- Hardcover: 324 pages
- Publisher: Ace Books; First Edition edition (May 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0441011365
- ISBN-13: 978-0441011360
- Product Dimensions: 23.8 x 16.2 x 2.9 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,030,262 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover
The plot behind "Child Goddess" is probably familiar to you if you are a Trekkie; without giving a spoiler here, suffice it to say the "The Child Goddess" has something in common with an Original Star Trek's episode. However, the treatment of the subject has Marley's originality and ability to create entire worlds and societies in a few deft strokes.
Mother Burke, a member of the Magdalenes, a female Catholic priesthood, is tapped to investigate the finding of a survivor of an old colony on a planet being used for Earth expansion and enterprise. After a tragic first contact, a child is brought back to Earth. But she is not all she seems to be. An alien (in which case, the planet is rendered useless for colonization) or is she the descendent of an ill-fated settlement from centuries ago? And why is she being kept in quarantine far longer than the six-month mandatory period, and by a very shady doctor.
Isabel Burke is a fascinating character. She is doing penance as a Magadalene as well as fulfilling a vocation. She is also a scientist and a sympathetic character with a mix of backbone and tenderness. One wants to learn more about her, hence my feeling that "Child Goddess" could be worthy of a sequel. Her order of woman priests is also interesting; imagine the history that was behind a church finally granting disciple status to Mary Magdalene and validating the Gospel of Mary.
Oa, the child, is interesting. Marley borrows from Australian aborigine customs as well as African to create her alien, and Oa is cast well in the role of a naive, yet sophisticated person.
Though I found the plot entirely predictable, I still raced through the book with enjoyment and hope for more from this author.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
13 reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Unusual treatment of a sci-fi classic subject; begs a sequel
14 Aug 2004
Format:Hardcover
The plot behind "Child Goddess" is probably familiar to you if you are a Trekkie; without giving a spoiler here, suffice it to say the "The Child Goddess" has something in common with an Original Star Trek's episode. However, the treatment of the subject has Marley's originality and ability to create entire worlds and societies in a few deft strokes.
Mother Burke, a member of the Magdalenes, a female Catholic priesthood, is tapped to investigate the finding of a survivor of an old colony on a planet being used for Earth expansion and enterprise. After a tragic first contact, a child is brought back to Earth. But she is not all she seems to be. An alien (in which case, the planet is rendered useless for colonization) or is she the descendent of an ill-fated settlement from centuries ago? And why is she being kept in quarantine far longer than the six-month mandatory period, and by a very shady doctor.
Isabel Burke is a fascinating character. She is doing penance as a Magadalene as well as fulfilling a vocation. She is also a scientist and a sympathetic character with a mix of backbone and tenderness. One wants to learn more about her, hence my feeling that "Child Goddess" could be worthy of a sequel. Her order of woman priests is also interesting; imagine the history that was behind a church finally granting disciple status to Mary Magdalene and validating the Gospel of Mary.
Oa, the child, is interesting. Marley borrows from Australian aborigine customs as well as African to create her alien, and Oa is cast well in the role of a naive, yet sophisticated person.
Though I found the plot entirely predictable, I still raced through the book with enjoyment and hope for more from this author.
Mother Burke, a member of the Magdalenes, a female Catholic priesthood, is tapped to investigate the finding of a survivor of an old colony on a planet being used for Earth expansion and enterprise. After a tragic first contact, a child is brought back to Earth. But she is not all she seems to be. An alien (in which case, the planet is rendered useless for colonization) or is she the descendent of an ill-fated settlement from centuries ago? And why is she being kept in quarantine far longer than the six-month mandatory period, and by a very shady doctor.
Isabel Burke is a fascinating character. She is doing penance as a Magadalene as well as fulfilling a vocation. She is also a scientist and a sympathetic character with a mix of backbone and tenderness. One wants to learn more about her, hence my feeling that "Child Goddess" could be worthy of a sequel. Her order of woman priests is also interesting; imagine the history that was behind a church finally granting disciple status to Mary Magdalene and validating the Gospel of Mary.
Oa, the child, is interesting. Marley borrows from Australian aborigine customs as well as African to create her alien, and Oa is cast well in the role of a naive, yet sophisticated person.
Though I found the plot entirely predictable, I still raced through the book with enjoyment and hope for more from this author.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Thoughtful, and out of the ordinary . . . .
23 July 2004
Format:Hardcover
When I first picked up and examined this book, I very much doubted I would find it interesting enough to get through it. Finally, I applied a test that I've used many times. I just opened the book and read the first paragraph. I finally decided to acquire the book and to see if it would interest me.
In truth, I could not put the book down and finished it in two days.
The investigator in this detective-like novel is Mother Isabel, a Catholic sister of a religious order that "attempts to shine light into dark places." She begins by trying to protect a child who has been the victim of exploitation by a money-hungry corporation. But as she pursues justice, she encounters mystery after mystery.
