cover image A PARADIGM OF EARTH

A PARADIGM OF EARTH

Candas Jane Dorsey, . . Tor, $26.95 (368pp) ISBN 978-0-312-87796-5

In a radical departure from her austere first novel, Black Wine (1997), Canadian author Dorsey has produced a powerful character study filled with colorful and highly emotive language. Wounded by the sudden loss of her parents and the desertion of her long-time partner, Morgan Shelby moves to central Canada, where she has inherited an old mansion. She soon stocks the place with a menagerie of eccentric boarders, including a disabled painter and a drag queen with an international reputation as a dancer. The world has taken a conservative turn in the near future, and it's a difficult time to be gay in Canada. Nonetheless, Morgan, whose career has centered on caring for severely disabled children, soon finds herself interviewing for a surprising new job: the government hires her to help raise an alien. The creature is a tabula rasa, a blank slate, one of a dozen such possibly artificial beings scattered across our planet with the expressed purpose of learning about our culture. Morgan's relationship with Blue, as she names the androgynous creature, starts out professionally, but quickly becomes much more personal when Blue runs away from its secret government facility and turns up on Morgan's doorstep. Morgan's development from a depressed, hollow shell of a person to someone who can both love and be loved is detailed with impressive skill. Those interested in gender and feminism, as well as fans of thoughtful, emotion-centered SF, have a treat in store. (Oct. 26)

FYI: Black Wine won the Tiptree and IAFA/Crawford awards.