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- Categories:Gender, Book
- Adult Content, Body Swap, Action, Sci-Fi, Available at
fivedollarbooks.com
Description
Spoilers Included! A group of ordinary men and women aboard a jet
airliner are struck by an eerie beam of light from the depths of
space. When the plane lands (three thousand miles away from where
it's supposed to come down and two days later), only this small
group is found aboard, meaning more than a hundred other people are
missing. All of the survivors suffer complete amnesia in connection
with the strange event, and it's only a full year later that they
all discover that they've been changed, enhanced in various ways
(strength, ESP, psychokinesis, prophecy, control of heat and cold
through molecular manipulation, and psychometry). The mysterious
beam was sent by another sentient species of life on a planet in
the Aldebaran system, and it was an effort to prepare the human
race for an assault by a confederation of worlds conquering all the
planets that it encounters. Before these people can do anything
constructive, they are captured by a sort of alien policeman and
sent to another planet thousands of light years away. On this world
(sort of like Farmer's "Riverworld"), humans never age, never
suffer from disease, and can swiftly recover from any non-fatal
injury or wound. They're kept in a pre-industrial state by the
Overseers, however, and their lives are used as entertainment for
the species who control most of the galaxy. Once on this world, the
unfortunate people are punished in mean-spirited ways (the only
black captive is placed on a continent that still practices
slavery, for instance). The tallest, strongest man, who most
resisted capture is "Thad Shannon", a former amateur boxer and
current sports photojournalist. His punishment is to be physically
transformed into the genetic duplicate of beautiful seventeen year
old girl while retaining his own mind and memory. He's then dropped
amid a tribe of brutal Hell's Angels-like hunters who own their
many wives and treat them like property (since humans do not
reproduce on this planet, the women's specialness is greatly
reduced and they're valuable only for their looks). Shannon is
mortified, of course, but being so much smaller and weaker
physically now, he is unable to effectively oppose any of the huge
male warriors (none of that ridiculous "swordswoman" feminist
blather). Shannon resists his new status with all of his might, but
is slowly beaten down and forced to accept a new life role. The
novel is very long but never boring. It's filled with action and
humor and wonderful characterization. The stories of all of the
captives are told in depth, and there are plenty of characters
you'll never forget, such as "Gwillo" (G. William Olander), a six
year old super-genius with a two year old body and the mind of a
hormone -driven teenager, and "Simon Viroqua", an average-looking
seventeen year old boy who just happens to be the greatest unarmed
fighter on the entire world (based on real author Steve Vance [THE
HYDE EFFECT, THE ABYSS, SHAPES, WALPURGIS NIGHT, who used to be a
boxer). Thad's predicament is only one of the plotlines, but it's
extremely well done and thorough. The agonies he must endure in the
male-dominated tribe and his small triumphs are beautifully
realized. LEGACY OF ALDEBARAN is available for a five dollar
download at FIVE DOLLAR E-BOOKS (fivedollarbooks.com), and it's
worth every cent. I can't recommend this novel highly enough. Polly
Steward is the real name of "Dale Watters", the teenaged girl who
wrote "The Wild Y" for Brutarian Magazine. Check out both the novel
and the story. You won't be disappointed.
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originally posted by Catoose on 2002-06-24, no edits, entryid=4307
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