Status
Available
Call number
Collections
Publication
Del Rey (1992), Edition: 1st, Mass Market Paperback, 360 pages
Description
Change or die: the only options available on the Durallium Company-owned planet GP. The planet's deadly virus had killed most of the original colonists-and changed the rest irrevocably. Centuries after the colony had lost touch with the rest of humanity, the Company returned to exploit GP, and its forces found themselves fighting for their lives. Afraid of spreading the virus, the Company had left its remaining employees in place, afraid and isolated from the natives. Then anthropologist Marghe Taishan arrived on GP, sent to test a new vaccine against the virus. As she risked death to uncover the natives' biological secret, she found that she, too, was changing, and realized that not only had she found a home on GP-she herself carried the seeds of its destruction . . .… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member SandDune
The planet of Jeep was settled hundreds, maybe thousands, of years ago, and then forgotten (never really explained why). But when it's rediscovered by representatives of the Company, who intend to exploit the planet's resources, the population is discovered to be wholly female. And after six months
Into this world comes Marghe, an anthropologist who has volunteered to test a vaccine against Jeep's virus. But her efforts to investigate some of the mysteries of Jeep's society goes horribly wrong as she is taken prisoner by the Echraidhe who live in one of the most hostile environments that Jeep has to offer. And back at the Company settlement Commander Danner must deal with her increasing suspicions that the Company's plans for Jeep do not include rescuing their stranded staff.
A fun book this, which deals with the creation of all female societies very well. It lost me a little bit towards the end as it seemed to be getting almost a little mystical at times (I prefer my science-fiction to be sciency), but a good read nonetheless.
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of so the new exploratory expedition discover the reason: one by one they start to develop an unknown disease which kills all the men, and nearly a quarter of the women, with the survivors unable to leave the planet as they remain infected by the virus. After five years for the survivors the situation remains almost unchanged: they remain isolated from the original inhabitants who they consider primitive 'natives'. And they still have no idea how those original inhabitants manage to have children.Into this world comes Marghe, an anthropologist who has volunteered to test a vaccine against Jeep's virus. But her efforts to investigate some of the mysteries of Jeep's society goes horribly wrong as she is taken prisoner by the Echraidhe who live in one of the most hostile environments that Jeep has to offer. And back at the Company settlement Commander Danner must deal with her increasing suspicions that the Company's plans for Jeep do not include rescuing their stranded staff.
A fun book this, which deals with the creation of all female societies very well. It lost me a little bit towards the end as it seemed to be getting almost a little mystical at times (I prefer my science-fiction to be sciency), but a good read nonetheless.
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LibraryThing member Fence
I’ve been meaning to read more by Nicola Griffith for a long while now. I loved Hild so much, and really enjoyed The Blue Place. This is Griffith’s first novel, a science fiction story set on a planet without men. And it is a really good book, the world building is great and the characters are
But she is also uncovering a lot about herself and her personal demons and fears.
If you like character driven stories then I would highly recommend this book.
It is also brilliantly written, almost straight from the first page I was engrossed and wanted to know more. More about the characters, more about the places, and more about the cultures and societies of Jeep and of the soldiers now trapped there.
I also wish Griffith had written a sequel or some sort of a follow up to this book. It ends with a resolution, but there are also a lot of unanswered questions and details I’d love to find out more about.
But there is lots we do find out about, maybe not the exact details, but the broad strokes. And we certainly learn a lot about the current circumstances on Jeep. The realities of living a life that is not working, how change is utterly necessary, but also feared by many. And with good cause, because change brings about the unknown, and who knows where that will lead.
It is also a book that I think would stand up well to a reread. There is a lot going on in it, and a reread might bring some more details to the fore. But I’ll have to get through Griffith’s other books before going back for a reread, if only I had more time…
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so so good. Marghe, one of the main protagonists, is an anthropologist, out investigating the societies that have evolved on the planet Jeep.But she is also uncovering a lot about herself and her personal demons and fears.
If you like character driven stories then I would highly recommend this book.
It is also brilliantly written, almost straight from the first page I was engrossed and wanted to know more. More about the characters, more about the places, and more about the cultures and societies of Jeep and of the soldiers now trapped there.
I also wish Griffith had written a sequel or some sort of a follow up to this book. It ends with a resolution, but there are also a lot of unanswered questions and details I’d love to find out more about.
But there is lots we do find out about, maybe not the exact details, but the broad strokes. And we certainly learn a lot about the current circumstances on Jeep. The realities of living a life that is not working, how change is utterly necessary, but also feared by many. And with good cause, because change brings about the unknown, and who knows where that will lead.
It is also a book that I think would stand up well to a reread. There is a lot going on in it, and a reread might bring some more details to the fore. But I’ll have to get through Griffith’s other books before going back for a reread, if only I had more time…
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LibraryThing member draconismoi
On Amazon I saw many reviews making a big deal that this book has no men. Gasp! The horror! I expected it to be a novel that played on gender roles, never used a singular pronoun - basically a giant mind fuck.
Oh wait. Right at the beginning. Virus kills all the men. Wow, that was sooo sneaky. So
It is a good novel about self discovery and identity - finding a home, building a society out of the ruins of the old. I enjoyed it immensely. The novel does lag in some areas, but the pace is exceptional in others.
Its a good story and you feel attached to the characters - just not the groundbreaking feminist discourse I was expecting.
