Well, no. I had forgotten most of it, as I had the others, so read it like new fiction. I remembered mainly that it had been a real challenge to write, because the protagonist had neither sight nor hearing, and I never did that again. I remember it was a love story between creatures who really had no future together. I remembered the human opening sequence, and the concluding sequence: love surprisingly fulfilled. But I discovered that within that framework I had one compelling narrative of alien adventure, replete with taut physical and intellectual challenges. And I think I like it more than the others, because for me it works better as a cohesive and ultimately satisfying story.
I did discover minor scanning errors, and some typos that carried through from the original text. One thing brought me up short: “Her and her concern for living creatures!” “Her” is the subject of a sentence? What was I thinking of? Shouldn't it be “she”? But the more I pondered, the more I realized it was correct. The subject is implied. It might have read “He was frustrated by her and her concern,” with the first four words covered by the preceding material.
The scanner had a problem with the three symbols on the Ancients' device: open circle, filled circle, and double-ended line. I struggled and found equivalent symbols to substitute. I suppose I could simply have described them, but I, being a visually oriented sapient, think actually seeing them has more impact.
I also noted how there was a planet orbiting a star and a black hole. I had that in my decades-later ChroMagic series, having forgotten its use here. But the treatment is different; no one tries to thread the needle in the other series. But I do keep finding myself treading on my own heels, as it were. Perhaps it is a liability of writing over a hundred novels. How many really new settings can a writer come up with?
The main challenge of presenting a main character without eyes or ears makes, I think, this novel unique among my works, and perhaps more widely. To have a romance between two quite dissimilar entities sharing a body is another challenge. I liked the scissors/paper/rock interaction of three species, and the realization that there were no good species and bad species; a seeming monster can become a worthy friend. I was also surprised and somewhat dismayed to discover how HydrOs reproduce. Yet all of it makes sense on its own terms.
I love this novel. I resolved long ago to be aware of my own powers of writing, so as to know when they fade, and not embarrass myself by writing lesser books in the twilight of my career. I have seen it happen with other writers. I'm not writing science fiction adventure at the moment, but this novel makes me wonder: if I did write more science fiction, could I match this level? I hope so, but I'm not sure.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1980 by Piers Anthony Jacob
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Thousandstar (#4 of the Cluster series) Page 32