The Children Star

The Children Star is a far future tale about the ethical problems involved in extending human civilization. Like Slonczewski's earlier novels Still Forms on Foxfield, A Door into Ocean and Daughter of Elysium, she takes on such accepted science fictional tropes as terraforming and weather control, opting for adjusting human biology for the specific planet humans plan to settle. Unfortunately, this medical technology is still in its infancy and those best suited for the process are infants because their body chemistry adjusts most quickly to the conditioning. Thus, the arsenic-based planet Prokaryon has been settled by a small colony of refugee orphans established by an ancient Holy Order called the Spirit Callers. The orphans are cared for by Brother Rhodonite, once a professional soldier and two sentient robots, Reverend Mother Artemis, a nanoplastic nana with tentacles and multiple breasts and Brother Geode, a six limbed, multicolored tarantula-like farm and mining machine. The characterization is well developed and believable. The plot revolves around an attempt by a corporate conglomerate to uproot the colony and burn off the planet with a terraforming white hole. Fighting this project is a hardy band of environmentalists who want to protect the unique Prokaryon ecosystem which is based on prokaryotes, or Cheerio-shaped chromosomes. Will the researchers be able to prove their claims of planetary sentience before time runs out and the conglomerate is allowed to destroy the ecoysystem? The story is exciting and Slonczewski, a working microbiologist, has done an excellent job in developing the hard scientific basis for her worldbuilding. Highly recommended for science fiction readers and environmentalists.

The Children Star is an example of thoughtful, hard SF at its very best. Full of wonderful scientific ideas, particularly in the areas of genetics and bacteriology; well-developed, engaging characters; interesting events; and a serious concern for such important issues as environmental and personal responsibility, it is one of my favorite SF novels of the last few years. Slonczewski writes science fiction for grown ups.

Wow! This book turned out to be quite a surprise. I generally don't like "child-themed" science fiction so had left this one on my reading stack for a while. When I finally did get into the first few chapters, I found out how my preconceptions from the book's title, and the blurb on the back cover were totally off base.The very depth of mathematics and biology that are explored, within the context of a most fascinating story, are both mind expanding and enlightening. There is quite a bit more here than first meets the eye. The plotting and storyline combined with the hard science make this a most memorable and worth while novel. Highly Recommended.

James blish wrote stories where people are altered to fit the environment way back in the 50's, but maybe there's more to "lifeshaping" than that.unusual mixture. END

This is a landmark piece of science fiction. It introduces two new themes which are likely to sweep the world of science fiction, eventually becoming part of its stock in trade.The first of these is 'lifeshaping" -- the author's felicitous alternative to terms like "genetic engineering" or "biotech". The very term suggests the immense possibilities opening up as the result of current developments in microbiology. Joan Slonczewski, a professional microbiologist, very capably projects the good things we may be able to do, and makes them plausible. Her exploration of the moral and social implications is, in my estimation, much deeper than much of what commonly passes for "bio-ethics".It's almost impossible to invent a theme that is entirely new to science fiction, and Slonczewski herself has written previously of "lifeshaping". However, sometimes a theme that's been around explodes into prominence because of developments that catch the public fancy -- in this case, the cloning of "Dolly". Cloning is (literally) a baby step towards lifeshaping, and may or may not be advisable in its own right, but it's important that the broader vision of lifeshaping figure into the discussion. "The Children Star" puts that vision forward eloquently.One subtheme which I find particularly important is that lifeshaping can serve as an alternative to "terraforming". The latter is set up in this story as a straw man: inconceivably rough handling of a planet to make it human-habitable, in circumstances where the planet is more than a lifeless rock to start with. Personally, I anticipate that most planetary bodies will be found initially lifeless, and that we will have to use all the tricks at our command to establish a space frontier at all. Lifeshaping looks like a welcome addition to our toolbox, not a substitute for other aids.Sooner or later, too, it will occur to somebody that if we can "lifeshape" human beings to fit extraterrestrial environments, we may be able to lifeshape diverse forms of human beings to fit an evolving ecology here on Earth.I can't comment on the second landmark theme (yes, "lifeshaping" was just the first), because it's the surprise solution to a mystery which builds up throughout the story. Suffice it to say that it's more speculative than lifeshaping, but would justify the book all by itself.