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A review by branch_c
Icerigger by Alan Dean Foster
4.0
First re-read in many years of one of my favorites by Alan Dean Foster, and it holds up remarkably well, considering it was written in 1978. Sure, not everything makes perfect sense here, and it's not particularly deep. The tran culture comes across as a bit superficial, in the vein of Star Trek / Star Wars aliens, and the offworlders befriend the Sofolders with impressive ease, almost immediately becoming key members of the society. But the writing is well above average for this type of SF adventure, with more than one literary turn of phrase. The deadly battles are all in good fun, with little to no grim drama - which may be one reason I prefer a light-hearted writing style to this day.
The characters are interesting enough, even if each is a caricature of his type - Ethan, the unwilling protagonist; September, the confident and good-hearted tough guy: Williams, the bookish one, etc. The female characters are even less well-defined, with Elfa being decidedly silly; Collette manages to be at least somewhat multi-dimensional in her role as a woman for Ethan to underestimate and misunderstand. As for the tran, their biology, if not their culture, is certainly original and fascinating, and Hunnar is a solid character, if a bit bland.
The construction of the eponymous Slanderscree happens surprisingly late in the book; I'd remembered it coming onto the scene earlier, maybe from having accidentally read the sequel (Mission to Moulokin) before this one. Will plan for a re-read of that one too. Anyway, I was not as knowledgeable about sailing back in '82 when I first read this, so I was gratified to see this time that there were no obvious blunders when it came to nautical concepts and terminology - which is not at all the case with modern SF/F, though you'd think writers could do enough research to confirm that they know their sheets from their spars.
So, my four star rating stands, even accounting for the nostalgia factor, and I'd recommend this for anyone looking for a light, quick, fairly original SF adventure.
The characters are interesting enough, even if each is a caricature of his type - Ethan, the unwilling protagonist; September, the confident and good-hearted tough guy: Williams, the bookish one, etc. The female characters are even less well-defined, with Elfa being decidedly silly; Collette manages to be at least somewhat multi-dimensional in her role as a woman for Ethan to underestimate and misunderstand. As for the tran, their biology, if not their culture, is certainly original and fascinating, and Hunnar is a solid character, if a bit bland.
The construction of the eponymous Slanderscree happens surprisingly late in the book; I'd remembered it coming onto the scene earlier, maybe from having accidentally read the sequel (Mission to Moulokin) before this one. Will plan for a re-read of that one too. Anyway, I was not as knowledgeable about sailing back in '82 when I first read this, so I was gratified to see this time that there were no obvious blunders when it came to nautical concepts and terminology - which is not at all the case with modern SF/F, though you'd think writers could do enough research to confirm that they know their sheets from their spars.
So, my four star rating stands, even accounting for the nostalgia factor, and I'd recommend this for anyone looking for a light, quick, fairly original SF adventure.