Welcome to the land of wonders, where time travel is possible, space travel a reality, and "what ifs" come to life. Join me as I explore new worlds--and old ones--filled with scientific wonders, new civilizations, and strange new mysteries to consider.
This review does not represent the opinions of the general public. It reflects my personal thoughts and opinions on the book.
That said, on to the review! Note: cover graphic copyrighted by and used with permission from Elizabeth Moon
Ofelia has lived in colony #3245.12 for over forty years, and it is her home. She raised a family and buried her husband there. Everything she wants and could ever wish for are there in the colony. So, when the company funding the colony decides to withdraw from the venture, she decides to remain. She simply chooses not to set foot on the shuttle. The company bureaucrats know she didn't board, but they don't care (the bottom line and all that). Economics dictates they leave their used technology in place when they abandon the colony, leaving Ofelia with a sufficiency of resources to see her through the rest of her natural life.
Ofelia has never been happier...well, not for a long while, anyway. The technology is there to make her life easy, though she readily works in her garden to keep herself occupied. There is the livestock--likewise abandoned by the colony--to tend to and to provide for. There are all the possessions the colonists couldn't take with them to sort through and utilize. There are the computers to predict weather patterns and record the colony's logs. To her surprise, however, there is also a working communications array that receives the broadcasts from a new colony being erected elsewhere on the planet. Thus she learns the horrible truth as she listens to the destruction of the new settlement: she is not alone on the planet, and her cohabitants are not human!
Here is a book that deals with several complex issues. It falls to a formerly suppressed individual written off by society and business to make the first, true contact with a new species--a species that killed to a man the new batch of colonists. It becomes the role of an individual who fought roles imposed by society to survive against all odds in the face of potential danger. It is the responsibility of an aging, old woman to teach two races to coexist on one world. Can she do it?
Elizabeth Moon has written a great work that relies not so much on future science as on the human spirit. She takes us into the life of an old woman and shows us the thoughts and emotions of one who has lost--and won--so much through her many years. Perhaps Moon isn't the first author to write such a story, but Remnant Population is defintely a work worth reading.
Don't forget to visit Corridors of Communication to take a look at my interview with Elizabeth Moon! Visit her website to learn more about her and everything she's done.
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