The story also involves a love theme -- and she is forced to cross paths with the great love of her life.
As the mystery draws her in and the stakes rise beyond the welfare of a single child to the welfare of many children, Mother Isabel travels to a distant planet, where she continues to wage a brave but unequal battle against corporate greed and the cold pursuit of wealth.
This book excellently depicts a crossed web of feelings -- love between a man and a woman, love of a motherly woman for an abandoned child, and the love of a child for her ersatz mother and protector.
This novel could be compared with the works of Rosemary Kirstein -- books such as THE STEERSWOMAN'S ROAD. Here too, a woman protagonist is a member of a sisterhood, or religious order if you will, dedicated to the pursuit of truth -- that is, "to shed light into dark places." This is to take nothing away, and I do not mean to imply that Ms. Marley and Ms. Kirstein even know each other's work. But the excellence of these two authors shows considerable parallel.
In truth, I could not put the book down and finished it in two days.
The investigator in this detective-like novel is Mother Isabel, a Catholic sister of a religious order that "attempts to shine light into dark places." She begins by trying to protect a child who has been the victim of exploitation by a money-hungry corporation. But as she pursues justice, she encounters mystery after mystery.
The story also involves a love theme -- and she is forced to cross paths with the great love of her life.
As the mystery draws her in and the stakes rise beyond the welfare of a single child to the welfare of many children, Mother Isabel travels to a distant planet, where she continues to wage a brave but unequal battle against corporate greed and the cold pursuit of wealth.
This book excellently depicts a crossed web of feelings -- love between a man and a woman, love of a motherly woman for an abandoned child, and the love of a child for her ersatz mother and protector.
This novel could be compared with the works of Rosemary Kirstein -- books such as THE STEERSWOMAN'S ROAD. Here too, a woman protagonist is a member of a sisterhood, or religious order if you will, dedicated to the pursuit of truth -- that is, "to shed light into dark places." This is to take nothing away, and I do not mean to imply that Ms. Marley and Ms. Kirstein even know each other's work. But the excellence of these two authors shows considerable parallel.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Splendid Twist on "First Contact" SF from Marley
26 Mar 2005
Format:Hardcover
Louis Marley makes a triumphant return to the universe she created in her 1999 novel, "The Terrorists of Irustan", which is a magnificient twist on the classic science fiction "First Contact" tale; it is simply more than that since it is an elegant examination of humanity, faith and romantic love too. In Isabel Burke, the Catholic priest who must choose between the dictates of her faith and her love for a doctor trapped in a marriage to someone he no longer loves, Marley has created one of her most mesmerizing characters; one worthy of favorable comparison to those created by authors as diverse as Ursula K. LeGuin and Mary Doria Russell.
On the oceanic world of Virimund which is thought to be uninhabited, Extra Solar workers have unexpectedly come across a lost colony of human children on a remote island. One of the children, the girl Oa, is brought back to earth and held in quarantine for over a year, until her existence is brought to the attention of the Magdalene order of Catholic priests. Mother Isabel Burke, a medical anthroplogist - and Magdalene priest - is sent to investigate and soon becomes Oa's guardian, enlisting the aid of her former lover, Dr. Simon Edwards, a world government medical official, who will make a surprising discovery about Oa's true chronological age and origins. In a surprising twist of events which will lead first to tragedy and then hope, Oa will finally realize what it means to be human.
Louis Marley has truly become one of the most interesting writers working today in the field of science fiction and fantasy. Her lyrical prose is almost as finely written as any from the likes of Ursula LeGuin or Joanna Russ. I found her latest novel simply impossible to put down, reading it in a short span of a few days. It's unquestionably among the finest science fiction novels published last year. And it is one which surely begs a sequel, which I hope will be forthcoming from Ms. Marley.
On the oceanic world of Virimund which is thought to be uninhabited, Extra Solar workers have unexpectedly come across a lost colony of human children on a remote island. One of the children, the girl Oa, is brought back to earth and held in quarantine for over a year, until her existence is brought to the attention of the Magdalene order of Catholic priests. Mother Isabel Burke, a medical anthroplogist - and Magdalene priest - is sent to investigate and soon becomes Oa's guardian, enlisting the aid of her former lover, Dr. Simon Edwards, a world government medical official, who will make a surprising discovery about Oa's true chronological age and origins. In a surprising twist of events which will lead first to tragedy and then hope, Oa will finally realize what it means to be human.
Louis Marley has truly become one of the most interesting writers working today in the field of science fiction and fantasy. Her lyrical prose is almost as finely written as any from the likes of Ursula LeGuin or Joanna Russ. I found her latest novel simply impossible to put down, reading it in a short span of a few days. It's unquestionably among the finest science fiction novels published last year. And it is one which surely begs a sequel, which I hope will be forthcoming from Ms. Marley.
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