This book was part of the Del Rey Discovery series, which I am making a point of reading ALL of! The feel of this book reminded me of another in that series: Delia Marshall-Turner's 'Of Swords and Spells'. I'm not surprised that the same editors would have selected both. It also reminded me a bit, at first, of "The Blue Sword" by Robin McKinley - although not as good. Ronica, a self-important young woman brought up in privilege, in a starfaring society, because of her mental powers, is shocked to find herself stranded on a primitive planet, with no memory of how she got there., and without her most valued mental strengths. But soon, she finds herself in the tent of a strong and seductive primitive tribal leader, and begins to make herself a place in this new society. At this point, the romance element in the story gets a bit heavy, and the end suffers from a case of too-many-radical-revelations, too quickly - but overall, this was a good first novel, and an enjoyable sci-fantasy tale.
Great blend of fantasy and sci/fi that has it all; adventure, mystery and great character development. You won't be able to put it down till you finish and then you'll want more.
This story raises the question of how to balance your ethics against your sub-species' continued survival; it does not get discussed in this story, though. ... I was surprised that Ronica is moved from "civilization" to a "wilderworld" half way across The Galaxy with no comment about language differences being essentially zero.
Great Book! Wonderful Read!
