…has popped up at the blog Bibliophagic. Brazilian blogger Adiel Mittman gives it four stars out of five (and says it reminded him of Asimov’s Foundation series!) but he does have some thoughtful caveats.
A few highlights:
This book is a good read. The author’s idea of translators is an interesting one…If translating between human languages is not easy, what can be said about translating between languages from different species?
…
When reading this book, more than once Asimov’s Foundation series came to mind. Asimov created the Mule, a man who had thought-projecting abilities, in order to insert an unpredictable element to stand in the way of the Foundation’s plans, and also described the people from the Second Foundation, who only communicate telepathically among themselves. I do not like the way telepathy has been used, both in Asimov’s Foundation series and in Willett’s book, because it seems to me that, if telepathy exists, then it is more interesting to explore it deeply than to have the story only scratch its surface….I think telepathy and thought projection are under-explored in this book.
The other similarity to Asimov’s work is that an impending war is suppressed because of religious authority here, too. In both cases, the evil plans of a military leader are frustrated because of a last-minute communication by a priest. In any case, I marvel at the their description of peoples/species who are both technologically advanced and religious. That almost convinces me that humans have always been and will always be religious.
Nice to see new readers still discovering my first adult SF book!
