Alien Art

The premise of this short old SF novel from Dickson is a little silly and not quite strong enough to carry a large story, but the theme and moral are effective and thought provoking. Humans have colonized an alien world with an advance guard of rugged settlers who have taken to a backwoods lifestyle, while waiting for industrialists and corporate interests who will implement a development plan to turn the world into a profitable economic outpost. The natives of the planet are bear-sized, semi-intelligent otters who accidentally create works of art while gnawing on stone to keep their teeth in shape. The action of the story concerns a settler who plans to sell a native statue to the business interests, but befriends the otter who made it and in turn starts a popular rebellion, as he and the statue come to symbolize the purity of the world to the first wave of rugged colonists. Hence we have a pretty enlightening treatise on the pernicious effects of colonialism and globalization, and the ruination of native environments and cultures by money-obsessed interlopers who are blindly convinced by their own destructive dogma. And this is all in an enjoyable little novel that is worth picking up if you happen to see it at a library or used book store. [~doomsdayer520~]