Hellspark
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Hellspark
by Janet Kagan
My take: A science fiction story rich in alien background including strange customs, names, and bits of language. Published in 1988, this is the sort of science fiction common then (or at least it is what I read back then). Sitting on my shelf all this time, I had forgotten everything about it until a re-read. This one though is a little more heavy on the terms, names, and cultures that arenât explained with exposition. I appreciate a book that does this sort of thing without constant exposition, butâ¦Hellspark goes a little overboard. And no glossary of terms or persons.
Style: third person past tense
The title refers to the main characterâs planet of origin.
Setting: alien planet
Characters:
Tocohl Susumo : Trader, human woman
Maggie: her AI
Alfvaen : a Siveyn who brings a message to Tocohl from Swift-Kalat
Geremy: a friend of Tocohl
Swift-Kalat - Jenji, MGE survey ethologist
Ruurd Van-Zoveel
Captain Rav Kejesli
And moreâ¦
Story:
Alfvaen needs a âglossyâ (speaker of languages) and wants to hire Tocohl. As part of a survey on a new planet (Flashfever), Swifty-Kalat is convinced that the natives (sprookjes) are sentient and Alfvaen believes it. But they have yet to make an official determination. Swift-Kalat needs Tocohl to help prove it. She takes the job, of course, and the side job of giving Alfvaen some language lessons. There is the added complication of a murder which the sprookjes are believed to be responsible for.
Tocohl addresses the entire team (47 various species/nationalities and specialties) and asks for any information regarding the sprookjes. As she interviews and studies various individuals it is a study in culture clash. With plenty of undefined words and customs thrown into nearly every sentence, it is at times difficult reading (even for the veteran Scifi and fantasy reader).
Eventually, Tocohl names one of the sprookjes Sunchild and established a communication of sorts. She decides the issue all along has been proxemics and kinesics which Tocohl has been talking about since the beginning of the book. The language lesson she gives Alfvaen (which is less a language lesson than a spacial body language lessen) was foreshadowing. The sprookjes have nonverbal language (explained because it is so load with thunder storms on the planet) but they are sentient and in fact very intelligent having been studying the survey team all along. Once they get that the language is visual they can start a dialog.
In the end, it turns out that two of the sprookjes are key witnesses in the murder investigation - which was pretty much forgotten most of the book- rather than the perpetrators.
by Janet Kagan
My take: A science fiction story rich in alien background including strange customs, names, and bits of language. Published in 1988, this is the sort of science fiction common then (or at least it is what I read back then). Sitting on my shelf all this time, I had forgotten everything about it until a re-read. This one though is a little more heavy on the terms, names, and cultures that arenât explained with exposition. I appreciate a book that does this sort of thing without constant exposition, butâ¦Hellspark goes a little overboard. And no glossary of terms or persons.
Style: third person past tense
The title refers to the main characterâs planet of origin.
Setting: alien planet
Characters:
Tocohl Susumo : Trader, human woman
Maggie: her AI
Alfvaen : a Siveyn who brings a message to Tocohl from Swift-Kalat
Geremy: a friend of Tocohl
Swift-Kalat - Jenji, MGE survey ethologist
Ruurd Van-Zoveel
Captain Rav Kejesli
And moreâ¦
Story:
Alfvaen needs a âglossyâ (speaker of languages) and wants to hire Tocohl. As part of a survey on a new planet (Flashfever), Swifty-Kalat is convinced that the natives (sprookjes) are sentient and Alfvaen believes it. But they have yet to make an official determination. Swift-Kalat needs Tocohl to help prove it. She takes the job, of course, and the side job of giving Alfvaen some language lessons. There is the added complication of a murder which the sprookjes are believed to be responsible for.
Tocohl addresses the entire team (47 various species/nationalities and specialties) and asks for any information regarding the sprookjes. As she interviews and studies various individuals it is a study in culture clash. With plenty of undefined words and customs thrown into nearly every sentence, it is at times difficult reading (even for the veteran Scifi and fantasy reader).