Oh wait. Right at the beginning. Virus kills all the men. Wow, that was sooo sneaky. So
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there are no men. Get over it. Plenty of scifi in the world has no women. The plots move forward just fine.It is a good novel about self discovery and identity - finding a home, building a society out of the ruins of the old. I enjoyed it immensely. The novel does lag in some areas, but the pace is exceptional in others.
Its a good story and you feel attached to the characters - just not the groundbreaking feminist discourse I was expecting.
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LibraryThing member pwaites
Ammonite is a science fiction from the early 1990’s that takes place on an all female planet. I found the beginning very promising, but I ultimately wanted more from the book.
The planet of Jeep is home to a virus that kills all men and a large percentage of women. Centuries later, it has been
There was another plot thread in Ammonite following Hannah Danner, the commander of the Company forces. The Company (no other name given) hopes to colonize Jeep if the vaccination succeeds. However, Danner suspects that they will destroy their base if it doesn’t and abandon their employees on planet.
Initially, it seemed like this potential destruction would be a more driving force. However, the threat’s so vague that the tension eventually peters out. The pacing fell off dramatically by the final third of the book, after Marghe is no longer in a direct survival situation. It then focuses almost entirely on Marghe’s inner life. Unfortunately, I found Marghe really bland. None of the other characters were much better.
I also eventually realized that I’d seen this plot before in science fiction. Have you ever seen James Cameron’s Avatar? It’s usually what I use to describe this type of plotline. Protagonist from culture synonymous to our culture goes to native planet and leaves old life behind to follow native ways. The only big twist here was that the “alien” culture was all female. Ammonite was also very heavy on science fiction mysticism, which I can be ambivalent about. Sometimes it works, sometimes it just feels silly. This wasn’t one of the better usages I’ve seen, although to be honest I’m not sure how else I expected the “only women” aspect to be explained.
Obviously, the big draw of Ammonite is that it’s a feminist science fiction novel taking place on an all female planet. While I’m glad that it didn’t go down the “women are all peaceful nurturers in touch with nature” route, I didn’t find it’s examination of gender to go much beyond “women are people.” Yes, great. But I’m guessing that if you’re the sort of person who wants to read a feminist science fiction novel, you’re probably already on board with that message and are looking for something a bit more complex. To be fair, there were a few instances when Ammonite would mention words like “sailors,” and I would automatically picture men, so perhaps it is more relevant than I’m assuming here. It was written in the 90’s, so I really shouldn’t be expecting it to be up to date with feminism in 2016 (for instance, everyone was cisgender). However, it still ends up feeling dated.
In the end, I found Ammonite most relevant as a piece of genre history. There was some interesting thematic material about the need for change, but I have a hard time connecting to a book based purely on themes. I need some connection to either plot or characters, which I didn’t feel in Ammonite.
Review originally posted The Illustrated Page.
The planet of Jeep is home to a virus that kills all men and a large percentage of women. Centuries later, it has been
Show More
rediscovered by the greater world. Marghe Taishan is an anthropologist sent down to Jeep to learn about the women living there and to test a new vaccine. She also hopes to learn the answer to the greatest question of Jeep: how do these women reproduce?There was another plot thread in Ammonite following Hannah Danner, the commander of the Company forces. The Company (no other name given) hopes to colonize Jeep if the vaccination succeeds. However, Danner suspects that they will destroy their base if it doesn’t and abandon their employees on planet.
Initially, it seemed like this potential destruction would be a more driving force. However, the threat’s so vague that the tension eventually peters out. The pacing fell off dramatically by the final third of the book, after Marghe is no longer in a direct survival situation. It then focuses almost entirely on Marghe’s inner life. Unfortunately, I found Marghe really bland. None of the other characters were much better.
I also eventually realized that I’d seen this plot before in science fiction. Have you ever seen James Cameron’s Avatar? It’s usually what I use to describe this type of plotline. Protagonist from culture synonymous to our culture goes to native planet and leaves old life behind to follow native ways. The only big twist here was that the “alien” culture was all female. Ammonite was also very heavy on science fiction mysticism, which I can be ambivalent about. Sometimes it works, sometimes it just feels silly. This wasn’t one of the better usages I’ve seen, although to be honest I’m not sure how else I expected the “only women” aspect to be explained.
Obviously, the big draw of Ammonite is that it’s a feminist science fiction novel taking place on an all female planet. While I’m glad that it didn’t go down the “women are all peaceful nurturers in touch with nature” route, I didn’t find it’s examination of gender to go much beyond “women are people.” Yes, great. But I’m guessing that if you’re the sort of person who wants to read a feminist science fiction novel, you’re probably already on board with that message and are looking for something a bit more complex. To be fair, there were a few instances when Ammonite would mention words like “sailors,” and I would automatically picture men, so perhaps it is more relevant than I’m assuming here. It was written in the 90’s, so I really shouldn’t be expecting it to be up to date with feminism in 2016 (for instance, everyone was cisgender). However, it still ends up feeling dated.
In the end, I found Ammonite most relevant as a piece of genre history. There was some interesting thematic material about the need for change, but I have a hard time connecting to a book based purely on themes. I need some connection to either plot or characters, which I didn’t feel in Ammonite.
Review originally posted The Illustrated Page.
