Mirabile

What can I say about Janet Kagan? She's written three books, and all three of them could have been justly called Mirabile (Wonderful in Latin). The other two, Hellspark and Uhura's Song are also favorites, but Mirabile is a delight, and just pure fun. Kangaroo rexes! Odders! Tulip bats! Oh the wonderful and surprising things that can happen to the wildlife when someone's been mucking around in their genepool. Annie Jason Masmajean is our heroine, I guess you would call her profession field genetics. It's her job to provide the colonists of Mirabile with the critters and plants they need to survive, and ensure that the strange beasties that keep cropping up (The scientists back on earth got cute with genetic redundancy), don't harm the colonists or the vital species that they need. It's a very light-hearted read, but not lacking one iota of depth. Between this book and her other two Janet Kagan has me itching for more. Anything she produces, I will buy, and there are very few authors I can say that about.

Mirabile is one of the best books I have read in a long time. As much I liked Hellspark, Mirabile was even better. I LOVED it in because in addition to being intelligent, Kagan has a wonderful sense of humor. I laughed so often reading Mirabile and found myself decidedly attached to the characters. One of the neat things about it is that it is a collection of short stories, but the collection is more cohesive than some novels I have read. I tried not to read the whole book too quickly, but .... well, like a box of good chocolates it was over too soon. This book is packed with great characters, action, adventure, and (best of all) weird critters. My only complaint is that this book is out of print. My one good copy is not something I want to lend out. Others I have found on the web start at some pretty hefty prices. I would love to buy a bunch of books to give as gifts and to lend out. The folks who reprinted Hellspark can be contacted at [email protected] and do take suggestions for books to reprint. Perhaps they could be persuaded to do us all a favor and reprint Mirabile.

Mirabile isn't Wonderland, but there is a wonderfully bizarre mix of familiar and crazy critters in this book. Everything from pyromaniac plants to lovable, tulip colored bats. This book also has something else that Science Fiction dearly needs... a different perspective. I personally get tired of muscle bound heros, vapid heroines, and aliens that only exist to eat people. This book actually has adults in it. Impatient, stubborn, and entertaining adults. As well as kids, and teenagers. And interesting alien life, that doesn't need to eat humans. We're not lunch. I love the ecology angle in this book. It is creative, funny, and very well thought out. Many books talk about terraforming an alien planet. This book is about what happens when Terraforming goes wrong. Earth creatures evolve in an alien environment, in all kinds of unforseen ways. I will also mention that this was one of the few comfort books I brought with me, when I moved to Japan. A tattered paperback lovingly carried across the ocean. And a book I would recommend to anyone.

Mirabile is the best linked short-story collection of sci-fi I have ever read--it is really more like a single book with very well defined chapters. The stories stick in your mind, making you want to read it over and over again, and every time you do--you will find something new! It is suitable for all ages and interests, exceptionally good at pointing out the ecological niches of organisms known and unkown and how they might relate on a new planet... From cows to bats, firestarting plants to fuzzywillies, Kagan has a handle on just how things might be made to work. The best of the sci-fi market, Janet Kagan has only one fault in my mind -- I can't wait for more