Bookworm Speaks!- Bio Rescue by S.L. Viehl

Bookworm Speaks!

Bio Rescue by S. L. Viehl

*****

The Story: From Booklist: A military crew running planetary patrols rescues a ship of refugee lupine land-dwellers called the Skartesh. The refugees seem more than that, though, for there is evidence that their ship carried an explosive rigged to blow up if they landed. The rescue scotched that. The commander of the rescuers, Dair Mu T'resa, belongs to a basically aquatic race that disdains rescues, but she is basically altruistic. Dair tries to be friendly with the Skartesh, going so far as to teach one, Shan, to swim, which causes a number of problems, for Shan is supposedly a prophet whose destiny is to return the Skartesh to their desert world and restore its water through an ultimate sacrifice. Also, the Skartesh have a taboo against so much as talking to non-Skartesh. The book's strength lies in the aquatic nature of the main species in it (though they are slowly evolving toward amphibiousness) and the issues of interspecies interaction that it raises.

The Good: The Worldbuilding. That is probably the best thing to come from reading this book is the creativity that just oozes from every single page. The author does a superb job of making the various alien species truly alien. In a lot of science fiction, the common trope is to make the various non-human inhabitants, basically humans that are wearing costumes and celebrate different holidays. This is merely a fact and does not make or break a story. It is quite common in Star Trek. 

In this book, however, these are definitely not Star Trek aliens. Several alien species are mentioned in the text, but the Zangians and the Skartesh receive the most focus. The Zangians are superbly developed as an underwater civilization and how a culture could evolve in such a environment. 

It is entirely possible that whatever alien species we encounter may have customs and mannerisms that are completely normal to them but to humans are completely revolting and/or whose biology is almost completely different from Earth standard. The Zangians dislike rescuing the wounded but considering their environment, it seems completely reasonable and not cold or callous. 

The Skartesh are not given quite as much focus as the Zangians but where the text shines is how their religion comes into play in their interactions with the protagonists. In an increasingly secular world, it is easy to forget how important religion was to earlier societies and how much of an effect it would have on an individual’s behavior. Religion at times can seem secondary to day-to-day life at times, but for many across history and the present day, religion is day to day life and the way it effects the Skartesh may be closer to reality than most would expect. 

Dair is an excellent protagonist. She is strong and independent and despite being an outsider, she is respected by her family and friends. The author does a good job of balancing her strength as well as her vulnerabilities. Dair want’s to live her life as she chooses, but is torn between her kinship with the Skartesh and her mixed attraction to a male of her species named Onkar. 

The Flaws: Like several books, the narrative tends to stumble greatly by the third act. This happens frequently in science fiction. The intention is, obviously, to have a grand climax, where all sorts of truths come to light. But the truth is, that in this case, it turns the final arcs into a jumbled mess where frankly far too much comes at the reader at once that generates more confusion, rather than revelation. Sometimes, a big, dramatic consequence is really not necessary and neither is a diabolical villain which the text tries to introduce. It just throws to much at us at once. The fact is, Bookworm kind of skimmed the last few chapters because, not every story has to be epic, as writers are trying to understand these days. 

It was also rather disappointing in how, we actually seem to be treated to relatively small amount of medical rescues. We see about two or three but most of the intervening chapters deal with the consequences of such rescues. Most of the book takes place in a character’s head. An extension of that is how perhaps the author has one or two more character arcs than is truly necessary. It never really works in the books detriment but it would clean up the narrative slightly. 

This book is part of a larger universe of several other novels, so some details may be puzzling if the reader is starting with this book. Then again, its incentive to buy the other ones!

One of this book’s strengths is how it largely avoids plot dumps but at the same time it would have been nice to have been treated to at least one or two just to give a clear idea of what the Zangians looked like. We’re required to piece it together from bits and pieces scattered through the text which is a stronger writing technique but can make things a little confusing when trying to envision a race as different as the Zangians in the minds eye, as Bookworm tends to do. 

That or have some illustrations. 

Final Verdict:

Four out of Five Stars.