Ring of Swords - Eleanor Arnason

[bibliogramma]

One of the most interesting "early alien contact" novels, and one of the most thought-provoking representations of an alien culture, I've read in a long time. With her aliens, the Hwarhath, Arnason creates a culture based on a very different set of relationships between gender, sex, reproduction, power and violence than those that exist in modern human culture (though there are some historical and non-human parallels - I found myself thinking of both Spartans and elephants), and makes the reader think seriously about the implications.

Ursula LeGuin, herself no stranger to thought-provoking representations of alien cultures and sexualities, wrote this about Arnason's Ring of Swords (in the Wiscon 20 Program Book):

Both the narrators of this book use an understated, slightly self-mocking, casual tone which may lead the reader to take the story lightly. It is not a lightweight story. It is intellectually, emotionally, and ethically complex and powerful. A great deal of it is told by implication only, and so the moral solidity of the book and its symbolic and aesthetic effectiveness may pass a careless reader right by. The characters are mature, thoughtful, imperfect people, the settings are vivid, the drama is tense, and the science-fictional reinvention of gender roles is as successful as any I have ever read.

The only problem is that Arnason's other writings about the Hwarhath are a series of short stories, published in a number of magazines, and it's going to be rather difficult getting my greedy little paws on them all. Fortunately, three of them have apparently been reprinted in a collection of Arnason's short fiction just out from Aqueduct Press, entitled Ordinary People. That's a starting point.

Comments

[victoriacatlady.livejournal.com]

I knew I'd read something by her, but I couldn't remember, so I checked Barnes&Noble. Turns out it was "Daughter of the Bear King." I don't think I liked it nearly as well as you liked "Ring of Swords," though.

I found that a few of her short stories are online, at http://freesfonline.de/authors/arnason.html . A couple of them have very intriguing titles, too.

[victoriacatlady.livejournal.com]

"The Grammarian's Five Daughters." Go read it. Now.

[morgan-dhu.livejournal.com]

I did. Wonderful story. Thanks for the URL.

[morgan-dhu.livejournal.com]

I haven't read Daughter of the Bear King. I think that's one of her earlier novels. She seems to be getting better the more she writes - The first book of hers I read was one of her later novels, A Woman of the Iron People, and I thought it was very good, but not as good as Ring of Swords.