Humans colonized a planet and set up a kingdom. There are two other alien/mutant groups residing on the planet, one group has no will and since they don't care what they do, they're pretty much everybody's servants. The other race has all but died off and one wants to breed with the humans to keep the race alive. His mate of choice is a princess. Luckily for him he has mind control or something, otherwise he'd be hard pressed to get a beautiful young princess to even consider calling him on the phone, let alone accepting the role as the mother of his child. The princess, along with a motley crew of misfits including a fat chick/would-be assassin and a head in a jar, heads off in search of this alien/mutant, though she's not too keen on the idea of mating with it, she, like a cat in heat, just can't help herself. A thoroughly unfulfilling book, to say the least. While the majority of characters have moments where they are interesting and even likable, they are not strong enough to hold up the sex with alien/mutant creature plot and one had to wonder if Card originally had something better in mind and lost it somewhere, or if this was something he just threw together for some quick cash to sustain him while he was thinking up a story more meaningful and interesting. A terribel tragedy, unless your into that kind of thing. | ||
Plot & Themes Tone of book - suspenseful (sophisticated fear) FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story Explore/1st contact/ enviro story Yes Explore: Political power play Yes Political plotlets - overthrowing govt/kingdom Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Religious overtones? Yes Cultural problems, alien culture Yes Culture clash- - one culture tries to impose its culture on another group Descript. of chases or violence - 10 % planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30 % Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 20 % Main Character Identity: - Female Profession/status: Age: - a teen Main Adversary Identity: - Male Alien Age: - long-lived adults Has magical powers? Yes Magical/mental powers of main antagonist: - mind control How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - an average amount How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters Setting A substantial portion of this book takes place on a non-Earth planetary body: - humans in a futuristic society - inhabited by friendly aliens - unfriendly aliens Planet outside solar system? Yes Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment Sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - weird alien sex - main character impregnated against her will How much dialogue? - significantly more descript than dialog |