Generations ago, an altruistic alien race, the Arthroplana, rescued
humanity from the ecological disaster of earth, and resettled them in
a new system, with dire warnings on the necessity of fitting in to the
local ecology. Since then, this desire to "leave no mark" has become
an obsession - possibly to the extreme detriment of the human race.
The result of generation of selective breeding has been a race of tiny
people who do not reach puberty until late middle age, who are in
danger of soon not being able to naturally reproduce at all.
But there is a radical element of humans that believe it has all been
a big lie - that Earth is really fine, and that the powers-that-be
don't want people to know about it. They blackmail a man, John, to
sign on to one of the alien Beastships to survey earth, and arrange to bring back data that hasn't been filtered.
But on the way, an ancient stowaway makes contact with the Beastship, which, shockingly, is no dumb beast but yet another sentient species fallen under the dominion of the Arthroplana. Her awakening could change everything.
An entertaining sci-fi book, but I did feel that in pointing out some
of the ridiculousness of ecological concerns gone overboard, some of the message of the seriousness of those concerns, and the importance of balance, goes astray.
humanity from the ecological disaster of earth, and resettled them in
a new system, with dire warnings on the necessity of fitting in to the
local ecology. Since then, this desire to "leave no mark" has become
an obsession - possibly to the extreme detriment of the human race.
The result of generation of selective breeding has been a race of tiny
people who do not reach puberty until late middle age, who are in
danger of soon not being able to naturally reproduce at all.
But there is a radical element of humans that believe it has all been
a big lie - that Earth is really fine, and that the powers-that-be
don't want people to know about it. They blackmail a man, John, to
sign on to one of the alien Beastships to survey earth, and arrange to bring back data that hasn't been filtered.
But on the way, an ancient stowaway makes contact with the Beastship, which, shockingly, is no dumb beast but yet another sentient species fallen under the dominion of the Arthroplana. Her awakening could change everything.
An entertaining sci-fi book, but I did feel that in pointing out some
of the ridiculousness of ecological concerns gone overboard, some of the message of the seriousness of those concerns, and the importance of balance, goes astray.