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LibraryThing member questbird
This is the second book I've read by Nicola Griffiths and I believe it is her first published novel. This one owes a huge debt to Ursula LeGuin's 'Left Hand of Darkness' and falls short of that work. There are some similarities between the works. In each, an anthropologist from a technologically
A mysterious virus has eliminated all men from the planet Jeep and Marghe has volunteered to test a vaccine against its effects. As in 'Left Hand of Darkness' a backup starship lurks in orbit, but on Jeep it is a warship waiting to destroy the station if the virus should ever escape the planet. A Company base, Port Central, exists on Jeep. The military women stationed there and the tribes of natives who live further away are incurious about each others' existence at the beginning of the novel. Gradually the Company women make efforts to integrate with the native population.
I had a few problems with some key features of the novel, which I'll try to outline without too many spoilers.
The vaccine
-----------
The virus kills 100% of males and 20% of females. So why is it a legitimate test of the vaccine to send a single female volunteer to the planet's surface? If the Company is as ruthless and mercenary as portrayed, wouldn't it not even blink at sending many volunteers and 'non-volunteers' down, male as well as female? The vaccine -- to a disease which has no known vector -- seems to have been developed by a single researcher on the station above Jeep. I understand that the vaccine ultimately represents a threat to the way of life of the women of Jeep, but it didn't seem to be deployed in any logical or clinical way. The vaccine was therefore a literary McGuffin.
Absence of males
----------------
Yes, I get it, it's an exploration of a world without males, and what sort of societies and cultures might flourish. And for the natives who have lived this way for thousands of years it makes sense that they would not miss or need males in their lives. But the Company troops who had male colleagues who died from the virus never mention or speak to a man in the entire book. The only personal relationships which exist for them are homosexual ones. It doesn't seem quite right to me that one's sexuality is determined by the company one keeps. Griffith's other work 'Slow River' more successfully achieves an absence of males and heterosexual relationships in a more successful way: simply by making the males irrelevant to that story. In Ammonite they are absent but *not* irrelevant, whatever the author's wishes: they are in the rest of the universe, waiting and plotting to get to Jeep.
Pregnancy and reproduction
--------------------------
This is a spoiler so I'll be cautious. Pregnancy occurs on this world whentwo female lovers achieve a meditative sympatico and mentally 'deepsearch' into their pasts, mentally stimulating each others' ova to divide and begin gestation . While this process of bodily control, like the prana-bindu of Frank Herbert's Bene Gesserit from 'Dune', is (ahem) conceivable, it seems unlikely to me that it could produce a viable population because all of the offspring would be clones of the mothers -- not implied in the book -- and that the process itself sounds complicated and possibly difficult to achieve for the average woman of Jeep.
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advanced space-faring civilisation descends alone to a wintery world inhabited by humans whose sexual and reproductive habits differ markedly from the general population. One important difference between the books is that anthropologist Marghe Taishan is working for a corrupt interstellar Company instead of a benevolent galactic hegemony.A mysterious virus has eliminated all men from the planet Jeep and Marghe has volunteered to test a vaccine against its effects. As in 'Left Hand of Darkness' a backup starship lurks in orbit, but on Jeep it is a warship waiting to destroy the station if the virus should ever escape the planet. A Company base, Port Central, exists on Jeep. The military women stationed there and the tribes of natives who live further away are incurious about each others' existence at the beginning of the novel. Gradually the Company women make efforts to integrate with the native population.
I had a few problems with some key features of the novel, which I'll try to outline without too many spoilers.
The vaccine
-----------
The virus kills 100% of males and 20% of females. So why is it a legitimate test of the vaccine to send a single female volunteer to the planet's surface? If the Company is as ruthless and mercenary as portrayed, wouldn't it not even blink at sending many volunteers and 'non-volunteers' down, male as well as female? The vaccine -- to a disease which has no known vector -- seems to have been developed by a single researcher on the station above Jeep. I understand that the vaccine ultimately represents a threat to the way of life of the women of Jeep, but it didn't seem to be deployed in any logical or clinical way. The vaccine was therefore a literary McGuffin.
Absence of males
----------------
Yes, I get it, it's an exploration of a world without males, and what sort of societies and cultures might flourish. And for the natives who have lived this way for thousands of years it makes sense that they would not miss or need males in their lives. But the Company troops who had male colleagues who died from the virus never mention or speak to a man in the entire book. The only personal relationships which exist for them are homosexual ones. It doesn't seem quite right to me that one's sexuality is determined by the company one keeps. Griffith's other work 'Slow River' more successfully achieves an absence of males and heterosexual relationships in a more successful way: simply by making the males irrelevant to that story. In Ammonite they are absent but *not* irrelevant, whatever the author's wishes: they are in the rest of the universe, waiting and plotting to get to Jeep.
Pregnancy and reproduction
--------------------------
This is a spoiler so I'll be cautious. Pregnancy occurs on this world when
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LibraryThing member mdbrady
Nicola Griffith’s Ammonite is a wonderful adventure novel, full of suspense and insight. It is my new, all-time favorite, women’s fantasy/scifi favorite.
