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This playful work of ecological sf is considered a small classic. I read it years ago and was vaguely underwhelmed. I recently received a copy again (thanks Dan!) and re-read it. I’m still a bit underwhelmed.
The planet Mirabile is a couple generations into being colonized. The original colonists built species redundancy into their gene banks, so that nothing can ever go extinct: cows sometimes give birth to deer, which in turn breed true except for when they give birth to goats, etc. But as always occurs, something went wrong en route and a lot of information was lost, including the instructions for how to stop animals and plants from unexpectedly producing different species. There are also problems with mutants and chimeras (Dragon’s Teeth), and interactions with the local flora and fauna. It’s up to ecological troubleshooter Mama Jason (Jason is both name and job title) to sort things out.
This is a fix-it novel, based on a set of independent stories. In each story, an ecological problem comes up and Mama Jason either comes up with a solution or points out to people that the ecology is working just fine on its own. There’s a lot of cute names, like kangaroo rexes, odders, and tulip bats. It’s refreshing to see a middle-aged heroine. And the worldbuilding is fun.
My two big problems with the book were that most of the characters are barely characterized chess pieces to be moved around to make the ecological puzzles work, and that the ecological puzzles aren’t all that cool: a basic fire ecology with the twist of a plant that sets itself alight, several “you can’t kill that pesky creature because it’s eating another and even peskier creature/plant.”
Kagan was very talented and I wish she’d written more, but I like her Star Trek novel Uhura’s Song (which borders on original sf) best, and her linguistic sf novel Hellspark better.
Uhura's Song (Star Trek21)
Hellspark
Mirabile
The planet Mirabile is a couple generations into being colonized. The original colonists built species redundancy into their gene banks, so that nothing can ever go extinct: cows sometimes give birth to deer, which in turn breed true except for when they give birth to goats, etc. But as always occurs, something went wrong en route and a lot of information was lost, including the instructions for how to stop animals and plants from unexpectedly producing different species. There are also problems with mutants and chimeras (Dragon’s Teeth), and interactions with the local flora and fauna. It’s up to ecological troubleshooter Mama Jason (Jason is both name and job title) to sort things out.
This is a fix-it novel, based on a set of independent stories. In each story, an ecological problem comes up and Mama Jason either comes up with a solution or points out to people that the ecology is working just fine on its own. There’s a lot of cute names, like kangaroo rexes, odders, and tulip bats. It’s refreshing to see a middle-aged heroine. And the worldbuilding is fun.
My two big problems with the book were that most of the characters are barely characterized chess pieces to be moved around to make the ecological puzzles work, and that the ecological puzzles aren’t all that cool: a basic fire ecology with the twist of a plant that sets itself alight, several “you can’t kill that pesky creature because it’s eating another and even peskier creature/plant.”
Kagan was very talented and I wish she’d written more, but I like her Star Trek novel Uhura’s Song (which borders on original sf) best, and her linguistic sf novel Hellspark better.
Uhura's Song (Star Trek21)
Hellspark
Mirabile
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I think Hellspark also gains something from having the only real villain of her three novels. (The human antagonists in Mirabile aren't malicious enough to qualify.)
[1] Using a broad definition of "man" as "sapient being", particularly at Sector General....
[2] Though the second book of the three in the omnibus (Star Surgeon) definitely does have a "man vs. man" conflict.
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(Still, I love the evolution of (our understanding of) the Loch Moose Monster *grin*)
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I actually think some of the problems also appear to some extent in Uhura's Song. For one example, Kagan's tendency was to have problems vanish in the mist as soon as someone explained the situation rationally. This is refreshing to read about, given how many books rely on people acting irrationally by auctorial fiat to perpetuate simple problems, but it leads to less-than-gripping stories if not handled properly. For another, there's the instant-expert syndrome, where a character is introduced to a new thing and by the next day can use it to slice, dice, and make Julienne fries.
Both of these are present in Uhura's Song, but are mitigated by the fact that the characters are more interesting (Evan Hunter would have improved Mirabile no end) and by the fact that it's a normal novel, not a fix-up, so Kagan had to sustain some of the problems for the length of the novel rather than have them solved in a few pages.
Clearly I should read Hellspark given my interest in linguistics. As long as it's not based on strong Sapir-Whorf.
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---L.
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Oh yes, Uhura's Song
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