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摘要
摘要
Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Mike Resnick turns his talent to the tale of a human who goes native on another world. William Lennox, a young military officer, is obsessed with alien cultures and religions. Sent in to open up new planets to human contact, he soon begins to immerse his soul in terrifying new ways of thought and to transform his body into alien shapes.
评论 (4)
出版社周刊评论
Resnick's Kirinyaga saga polarized readers, who generally found the author's obsessions with African cultures either racist or fascinating. By contrast, this new novel, disappointing despite its clever main conceit, likely will leave most readers indifferent as Resnick moves his focus away from an identifiable subtechnological culture and toward a series of alien worlds. When, in order to observe a forbidden temple ritual, Xavier William Lennox disguises himself as a ``Firefly'' (a member of an alien species that, though vaguely humanoid, has wings and skin that takes on a nocturnal glow), he is discovered, hideously mutilated and swiftly handed back to his own society. Since Lennox is an ``exceptionally willful, stubborn, self-centered man,'' however, when he is offered the opportunity to undergo painful surgery that will reconstruct his body in the image of a Firefly's, in order to become an ambassador to and spy against the aliens, he returns to their planet of Medina. But the conclusion of this particular mission finds Lennox suffering from severe depression, so he allows his body to be reshaped for further missions in increasingly outlandish ways until he gradually sheds his humanity along with his appendages. Resnick's greatest strength has always been his ability to create vivid and imaginative cultures, but here he spends so little time in each of his worlds that they, like his alien Fireflies, seem to flicker only momentarily before fading away. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus评论
Xavier William Lennox, daredevil writer and scholar, is fascinated by alien peoples and cultures. On the planet Medina, he attempts to learn the religious secrets of the native Fireflies, only to be captured, horribly mutilated, and left for dead. Lennox, however, bears the Fireflies no ill will, and when Nora Wallace of the Department of Alien Affairs offers him an opportunity to return to Medina in a body surgically altered to function as that of a Firefly, he accepts with alacrity. In return, he must persuade the Fireflies to open up their planet to human mining corporations. His mission duly accomplished, Lennox returns to the human Republic still wearing his Firefly body. When Wallace offers him another job, to rescue four humans marooned on the planet Artismo, he jumps at the chance to be surgically transformed into a native Hawkhorn. Again he triumphs. But with each succeeding mission and transformation--on Tamerlaine as a native Wheeler; on Monticello IV as a Singer--he becomes less and less human, until finally he designs himself a composite body and abandons humanity altogether. Another low-key, thoughtful, absorbing entry from Resnick (Inferno, 1993, etc.).
《书目》(Booklist)书评
Resnick's latest novel continues his ongoing series of futuristic fables that chronicle the often disastrous consequences of mankind's attempt to colonize and introduce alien worlds into its own galaxywide Republic. Here, the Republic's representative is Xavier William Lennox, a compulsive interstellar traveler whose perilous adventures he recounts in best-selling memoirs. After one alien species maims and leaves him for dead, Lennox agrees to undergo several operations that transform him into one of the same species of aliens he's investigating. Now, with the advantage of alien communication abilities, Lennox can, of course, serve the Republic's mission of absorbing new worlds. As Lennox explores the wonders of alien experience and understanding firsthand, however, he becomes less and less willing to return to human form. Resnick's narrative ploy of basic, nuts-and-bolts sf minus the high-tech glitz leaves room for absorbing exploration of extraterrestrial culture and its clash with humanity. This one's insightful as well as entertaining. ~--Carl Hays
《图书馆杂志》(Library Journal )书评
As a scholar/adventurer obsessed with immersing himself in alien cultures, Xavier William Lennox seems ideal for a "first contact" mission designed to acquire valuable mineral rights from the natives of the planet Medina. Biologically altered to mimic a firefly-similar in appearance to this world's indigenous inhabitants-Lennox succeeds a little too well in his mission as he becomes addicted to the thrill of acquiring supra-human perceptions and abilities. Although opening up alien worlds to human exploitation is a recurring theme in Resnick's novels (e.g., Inferno, LJ 10/15/93), seldom does he focus so intently on the personal cost to the individuals involved. At once a compelling sf adventure and a study of humanity's greed for knowledge, this title is recommended for most sf collections. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.