The planet, Jeep, had been initially colonized by people from earth, but a deadly virus killed all the men and many of the women. Although no
Griffith is amazingly causal about the fact that the world she has created is totally without men. Women do absolutely everything. Nothing is ever said about allegedly female abilities. Lesbian passion is taken for granted. When Griffith writes about towns, all the people we see are women. The women are varied, physically and emotionally. Some have names that indicate racial diversity, but Griffith never pushes that point. Some individuals and even whole tribes are warped and dangerous. Violence and self-defense are definitely part of life, but they are seldom glorified. Hierarchy exists and tribal warfare takes place, but there is no permanent racial or class oppression. Men are simply not present or even discussed or blamed. If they may run the Company, they are never identified as doing so.
In her afterward, Griffith explains that she wants to show that women really are human.
I am tired of token women being strong in a man’s world by taking on male attributes…I am equally tired of women-only worlds where all the characters are wise, kind, beautiful, stern seven-foot vegetarian amazons who would never dream of killing anyone. I am tired of reading about aliens who are really women and women who are really aliens.
Women are not aliens. Take away men and we do not automatically loss our fire and intelligence and sex drive.
Yet in the end the book is a novel that “shows readers other ways to be…that takes them to other places where the air and temperature and myths are not the same.”
Griffith’s plot centers on change, the personal change Marghe and some of the other women undergo, and massive change being forced on all who live on the planet. In Girffith’s hands, change is not simple, pleasant growth but a frightening and dangerous process of letting loose of the known and moving into the unknown. Tension in the book comes from the need to deal with change. Women gain in self-reliance, but they are never in total control. The Company’s ability to destroy them all is ever-present.
As Marghe travels she is forced into dangerous situations and new understandings of who she is. The ammonite, a small stone image, comes to signify, for her, a new completeness. She had brought her own memories and ghosts to Jeep, but she also brought extensive training in yoga and meditation. Like the women of Jeep she can watch and control her own body processes. It’s not magic, but a level of self-control most of us can barely imagine.
Griffith is an excellent writer. The women in the book are surely drawn, yet flexible and able to develop and change. The scope of her vision makes it easy to accept minor discomforts.
I discovered this book on the list for the Gender in Fantasy and Science Fiction Challenge. It is an exciting book and one that I will be thinking about for a long time. Has Griffith really imagined a world that functions without social categories like gender, race and class? Is change really possible? Can the women survive in the future? Can we survive change?
This book gets my highest recommendation.
The planet, Jeep, had been initially colonized by people from earth, but a deadly virus killed all the men and many of the women. Although no
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cure or preventive had been found for the virus, those who survived were immune, empowered with new sensitivities and capable of reproducing without male involvement. After centuries, the Company, a profit-hungry, interplanetary organization, is again seeking to control the virus, figure out how the women on Jeep reproduce, and exploit the planet for their own gain. A small group of their employees, all women, live on Jeep in hopes of advancing these goals. As the book opens, Marghe, an anthropologist hired by the Company, arrives on the planet, testing a new vaccine. She travels beyond the boundary of the Company settlement and is caught up in a series of adventures that threaten her identity, her life and human life on the planet.Griffith is amazingly causal about the fact that the world she has created is totally without men. Women do absolutely everything. Nothing is ever said about allegedly female abilities. Lesbian passion is taken for granted. When Griffith writes about towns, all the people we see are women. The women are varied, physically and emotionally. Some have names that indicate racial diversity, but Griffith never pushes that point. Some individuals and even whole tribes are warped and dangerous. Violence and self-defense are definitely part of life, but they are seldom glorified. Hierarchy exists and tribal warfare takes place, but there is no permanent racial or class oppression. Men are simply not present or even discussed or blamed. If they may run the Company, they are never identified as doing so.
In her afterward, Griffith explains that she wants to show that women really are human.
I am tired of token women being strong in a man’s world by taking on male attributes…I am equally tired of women-only worlds where all the characters are wise, kind, beautiful, stern seven-foot vegetarian amazons who would never dream of killing anyone. I am tired of reading about aliens who are really women and women who are really aliens.
Women are not aliens. Take away men and we do not automatically loss our fire and intelligence and sex drive.
Yet in the end the book is a novel that “shows readers other ways to be…that takes them to other places where the air and temperature and myths are not the same.”
Griffith’s plot centers on change, the personal change Marghe and some of the other women undergo, and massive change being forced on all who live on the planet. In Girffith’s hands, change is not simple, pleasant growth but a frightening and dangerous process of letting loose of the known and moving into the unknown. Tension in the book comes from the need to deal with change. Women gain in self-reliance, but they are never in total control. The Company’s ability to destroy them all is ever-present.
As Marghe travels she is forced into dangerous situations and new understandings of who she is. The ammonite, a small stone image, comes to signify, for her, a new completeness. She had brought her own memories and ghosts to Jeep, but she also brought extensive training in yoga and meditation. Like the women of Jeep she can watch and control her own body processes. It’s not magic, but a level of self-control most of us can barely imagine.
Griffith is an excellent writer. The women in the book are surely drawn, yet flexible and able to develop and change. The scope of her vision makes it easy to accept minor discomforts.
I discovered this book on the list for the Gender in Fantasy and Science Fiction Challenge. It is an exciting book and one that I will be thinking about for a long time. Has Griffith really imagined a world that functions without social categories like gender, race and class? Is change really possible? Can the women survive in the future? Can we survive change?
This book gets my highest recommendation.
