- Mass Market Paperback: 496 pages
- Publisher: Spectra Books (Aug 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 055358667X
- ISBN-13: 978-0553586671
- Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 2.5 x 17.7 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 933,613 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Califia's Daughters
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Product Description
Product Description
Set in the near future and inspired by the captivating myth of the warrior queen Califia, this brilliantly inventive novel tells the story of a small, peaceful community of women tucked away in a world gone mad.
Only the elders of the Valley remember life the way it used to be, when people traveled in automobiles and bought food others had grown. When the ratio of male to female was nearly the same. Before the bombs fell, and a deadly virus claimed the world's men.
Now, civilization's few surviving males are guarded by women warriors like Dian, the Valley's chief protector, as fierce and loyal as the guard dogs she trains. When an unexpected convoy of strangers rides into her village, it is
Dian who meets them, ready to do battle.
To her surprise, the visitors come in peace and bear a priceless gift, whose arrival is greeted with as much suspicion as delight. And indeed, the strangers want something in return, a request that could change the future of
the Valley into one of hope--or utter desolation.
It is up to Dian to discover their motive, in a journey that will cost her far more than she ever imagined, a journey from which she may never return.
Only the elders of the Valley remember life the way it used to be, when people traveled in automobiles and bought food others had grown. When the ratio of male to female was nearly the same. Before the bombs fell, and a deadly virus claimed the world's men.
Now, civilization's few surviving males are guarded by women warriors like Dian, the Valley's chief protector, as fierce and loyal as the guard dogs she trains. When an unexpected convoy of strangers rides into her village, it is
Dian who meets them, ready to do battle.
To her surprise, the visitors come in peace and bear a priceless gift, whose arrival is greeted with as much suspicion as delight. And indeed, the strangers want something in return, a request that could change the future of
the Valley into one of hope--or utter desolation.
It is up to Dian to discover their motive, in a journey that will cost her far more than she ever imagined, a journey from which she may never return.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Best book I read in ages! My favourite all time book. Especially attractive as it deals with a world where men are scarce. If you like your main protagonists to be female and strong then you'll love this. It has the most loyal tear-inducing doggy characters too!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
23 reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Interesting, but slightly flawed
5 April 2005
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Unlike most gender-issue post-apocalyptic novels, Califia's Daughters shows a world where men have been nearly wiped out. Also, unlike most women-run worlds, there is no serious claim that the disaster was men's fault. Rather, the book deals with some of the issues that arise without painting men or women in a moral light. I would have preferred to have seen the issues addressed in greater depth, however.
This paragraph has a bare-bones summary of the plot. It's minimal but may contain minor spoilers. The story begins when a small valley community (200+ women, 20+ men) is approached by representatives of another community. The strangers make a proposal that has serious implications for the valley, and introduce the threat of war in the region. The valley's leader, Judith, feels that the strangers are concealing something vital. Judith sends her sister, Dian, to secretly investigate the strangers' settlement to see what they are hiding. Dian goes to investigate, having assorted adventures along the way. Upon arrival, she discovers that the strangers have a secret that will shake the foundations of her own people's way of life!!! Then disaster strikes, Dian drops her quest, goes to another town and does a bunch of unrelated stuff. She never actually talks to the strangers about their differences or even gives them too much thought. At the end of the book, the author doesn't bother to explain what happened between the two peoples.
On the whole, I enjoyed the book. It was moderately unusual, had some romance, some humor, some adventure, and other essentials. In particular, it included some good bits of drama. However, I am left with the sense that the plot got sidetracked. The author raised issues in the beginning of the book that were never addressed. We never know what impact the strangers have on the valley's way of life, and there is a looming war that is never addressed. A sequel would greatly improve the course of the story, but lacking a sequel I feel somewhat cheated.
This paragraph has a bare-bones summary of the plot. It's minimal but may contain minor spoilers. The story begins when a small valley community (200+ women, 20+ men) is approached by representatives of another community. The strangers make a proposal that has serious implications for the valley, and introduce the threat of war in the region. The valley's leader, Judith, feels that the strangers are concealing something vital. Judith sends her sister, Dian, to secretly investigate the strangers' settlement to see what they are hiding. Dian goes to investigate, having assorted adventures along the way. Upon arrival, she discovers that the strangers have a secret that will shake the foundations of her own people's way of life!!! Then disaster strikes, Dian drops her quest, goes to another town and does a bunch of unrelated stuff. She never actually talks to the strangers about their differences or even gives them too much thought. At the end of the book, the author doesn't bother to explain what happened between the two peoples.
On the whole, I enjoyed the book. It was moderately unusual, had some romance, some humor, some adventure, and other essentials. In particular, it included some good bits of drama. However, I am left with the sense that the plot got sidetracked. The author raised issues in the beginning of the book that were never addressed. We never know what impact the strangers have on the valley's way of life, and there is a looming war that is never addressed. A sequel would greatly improve the course of the story, but lacking a sequel I feel somewhat cheated.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Fantasy for those who don't read fantasy
8 Aug 2004
Format:Mass Market Paperback
If, like me, you don't read many fantasy books, this book might actually be good enough to lure you in.
In a not too distant future when a couple of bio-hazard accidents wipe out much of the population and even more of the technology, the human race struggles to survive. With a gender ratio all out of wack, Califia's Daughters -- the women of what was once California -- struggle to farm the land, feed and protect their communities, and above all protect the fragilest flowers of them all, the males of the species who have trouble surviving to reproductive adulthood.
Leigh Richards is a pseudonym the author's note tells us for Laurie R. King, author of several award winning mysteries. It's no mystery why the writing and plotting here are smooth, engaging, and a joy to read.
In a not too distant future when a couple of bio-hazard accidents wipe out much of the population and even more of the technology, the human race struggles to survive. With a gender ratio all out of wack, Califia's Daughters -- the women of what was once California -- struggle to farm the land, feed and protect their communities, and above all protect the fragilest flowers of them all, the males of the species who have trouble surviving to reproductive adulthood.
Leigh Richards is a pseudonym the author's note tells us for Laurie R. King, author of several award winning mysteries. It's no mystery why the writing and plotting here are smooth, engaging, and a joy to read.
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Good but it could have been better
28 Sep 2004
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I'm a fan of these end of the world or women-run world fictions. This book, however, reads like two books. The first is about a community whose world we see through several different eyes. The second is the story of Dian who travels to investigate another community who have asked to be allowed to move into her valley. The problem is that a lot of the characters from the first "book" are left hanging after the reader gets interested in them and the focus in the second "book" honestly isn't very clear -- after reading it I'm still not sure why Dian does what she does and why there's not time spent on the fact that when she first visits the foreign community it looks radically different than when she returns just a few months later -- they've been invaded I assume but that isn't clear and it seems like everyone has been living a very military life there for a long time. Overall I was disappointed.
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