A Door Into Ocean (Elysium Cycle, #1) in Beyond Reality

Aug 11, 2022 DivaDiane SM rated it it was amazing

Shelves: borrowed, libby, science-fiction, audio, buddy-read-book-club-read

I have no idea why it took me so long to read this book. Probably because my eyes are bigger than my stomach and I am chronically over-booked. Yes, pun intended. I've had Daughter of Elysium on my Kindle for ages and heard about this book first from the Feminist Science Fiction, Fantasy and Utopian Book Club that I was a member of back around the turn of the century. But Daughter of Elysium is the second book in the series, so I was waiting for a good excuse to read Door. It was a planned buddy ...more

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May 28, 2012 Wealhtheow rated it liked it

Shelves: sci-fi, queer-characters

Shora is a world without land. The humans who colonized it chose to reshape themselves, instead of terraforming the planet. Sharers, as the descendents of the colonists call themselves, strive to live in balance with each other and their world. Although they have incredibly advanced biological science, they try to change as little as possible about the natural ecology of Shora, even though it means losing friends and loved ones to vast monsters that roam the ocean. Their highest goal is to stren Shora is a world without land. The humans who colonized it chose to reshape themselves, instead of terraforming the planet. Sharers, as the descendents of the colonists call themselves, strive to live in balance with each other and their world. Although they have incredibly advanced biological science, they try to change as little as possible about the natural ecology of Shora, even though it means losing friends and loved ones to vast monsters that roam the ocean. Their highest goal is to strengthen the ecological and social web that ties each creature to another. But they share their solar system with Valedon, a feudal, warlike world. And Valedon wants to expand its hold. Can the pacifists of Shora find a way to understand, and be understood by, their invaders?

I've seen other reviews that decry this book as gender-essentialist lesbian separatism, and I have to disagree. The Sharers are all female, and they are, as a group, very wise. But the book doesn't seem to present being wise as the natural extention of being an all-female society. The original colonists created a society that prizes consensus and pacifism, and those are the priorities they passed on to their descendents. There are many Sharers who are not wise in the least, who are hot-headed, blood-thirsty, or narrow-minded. The Valedon soldiers are male and female, and their chief torturer is a woman. And it's not like men are left out of the book--a male Valedon first learns from a wise (male) seer, then becomes a Sharer. We spend a large portion of the book inside his head, and much of the latter half inside another man's.

I really enjoyed reading the Sharers' struggles. They're incredibly inspirational, and I loved their society (even though I'd hate to live on their world). They refuse to do anything that might harm the Valedons (prefering civil disobedience), but the Valedons only value strength. It's fascinating conflict, but the resolution felt like a cop-out: (view spoiler) That aside, the societies Slonczewski create are engrossingly unique, and the conflict between them made me very tense and anxious. ...more

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Nov 29, 2009 Marisa rated it liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

Old feminist sci-fi. The basic idea is that at some point, safely prior to recorded history, a group of women genetically engineer themselves to be semi-aquatic so they can go live in naked peacefulness on a water planet and not talk to anyone else for 10,000 years, at which point, traditional society led by the Man has a run in with them.

I will give the author credit for trying to make the fish ladies complex and not gratuitously superior. The personal (which is political, natch) stories are d ...more

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Oct 05, 2009 Frank Taranto rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

A very good story about the interaction between a feminist water world and a patriarchal aggressive land world. I found the writing excellent and really enjoyed the story.

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