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LibraryThing member JeremyPreacher
Another entry in the sub-subgenre of all-female societies. It wasn't bad, but wasn't all that strong, either. The narrative was sort of all over the place - there was a shadowy threat that never got remotely addressed, and the actual events of the book seemed aimed at getting the main character
There's certainly a place for lesbian wish-fulfillment. It just doesn't make for stellar speculative fiction.
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laid. The lack of men was never actually examined - they all died from a virus that kills all males and some females - but the surviving women never so much as remark on the difference with no men around. It's really just lesbian wish-fulfillment (we can have a functioning society and have babies with each other!) There's certainly a place for lesbian wish-fulfillment. It just doesn't make for stellar speculative fiction.
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LibraryThing member sbarret
One of the more readable Griffith books. Some of her others are dark, but this one is ...less dark? ;-) Her writing is excellent and her characters intriguing. I'm not that fond of the female utopia concept, but I enjoyed this book.
LibraryThing member melsbks
After reading The Blue Place and falling in love with Griffith's descriptive writing, I started collecting her book. Ammonite was her first book and I loved how she handled the women only society with its multiple problems as they all learned to Change or Die on Jeep
LibraryThing member meghancochrane
Took me a while to get through it - a few years. I still remember parts of the story so that's good, right?
LibraryThing member macha
this was excellent. not so easy, i bet, to write a world with only women, especially with no tracts buried in it. got a few things to say, and the whole thing works, all the way through. gotta find more of her stuff - this is a first novel.
LibraryThing member PhoenixFalls
Damn this is a good book.
It's a first novel, and it has some of the weaknesses I associate with first novels: it jumps through time a lot, and those jumps aren't always telegraphed adequately; some of the descriptions, while each individually quite beautiful, ended up feeling repetitive when taken
Griffith's style is quietly exquisite, understatedly lyrical (in contrast to Catherynne M. Valente's muscular lyricism or Patricia A. McKillip's ornate lyricism or Peter S. Beagle's cooly intellectual lyricism)(and what is with my favorite authors and all their middle initials?) in ways that seem all the more surprising because this is a science fiction novel rather than a fantasy novel. This is Griffith's description of Marghe's landing on GP:
The doors cracked open and leaked in light like pale grapefruit squeezings, making the artificial illumination in the gig seem suddenly thick and dim.
Jeep light.
Wind swept dark tatters across a sky rippling with cloud like a well-muscled torso, bringing with it the smell of dust and grass and a sweetness she could not identify. . . She sniffed, trying to equate the spicy sweet smell on the wind to something she knew: nutmeg, sun on beetle wings, the wild smell of heather.
Okay, so maybe that passage wasn't so understated. I delight in that sort of passage in fantasy novels, where I expect magic; I delighted in it in Griffith's Slow River, which is SF but in the more "realist" vein, practically Mundane SF. Here, in this near-planetary romance, it took me aback as it should not have, and I am grateful to Griffith for reminding me that there can be so much beauty in the alien.
Part of the reason Jeep is so beautiful (in a stark fashion) is that we see it mostly through Marghe's perspective, and Marghe is a woman deeply attuned to both the world around her and to her own body. She looks outward and inward, and Griffith paints that dual focus with an incredible eye to detail that made the book startlingly visceral. I have been thinking lately about (female) SFF characters' relationships with their bodies, and the way that Marghe is so firmly sited within hers made the beatings, the starvation, and the sex come alive on the page. (Also it really sends the message: Jeep's a tough place!) The way that that character trait completely informs the way Marghe reacts to and advances the plot is just another sign of Griffith's immense skill as a storyteller.
But the thing I am most struck by is how perfectly the jacket description captures this book -- it is a book all about change. It's about characters changing, and it's about societies changing, and it's about the way those changes amplify or counteract each other, and then it's about everything changing again. It's not a book for people who like tight plots where every question raised is answered by the finale -- the finale just raises more questions about the future of the characters and the world. Instead it's a book for people who like history, who like to explore the hidden ways the past shapes the present and who are drawn to those turning points where the smallest decisions by individuals have the power to dramatically alter the fates of whole societies.
It's a first novel, and it has some of the weaknesses I associate with first novels: it jumps through time a lot, and those jumps aren't always telegraphed adequately; some of the descriptions, while each individually quite beautiful, ended up feeling repetitive when taken
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as a whole. But most impressively, it already displays a great deal of the maturity and style that I loved in Slow River. Even in this first novel, Griffith's voice is assured, her characters are well-drawn, and her themes are delicately presented yet rigorously worked out.Griffith's style is quietly exquisite, understatedly lyrical (in contrast to Catherynne M. Valente's muscular lyricism or Patricia A. McKillip's ornate lyricism or Peter S. Beagle's cooly intellectual lyricism)(and what is with my favorite authors and all their middle initials?) in ways that seem all the more surprising because this is a science fiction novel rather than a fantasy novel. This is Griffith's description of Marghe's landing on GP:
The doors cracked open and leaked in light like pale grapefruit squeezings, making the artificial illumination in the gig seem suddenly thick and dim.
Jeep light.
Wind swept dark tatters across a sky rippling with cloud like a well-muscled torso, bringing with it the smell of dust and grass and a sweetness she could not identify. . . She sniffed, trying to equate the spicy sweet smell on the wind to something she knew: nutmeg, sun on beetle wings, the wild smell of heather.