Eventually, Tocohl names one of the sprookjes Sunchild and established a communication of sorts. She decides the issue all along has been proxemics and kinesics which Tocohl has been talking about since the beginning of the book. The language lesson she gives Alfvaen (which is less a language lesson than a spacial body language lessen) was foreshadowing. The sprookjes have nonverbal language (explained because it is so load with thunder storms on the planet) but they are sentient and in fact very intelligent having been studying the survey team all along. Once they get that the language is visual they can start a dialog.
In the end, it turns out that two of the sprookjes are key witnesses in the murder investigation - which was pretty much forgotten most of the book- rather than the perpetrators.
Hellspark
by Janet Kagan
My take: A science fiction story rich in alien background including strange customs, names, and bits of language. Published in 1988, this is the sort of science fiction common then (or at least it is what I read back then). Sitting on my shelf all this time, I had forgotten everything about it until a re-read. This one though is a little more heavy on the terms, names, and cultures that arenât explained with exposition. I appreciate a book that does this sort of thing without constant exposition, butâ¦Hellspark goes a little overboard. And no glossary of terms or persons.
Style: third person past tense
The title refers to the main characterâs planet of origin.
Setting: alien planet
Characters:
Tocohl Susumo : Trader, human woman
Maggie: her AI
Alfvaen : a Siveyn who brings a message to Tocohl from Swift-Kalat
Geremy: a friend of Tocohl
Swift-Kalat - Jenji, MGE survey ethologist
Ruurd Van-Zoveel
Captain Rav Kejesli
And moreâ¦
Story:
Alfvaen needs a âglossyâ (speaker of languages) and wants to hire Tocohl. As part of a survey on a new planet (Flashfever), Swifty-Kalat is convinced that the natives (sprookjes) are sentient and Alfvaen believes it. But they have yet to make an official determination. Swift-Kalat needs Tocohl to help prove it. She takes the job, of course, and the side job of giving Alfvaen some language lessons. There is the added complication of a murder which the sprookjes are believed to be responsible for.
Tocohl addresses the entire team (47 various species/nationalities and specialties) and asks for any information regarding the sprookjes. As she interviews and studies various individuals it is a study in culture clash. With plenty of undefined words and customs thrown into nearly every sentence, it is at times difficult reading (even for the veteran Scifi and fantasy reader).
Eventually, Tocohl names one of the sprookjes Sunchild and established a communication of sorts. She decides the issue all along has been proxemics and kinesics which Tocohl has been talking about since the beginning of the book. The language lesson she gives Alfvaen (which is less a language lesson than a spacial body language lessen) was foreshadowing. The sprookjes have nonverbal language (explained because it is so load with thunder storms on the planet) but they are sentient and in fact very intelligent having been studying the survey team all along. Once they get that the language is visual they can start a dialog.
In the end, it turns out that two of the sprookjes are key witnesses in the murder investigation - which was pretty much forgotten most of the book- rather than the perpetrators.
by Janet Kagan
My take: A science fiction story rich in alien background including strange customs, names, and bits of language. Published in 1988, this is the sort of science fiction common then (or at least it is what I read back then). Sitting on my shelf all this time, I had forgotten everything about it until a re-read. This one though is a little more heavy on the terms, names, and cultures that arenât explained with exposition. I appreciate a book that does this sort of thing without constant exposition, butâ¦Hellspark goes a little overboard. And no glossary of terms or persons.
Style: third person past tense
The title refers to the main characterâs planet of origin.
