A Miracle of Rare Design: A Tragedy of Transcendence

The only complaint I can really have over this book is that it's too short. Throughout the book we follow one man as he becomes more than human quiet literally. He travels the universe transforming his body into other alien races in order to better understand them. I absolutely loved the ending to this book. How he finds happiness is in many ways how all people should.

Resnick's ability to create alien species and cultures is well developed and written, but he seemed to skip over time rapidly, sometimes leaving out details I felt would've made the book much more interesting. Also, the amount written about each species the main character becomes less and less. This is dissapointing because each species is as unique as the one before it. Firefly - 60 pages Hawkhorns - 17 pages Wheeler - 11 pages Singer - 8 pages This book should've been twice its length to cover all of the species more thoroughly.

One of Mike Resnick's better paperback releases is A MIRACLE OF RARE DESIGN. The strength of Resnick's work makes that quite a compliment. Fans of Resnick's science fiction will really enjoy this book.Xavier William Lennox is a writer specializing in exposes of alien cultures. On Medina, he went too far to observe a sacred ritual and is brutally tortured to the edge of death. While recuperating, the Office of Alien Affairs tells him he has a chance to go back. They can surgically transform him into a Medinan. He goes. Now he can study Medina more closely than any culture he has seen before.Being a Medinan does not give full understanding however. Lennox leaves but is fascinated with his alien body. Now continuing to work for the Office of Alien Affairs, lennox is given new bodies. Each one has its strong and weak points. And each one takes Lennox further from his humanity. Each change is less satisfying, but returning to human would be unbearable. Lennox continues to sink lower until he finally finds a place for himself. This book is aptly subtitled A Tragedy of Trancendance. And a tragedy it is, but a fascinating tragedy. I strongly recommend this book.

Does a good job of making you feel like part of an expanding galactic empire. Reminded me of Alan Dean Foster. Does a good job of describing 4 different aliens. Gets into a couple of their cultures. Describes different ways of sensing the world, and the resulting impact. We see our hero's changing personality as he comes back transformed to interact with humanity again. Thought provoking and still a fast paced read.

Mike is a master of Characterization and he displays this in a Miracle of Rare Design. I was fascinated with his use of taking the character through many alien forms, yet leaving his basic 'humanity' intact, although his mind perceptions did change. Leave it to Resnick to find a new form of characterization!