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Murder, Mystery, and Interstellar Intrigue Hugo Award winner Janet Kagan's Hellspark is now back in print Lassti, a newly discovered planet, is the center of political intrigue. Recently, Oloitokitok, the planet survey team's physicist was found dead. Was he killed? If so, by who? One of his fellow surveyors? Or by one of the Sprookjes, the birdlike natives of Lassti? Are the Sprookjes intelligent? If so, then parties that want the planet for development will lose it. Why is the survey team having so much trouble finding out? Into this situation arrives Tocohl, a Hellspark trader who just wanted to have a vacation on Sheveschke at the St. Veschke festival. After being attacked, rescuing a young woman, and going before a judge, Tocohl has learned all she ever wanted to know about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now, she is on her way to find Lasti to find answers to the mysteries there.… (more)
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The strongest theme and and storyline is about how language divides us and bridges gaps
This has one of the most impressive heroines in fiction. Her preferred approach to hostility is to prevent a fight with words and cultural knowledge. That is what I'm talking about. I believe the most powerful weapon humans have is language, this author wrote about that idea.
We live the story with the characters. There is a naive narrator, who contributes to us learning through her questions.
One of my favorite reads of all time. If you like hard science fiction and like to think during your reads, this is a book for you.
Kagan's book uses these ideas and takes them to another level: the way multiple universal races of humans and a native of a planet being surveyed, try successfully or not, to communicate. More than that: this author takes a computer and puts it through the same paces as the natives are, to prove sapience, and save them and their planet from being exploited.
A wonderful book that is not only delightfully inventive and entertaining, but extremely educational and thought-provoking. This artist's marvelous talent may be gone from the world, but it's owner has generously left her gifts behind.