleshed out, quirks and all.

Surrounding that is a large amount of padding (dreams, stories - yes, this is an anthropological novel, but not an anthropology textbook) and every single human character is boring, stupid, arrogant, and full of themselves. It might have appeared to be a good idea to contrast the alien culture to humans who have swallowed the Kool-Aid of whatever ideology seemed cool at the time (and several of them are portrayed here), but it detracts from the novel because they are simply not appealing.

Perhaps I was especially let down because I had just finished reading her wonderful "Ring of Swords."