| This early book of Niven is about a man, Matt Keller, a miner, who lives at Plateau - one of the colonies of the colonies far from Earth. The Plateau society is divided into 2 groups: The descendants of the commanding crew of the two original spaceships that arrived at first to Plateau, and the colonists, the descendants of the passengers of those ships. The latter are cruelly and shameleslly oppressed by the former (who basically control the planet), and are being killed and disassembled for minor crimes, to fill the "organ banks" of the planet. The story of Matt Keller begins actually when he is, without his knowledge, involved with a resistance group of the colonists. Later, he finds that he have strange, psyonic powers, which enable him to become invisible and sometimes more. He don't want to be involved in the story between the colonists and the crew members, but eventually he desides to use his power to help the resistance to discover a secret, a secret which might make the organ banks obsolete, and stop the oppresion of the colonists once and for all... | ||
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Plot & Themes FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story Repressive society story Yes Repressive because: Magical Beings/Mental/Magical/Powers Yes magical powers: Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Descript. of chases or violence - 20 % planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30 % Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 30 % Main Character Identity: - Male Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's If magical mental powers: - mind control - Invisibility Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 60's-90's Profession/status: How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount How sensitive is this character? Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters Setting Terrain Planet outside solar system? Yes Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths scientific jargon? (SF only) - a moderate amount of scientific explanation Sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - vague references only |
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