Okay, so maybe that passage wasn't so understated. I delight in that sort of passage in fantasy novels, where I expect magic; I delighted in it in Griffith's Slow River, which is SF but in the more "realist" vein, practically Mundane SF. Here, in this near-planetary romance, it took me aback as it should not have, and I am grateful to Griffith for reminding me that there can be so much beauty in the alien.
Part of the reason Jeep is so beautiful (in a stark fashion) is that we see it mostly through Marghe's perspective, and Marghe is a woman deeply attuned to both the world around her and to her own body. She looks outward and inward, and Griffith paints that dual focus with an incredible eye to detail that made the book startlingly visceral. I have been thinking lately about (female) SFF characters' relationships with their bodies, and the way that Marghe is so firmly sited within hers made the beatings, the starvation, and the sex come alive on the page. (Also it really sends the message: Jeep's a tough place!) The way that that character trait completely informs the way Marghe reacts to and advances the plot is just another sign of Griffith's immense skill as a storyteller.
But the thing I am most struck by is how perfectly the jacket description captures this book -- it is a book all about change. It's about characters changing, and it's about societies changing, and it's about the way those changes amplify or counteract each other, and then it's about everything changing again. It's not a book for people who like tight plots where every question raised is answered by the finale -- the finale just raises more questions about the future of the characters and the world. Instead it's a book for people who like history, who like to explore the hidden ways the past shapes the present and who are drawn to those turning points where the smallest decisions by individuals have the power to dramatically alter the fates of whole societies.
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LibraryThing member KarenIrelandPhillips
This isn't really a "lesbian" book, in my humble opinion. The circumstances under which the main character 'becomes' a lesbian is less about her personal sexuality than about discovery and a kind of synthesis with the planet itself.
Other than that quibble, I love this book. The plot is engaging,
Other than that quibble, I love this book. The plot is engaging,
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the atmosphere sufficiently alien, the characters thoroughly human. Show Less
LibraryThing member satyridae
Very solid first novel from Griffith, whom I adore. It's interesting to go backwards and read this now that she's got several more books out- one notices some themes and tropes that will recur in a more mature and polished fashion. Griffith's characters are real and fully-fleshed. Her world is
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expansive and believable. I think if I had not read her later work, I'd give this one 4 stars. Show Less
LibraryThing member bunwat
I really enjoyed this. One of the several reasons I enjoyed it is, as other reviewers here have also noted, that although the planet in this story is a planet of all women, its not a planet of all cliches about women. The people in this tale are first and primarily people, not gender caricatures,
Another thing I enjoy very much is the main character. Although quite a few reviewers said they found it difficult to like or connect with her, I liked her very much. The physicality and sensuality with which she experiences the world, the way she feels the wind and smells the scents and hears the sounds and tastes the salt of the ocean on her lips, that I relate to. The discipline with which she accepts reversals and difficulties, that I aspire to. So I feel at home with her and she's a good guide for me into this strange world.
The world itself is a pretty fascinating place as well and her quest within it is not a quest for a sword or a hidden treasure or a lost princess. Its a quest for the understanding to find her right place and her right work in the world. So just as I feel at home with the character, I feel right on board with her quest as well. Which makes for happy reading for this particular individual.
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and I appreciate that quite a lot.Another thing I enjoy very much is the main character. Although quite a few reviewers said they found it difficult to like or connect with her, I liked her very much. The physicality and sensuality with which she experiences the world, the way she feels the wind and smells the scents and hears the sounds and tastes the salt of the ocean on her lips, that I relate to. The discipline with which she accepts reversals and difficulties, that I aspire to. So I feel at home with her and she's a good guide for me into this strange world.
The world itself is a pretty fascinating place as well and her quest within it is not a quest for a sword or a hidden treasure or a lost princess. Its a quest for the understanding to find her right place and her right work in the world. So just as I feel at home with the character, I feel right on board with her quest as well. Which makes for happy reading for this particular individual.
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LibraryThing member EBT1002
I enjoyed this good, solid novel by Seattle-based Nicola Griffith. It's Science Fiction in that it is set on another world far into the future, but this is a very character-driven narrative. Our heroine, Marghe, arrives on the planet knowing she will be infected by a deadly virus. She has with her
Still, this is an enjoyable and engaging story, the characters (all female, but not dying out, which I hope makes you curious) are likable, and Griffith does some interesting and subtle things with gender. I hope more readers discover this author's work.
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a limited supply of an experimental vaccine that will allow her to explore the communities on the planet while learning whether the vaccine works. It does work (that's no spoiler; this is obvious early on) and then all the fantastical futuristic novelties fade into the background while we travel with Marghe. We travel inward with her while we explore the strange societies with whom she interacts. At times, this novel felt like a tribute to the author's therapist. Marghe's self-discovery and her progress toward allowing herself to be fully herself is, I know, a profound journey. But Griffith feeds it to us a bit too directly, which lost her half a star. Still, this is an enjoyable and engaging story, the characters (all female, but not dying out, which I hope makes you curious) are likable, and Griffith does some interesting and subtle things with gender. I hope more readers discover this author's work.
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LibraryThing member maybedog
Griffith wrote one of my favorite books so I was disappointed when I didn't care for this. It was well written but it was too much like primitive sf which I don't care for, and the messages just felt too obvious too me which hampered my enjoyment of the story.
