Bluesong only: This is the second book of Van Scyoc’s Daughters of the Sunstone trilogy, which I have in the SFBC omnibus edition. I’ve been a fan of Van Scyoc’s fiction for a long time, and I’m not entirely sure why. Or rather, I hadn’t remembered why until I started reading this trilogy, beginning with Darkchild (see here), and now Bluesong. She was genuinely good. She built strange worlds and set stories in them that were predicated on that strangeness and yet had plots which explained the cause, and sometimes cure, of the strangeness. She was never especially popular, but I think I’d rate her one of the best female US sf writers of the 1980s. Sadly, her last novel appeared in 1991 (although she apparently had a couple of stories in F&SF about ten years ago). The Sunstone novels are set on the world of Brakrath which, although mostly low tech, was settled from another world centuries before and remains aware of them. The planet is a bit too cold to be comfortable for humans, so they hibernate during the winter. Even during the spring, the valleys would be too cold for agriculture… but for the barohnas, the female rulers of each valley, who have the power to focus and direct the sun’s rays… to defrost the land and provide sufficient warmth to grow things. In Bluesong, a young woman realises she is not one of the river people among whom she lives, runs away, and eventually ends up finding her father among the desert people… But she is actually a daughter of a barohna, and so will change into one herself. Van Scyoc draws her alien societies well, and this series is particularly good at dropping hints toward a story arc. I liked Bluesong more than Darkchild, but they’re both pretty good. Cherryh may have received more love during the 1980s, and, er, since, and was hugely more prolific, but Van Scyoc was just as good. ( )

This book is three volumes in one: Darkchild, Bluesong and Starsilk. It is set eons in the future, when humankind has left Earth to populate other planets, scattered far and wide. Such a long time has elapsed that humans have evolved differently on the new plantes, to adapt to new environments. Brakrath was a planet not really suitable for settlement. Humans only landed there by accident, stranded for what they thought would be a brief while, that stretched out into centuries. In the meantime, they found a way to survive the harsh environment and built a culture around a few women invested with tremendous power- the very power of the sun. A power drawn to warm the valleys and extend the growing season but also very dangerous to wield. Over hundreds of years they have found ways to exist peacefully in a difficult place. But then a hostile alien race drops a child on their planet, a child whose mind has been programmed to collect information, a child who appears totally innocent, who gains the trust of his hosts so he can learn everything about them- and let their planet be exploited by the highest bidder. In his wake enormous changes are coming to Brakrath, as the inhabitants face their first offworld contact in centuries.

These stories are complex, with very real characters who inhabit an entirely unique universe, well imagined in every detail. They grapple with enormous dilemmas, facing emotional turmoil, trying to make sense of their lives and the new changes happening to their once-isolated planet. Each of the stories has wide-reaching implications, yet they're told from a very personal perspective that makes them so engaging. It's a fascinating trilogy, with unexpected complications at every turn. I was full of anticipation to the very last page.

DogEar Diary ( )

Daughter's of the Sunstone, as a series, follows several different main characters on the same planet, a world in which women rule in the form of sun-gatherers over each of many valleys and raise daughters to gain the ability to also gather sunlight to rule their own valleys upon adulthood. Darkchild starts the series at a time where the introduction newcomers to the planet disrupt and call into question the traditions and ways of the indigenous population.

As science fiction goes, I can see that many might consider this a slow moving work, but the depth of character and attention to detail in a completely unique world (at least so far as I have read) make this volume worth some attention. The narrative reminds me of McCaffery, and any novel with a strong female protagonist will always find favor with me, but the seamless switching between the points of view of the main characters is something that is a rare and welcome treat as I usually find such to be annoying at best and completely disruptive to the story line at worst. Darkchild draws you in to the drama of one family and Bluesong and Starsilk pull you through a mystery that begins on page one and crescendos to a satisfying end.

Last time I checked, this book was out of print, but I found a lovely copy at a used book store and it's well worth the hunt. ( )