An Alien Light - Hardcover

Kress, Nancy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0877959404 ISBN 13: 9780877959403

Publisher: Arbor House Pub Co, 1988

Synopsis

Inside a walled city built by aliens called Ged, humans from a primitive civilization are taught the secrets of science while the Ged observe human thought patterns--hoping to more easily destroy other settled worlds

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

A perennial chestnut on old SF television shows involved the handful of humans who, when locked up by aliens puzzling over our aggressiveness, followed their instincts and fought among themselves. That's the kernel of this first SF novel from fantasy writer Kress, who recently won a Nebula Award for one of her SF stories. The Ged are an old, advanced, rational race shocked by the human violence and unpredictability that is erupting in their peaceful galaxy. To better understand their adversary, they choose the isolated, technologically regressed human colony on Qom, where they offer scientific knowledge to two warring nationsbut only if their representatives get along. This becomes the story, then, of the few people whose minds are opened despite the social, political and cultural barriers they inherited. Although the characters and their actions tend to the melodramatic, the background is well drawn and the conceptual breakthroughs are nicely handled.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal:

The warring cultures of Jela and Delysia become subjects of a complex experiment by an alien race who must understand the human race before they can defeat it. As Jelites and Delysians play out their violent natures under constant scrutiny by the inhuman Ged, a Delysian glassblower and a Jelite sister-warrior discover a truth that will force their peoples to work together or die. This heady mix of fantasy and sf explores humanity's infinite capacity for change. Highly recommended. JC
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Arbor House Pub Co
• Publication date: 1988
• ISBN 10: 0877959404
• ISBN 13: 9780877959403
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 370