I loved this book when I was younger, and on reread it's obvious why. A crew of four is sent on a rescue mission to an apparently hostile solar systemI loved this book when I was younger, and on reread it's obvious why. A crew of four is sent on a rescue mission to an apparently hostile solar system where a previous exploratory team ran into trouble and lost contact with Earth. This rescue team includes a female astronaut raised by aliens though she's human herself, her alien adoptive brother-sister who's part of a collective consciousness and who loves eating all manner of oils including shaving cream and engine grease, and the protagonist: a male astronaut whose primary interest is saving his older brother, who was the leader of the previous team.
There's danger and adventure and science, and a fascinating alien solar system, and first contact with an even more fascinating alien species (view spoiler)[that lives in an atmosphereless solar ring rather than on a planet, and has detachable and reattachable tentacles(hide spoiler)].
I was also pleasantly surprised by the amount of racial diversity among the characters. The leader of the rescue team is a Black man, the female astronaut is Puerto Rican, and a number of the book's minor characters are POC. (Of course, the protagonist is a white man, and combined with the fact that the team leader is unconscious for half the story and the female astronaut is relegated to a combination translator-and-support-staff role, the overall impact of this diversity is somewhat muted.)
But despite the above enticements, I'm afraid this book just doesn't have a natural audience anymore. It's too dated--both technologically and in its depiction of women--to appeal to children of today. And the prose, plot, and characterizations are too simplistic to appeal to most adults (even ones, like me, who are reading the book with a strong accompanying dose of nostalgia)....more
This was one of my absolute favorite books growing up. Rereading it as an adult was an interesting experience. The writing style is still lovely, the This was one of my absolute favorite books growing up. Rereading it as an adult was an interesting experience. The writing style is still lovely, the characters engaging (especially Sophie, the extremely self-possessed lady's maid who keeps saving the day through the creative deployment of a tapestry she's embroidering; and Dido Twite, the bratty, neglected little girl who becomes the protagonist in Nightbirds on Nantucket), and there's plenty of excitement and humor.
Otoh, the number of coincidences in this book--both plot-propelling and otherwise--is completely ridiculous. They seemed unremarkable to me as a child, but I confess I rolled my eyes more than once rereading the book now. And the classism, which also went over my head as a child, is similarly blatant. As one illustrative example: There's a scene where two teenaged boys and Dido are on a sinking ship. Teenaged boy #1, the protagonist, gets the second boy secured to a barrel and gives him an oar and lowers him into the water first, since, as he says, "you're a Duke's nevvy." And then the protagonist and little Dido--the latter of whom can't swim--make do with a broken spar that they both cling to, as that's all that's left!
Not-so-minor quibbles aside, however, I did enjoy rereading the book, though I don't know how appealing it would be if it weren't so colored by nostalgia for me.
Final note: I recommend reading an edition illustrated by Robin Jacques, if you can find one. I was surprised when googling his name just how many of his illustrations--from this series and from numerous other books--had made a deep and lasting impression on me, and I think his art really enhances the story....more
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