The survival of the Navohar
colonists is more than a miracle. How they did it could be crucial to the
future of Earth.
Them’s good eatin’
Conventional wisdom holds
that most alien life will find Earth life inedible, but Bell reverses this.
Given a few years to adapt, alien viruses find humans delicious, which
has caused die-offs on all the colonies.
Meanwhile, Earth has a viral
problem of its own. Thanks to an unpleasant encounter with an alien race,
many of Earth’s children are dying of a virally-propagated genetic error,
and scientists have no idea how to cure it.
The settlers of Navohar suffered
from the same biological crisis as the other colony worlds, losing most
of their population to a deadly disease. Still, the colonists managed to
beat the rampaging virus somehow – but refuse to explain what happened.
What’s their secret? And
why are they so determined to hide it?
Problem planet
Bell frames the answers to
these questions in the viewpoint of Irene Olsen. An expert microbiologist
whose nephew is about to die of genetically engineered demyelination, she
has both the skills and motivation to attack this problem.
Naturally, Irene must pry
out the secrets of the entire planet to solve the mystery of the colonists’
survival. Bell does a good job with this classic science fiction structure,
presenting an interesting and consistent setting that features apelike
sentients, desert survival techniques and some alien "camels" that steal
every scene they’re in.
At times her ecological parallels
seem a little too down-to-Earth and familiar. The same could be said of
the plot, which has a couple of "surprises" that won’t surprise any experienced
SF reader.
Those are minor flaws, though.
Bell’s writing is lively and frequently very funny – especially in the
scenes with the camels, who are just as ornery and unpredictable as their
Earthly counterparts.
Truth and consequences
Beyond the humor, Navohar
is a study in responsibility and unintended consequences, and Irene
constantly struggles with them.
After she learns that the
colonists have good reasons for hiding their secrets, she faces a difficult
choice. By reporting her discoveries, she might be able to save her world
– but she’s certain to destroy their world in the process.
Bell doesn’t set up any easy
dilemmas. The complications of the story come from decisions made with
the best of intentions, even when those good intentions can lead to disaster.
One of Navohar's messages
is that sometimes you must make the best decision you can and live with
it. But the book also stresses that some mistakes are avoidable -- and
that when you’re messing with the complicated mechanisms of life, it pays
to think twice.
advertisement