LibraryThing member zjakkelien
I really liked Ammonite. I think mostly because is has a good world and because I liked its pacing. It tells the story of Marghe, a scientist who goes to visit the world Jeep. Jeep was colonized a few hundred years ago and then forgotten. When Company sends a new exploratory team, they all get
Marghe is not the most open or accessible person, but she is likable nonetheless. Her contacts with the natives are the most interesting and so are her experiences with the virus. Through her eyes, you get to know the world, which is wilder than most of us are used to. For me, it was rather startling sometimes to realize all the characters are women. I like that no fuss is made about women doing jobs that are traditionally reserved for men. Clearly, since there are no men, women are the only ones who can do them. The startling thing was not that it felt strange to have only women around, the startling thing was that I sometimes forgot. I like that the society is not idealized. It has some beautiful aspects, but it is also very practical and it has crime and ugliness like any other. I also like that Marghe comes in contact with the ugliness, but doesn't necessarily change it. Some things are the way they are, as are some people, and change is a difficult thing, and must usually come from the inside. It cannot always be forced.
Although the book has a clear ending, it also leaves room for a follow-up, so I wonder if there's going to be a sequel. If there is, I would definitely read it.
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sick. All of the men die, and some of the women. It turns out this has also happened to the natives (the old colonists), but they haven't died out: they are still getting children. Marghe is sent to test a vaccine against the virus, and to try to figure out what's going on. Marghe is not the most open or accessible person, but she is likable nonetheless. Her contacts with the natives are the most interesting and so are her experiences with the virus. Through her eyes, you get to know the world, which is wilder than most of us are used to. For me, it was rather startling sometimes to realize all the characters are women. I like that no fuss is made about women doing jobs that are traditionally reserved for men. Clearly, since there are no men, women are the only ones who can do them. The startling thing was not that it felt strange to have only women around, the startling thing was that I sometimes forgot. I like that the society is not idealized. It has some beautiful aspects, but it is also very practical and it has crime and ugliness like any other. I also like that Marghe comes in contact with the ugliness, but doesn't necessarily change it. Some things are the way they are, as are some people, and change is a difficult thing, and must usually come from the inside. It cannot always be forced.
Although the book has a clear ending, it also leaves room for a follow-up, so I wonder if there's going to be a sequel. If there is, I would definitely read it.
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LibraryThing member comixminx
Thought this was excellent, though with some small first-novel flaws* here and there. Reminiscent of Le Guin in concerns and world-building, but with her own angle and take on things. I'd like very much to read a sequel if there were one.
*The main character is a bit too good at everything to be
*The main character is a bit too good at everything to be
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true, for instance. Show Less
LibraryThing member wealhtheowwylfing
Didn't finish. I've liked Griffith's work before, but I just couldn't care about the main characters.
LibraryThing member Robert3167
The colony of The Company have been ravaged by a virus that has a 100% mortality rate for men and 20 % for the women. All the local inhabitants, survivors of the original expedition over 300 years ago are women.
Into this comes anthropologist Marguerite Tasihen, known as Marghe. She will be testing
Questions remain as to how a planet of women can continue to reproduce? What is their immunity secret?
Marghe attempts to find answers to these questions by heading out alone into the interior where several of her fellow colonists have disappeared. This is the equivalent of the horror film where you yell at the vulnerable young lady not to go outside, alone, in the dark without a torch, while the serial killer is prowling around.
This is well written. The characters are fully developed and the story is told from more than one viewpoint.
There are a few holes in the plot, nothing to ruin the story, just an annoying niggle where you want someone to explain about the …
Into this comes anthropologist Marguerite Tasihen, known as Marghe. She will be testing
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the new anti-viral drug that hopefully will enable others to come to the planet and for the colonist to get off. If it doesn’t work then they are all trapped on Jeep.Questions remain as to how a planet of women can continue to reproduce? What is their immunity secret?
Marghe attempts to find answers to these questions by heading out alone into the interior where several of her fellow colonists have disappeared. This is the equivalent of the horror film where you yell at the vulnerable young lady not to go outside, alone, in the dark without a torch, while the serial killer is prowling around.
This is well written. The characters are fully developed and the story is told from more than one viewpoint.
There are a few holes in the plot, nothing to ruin the story, just an annoying niggle where you want someone to explain about the …
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LibraryThing member sturlington
Marghe has an opportunity to travel to the newly rediscovered planet nicknamed "Jeep," where a virus killed all the male colonists and some of the women, resulting in an all-female society that has developed in primitive conditions over generations. When she arrives, though, she finds herself
Marghe's character, as our guide to the world of Jeep, was particularly well-developed. I was intrigued early on by learning of her long practice of meditation and extensive work with biofeedback. These qualities make her very receptive to the unique aspects of Jeep's ecosystem, which helps believability, particularly when it comes to the issue of reproduction. I related well to the searching qualities of Marghe's character and how she grows into herself after coming to Jeep. The environment there is uniquely suited to self-discovery, if the individual is open to it.
Jeep is an interesting world that seems very real. The alien life and weather patterns are truly alien, and Griffith describes the planet's environment in almost sensual terms. While in many ways Jeep seems a paradise, it is not a utopia by any means. Life can be very difficult there, particularly in the frozen northern region. Jeep seems more like a real place than an ideal escape from Earth's gender-based social problems.
With the non-gendered names and large cast, it is easy to forget when reading Ammonite that every character is a woman. That's not to say that some characters are actually men in disguise. I never felt this was true. Instead, Griffith explores the entire range of human behavior in her characters. Some characters are wise mentors. Some are stern leaders who hide their self-doubts. Some are selfish, stubborn, impulsive, or even corrupt. Marghe is particularly traumatized when she is kidnapped by a northern tribe who then treat her more as an animal than a person. Even though these characters all come across as fully human, their social structure has evolved in a radically different way, with what I think may be seen as a more feminine (or more humane) outcome. The characters are more forthright and open with one another, particularly on issues of love and family. Kinship and other relationships are extremely important and are also fluid, not wholly dependent on having a genetic connection. Disputes are arbitrated and resolved mostly without violence. Storytelling and art are valued as true professions worthy of communal support. There is violence, but violence is seen as an aberration and not inevitable. This is a compelling vision of what a world can be.
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connecting with the planet and the women who live there in unexpected ways.Marghe's character, as our guide to the world of Jeep, was particularly well-developed. I was intrigued early on by learning of her long practice of meditation and extensive work with biofeedback. These qualities make her very receptive to the unique aspects of Jeep's ecosystem, which helps believability, particularly when it comes to the issue of reproduction. I related well to the searching qualities of Marghe's character and how she grows into herself after coming to Jeep. The environment there is uniquely suited to self-discovery, if the individual is open to it.
Jeep is an interesting world that seems very real. The alien life and weather patterns are truly alien, and Griffith describes the planet's environment in almost sensual terms. While in many ways Jeep seems a paradise, it is not a utopia by any means. Life can be very difficult there, particularly in the frozen northern region. Jeep seems more like a real place than an ideal escape from Earth's gender-based social problems.
With the non-gendered names and large cast, it is easy to forget when reading Ammonite that every character is a woman. That's not to say that some characters are actually men in disguise. I never felt this was true. Instead, Griffith explores the entire range of human behavior in her characters. Some characters are wise mentors. Some are stern leaders who hide their self-doubts. Some are selfish, stubborn, impulsive, or even corrupt. Marghe is particularly traumatized when she is kidnapped by a northern tribe who then treat her more as an animal than a person. Even though these characters all come across as fully human, their social structure has evolved in a radically different way, with what I think may be seen as a more feminine (or more humane) outcome. The characters are more forthright and open with one another, particularly on issues of love and family. Kinship and other relationships are extremely important and are also fluid, not wholly dependent on having a genetic connection. Disputes are arbitrated and resolved mostly without violence. Storytelling and art are valued as true professions worthy of communal support. There is violence, but violence is seen as an aberration and not inevitable. This is a compelling vision of what a world can be.
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LibraryThing member xiaomarlo
it's not perfect - there are still questions remaining - but it's a lovely escape, with plenty of good ideas, good characters, good settings. really solid piece of feminist sci-fi.
LibraryThing member kencf0618
The mystery was a bit too long in the unraveling for me, but I would pick it up again in certain moods. Very much a story about process, so to speak.
LibraryThing member dcunning11235
I really liked this book, and the only reason I couldn't quite give it 5 stars is that I have a pet peeve around what I shorthand as "It's quantum." You know: weird thing needs explaining, a hole needs papering over, (unnecessary) explanation given, and an author (or self-help 'guru', or
This book doesn't do that, but it does, right at the end, when it could have so easily avoided it, do a 30-year-old version of that where it's all because of life's electrical connection (to be fair, the character in the book even says this with doubt, acknowledging they are grasping at straws.)
Kudo's for leaving so much else unsaid (why does the virus invariably kill men? The author needs it to, but she leaves it at that. What/who *exactly* are the Goth? Left unsaid. How exactly does Company have this kind of unfettered power, and what are the government(s) of Earth doing? Not important.) But the "it's all connected electrically"... ehh, yeah, I'm old enough and that is just so 70's (??) to early 90's. Just far too "It's all energy, man," and it threw cold water on an otherwise great read.
I kind of want to give 5 stars, despite that (and hence, perhaps, this long explanation why not.)
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pseudoscience peddler) "explains" that "because quantum weirdness."This book doesn't do that, but it does, right at the end, when it could have so easily avoided it, do a 30-year-old version of that where it's all because of life's electrical connection (to be fair, the character in the book even says this with doubt, acknowledging they are grasping at straws.)
Kudo's for leaving so much else unsaid (why does the virus invariably kill men? The author needs it to, but she leaves it at that. What/who *exactly* are the Goth? Left unsaid. How exactly does Company have this kind of unfettered power, and what are the government(s) of Earth doing? Not important.) But the "it's all connected electrically"... ehh, yeah, I'm old enough and that is just so 70's (??) to early 90's. Just far too "It's all energy, man," and it threw cold water on an otherwise great read.
I kind of want to give 5 stars, despite that (and hence, perhaps, this long explanation why not.)
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Subjects
Awards
Lambda Literary Award (Winner — 1992)
Arthur C. Clarke Award (Shortlist — 1994)
British Science Fiction Association Award (Shortlist — Novel — 1993)
Otherwise Award (Winner — 1993)
Italia Award (Winner — 2008)
Language
Original publication date
1992
Physical description
360 p.; 6.8 inches
ISBN
0345378911 / 9780345378910
Local notes
OCLC = 250
Google Books
Google Books