Setting: alien planet
Characters:
Tocohl Susumo : Trader, human woman
Maggie: her AI
Alfvaen : a Siveyn who brings a message to Tocohl from Swift-Kalat
Geremy: a friend of Tocohl
Swift-Kalat - Jenji, MGE survey ethologist
Ruurd Van-Zoveel
Captain Rav Kejesli
And moreâ¦
Story:
Alfvaen needs a âglossyâ (speaker of languages) and wants to hire Tocohl. As part of a survey on a new planet (Flashfever), Swifty-Kalat is convinced that the natives (sprookjes) are sentient and Alfvaen believes it. But they have yet to make an official determination. Swift-Kalat needs Tocohl to help prove it. She takes the job, of course, and the side job of giving Alfvaen some language lessons. There is the added complication of a murder which the sprookjes are believed to be responsible for.
Tocohl addresses the entire team (47 various species/nationalities and specialties) and asks for any information regarding the sprookjes. As she interviews and studies various individuals it is a study in culture clash. With plenty of undefined words and customs thrown into nearly every sentence, it is at times difficult reading (even for the veteran Scifi and fantasy reader).
Eventually, Tocohl names one of the sprookjes Sunchild and established a communication of sorts. She decides the issue all along has been proxemics and kinesics which Tocohl has been talking about since the beginning of the book. The language lesson she gives Alfvaen (which is less a language lesson than a spacial body language lessen) was foreshadowing. The sprookjes have nonverbal language (explained because it is so load with thunder storms on the planet) but they are sentient and in fact very intelligent having been studying the survey team all along. Once they get that the language is visual they can start a dialog.
In the end, it turns out that two of the sprookjes are key witnesses in the murder investigation - which was pretty much forgotten most of the book- rather than the perpetrators.
Hellspark
by Janet Kagan
My take: A science fiction story rich in alien background including strange customs, names, and bits of language. Published in 1988, this is the sort of science fiction common then (or at least it is what I read back then). Sitting on my shelf all this time, I had forgotten everything about it until a re-read. This one though is a little more heavy on the terms, names, and cultures that arenât explained with exposition. I appreciate a book that does this sort of thing without constant exposition, butâ¦Hellspark goes a little overboard. And no glossary of terms or persons.
Style: third person past tense
The title refers to the main characterâs planet of origin.
Setting: alien planet
Characters:
Tocohl Susumo : Trader, human woman
Maggie: her AI
Alfvaen : a Siveyn who brings a message to Tocohl from Swift-Kalat
Geremy: a friend of Tocohl
Swift-Kalat - Jenji, MGE survey ethologist
Ruurd Van-Zoveel
Captain Rav Kejesli
And moreâ¦
Story:
Alfvaen needs a âglossyâ (speaker of languages) and wants to hire Tocohl. As part of a survey on a new planet (Flashfever), Swifty-Kalat is convinced that the natives (sprookjes) are sentient and Alfvaen believes it. But they have yet to make an official determination. Swift-Kalat needs Tocohl to help prove it. She takes the job, of course, and the side job of giving Alfvaen some language lessons. There is the added complication of a murder which the sprookjes are believed to be responsible for.
Tocohl addresses the entire team (47 various species/nationalities and specialties) and asks for any information regarding the sprookjes. As she interviews and studies various individuals it is a study in culture clash. With plenty of undefined words and customs thrown into nearly every sentence, it is at times difficult reading (even for the veteran Scifi and fantasy reader).
Eventually, Tocohl names one of the sprookjes Sunchild and established a communication of sorts. She decides the issue all along has been proxemics and kinesics which Tocohl has been talking about since the beginning of the book. The language lesson she gives Alfvaen (which is less a language lesson than a spacial body language lessen) was foreshadowing. The sprookjes have nonverbal language (explained because it is so load with thunder storms on the planet) but they are sentient and in fact very intelligent having been studying the survey team all along. Once they get that the language is visual they can start a dialog.
In the end, it turns out that two of the sprookjes are key witnesses in the murder investigation - which was pretty much forgotten most of the book- rather than the perpetrators.
by Janet Kagan
My take: A science fiction story rich in alien background including strange customs, names, and bits of language. Published in 1988, this is the sort of science fiction common then (or at least it is what I read back then). Sitting on my shelf all this time, I had forgotten everything about it until a re-read. This one though is a little more heavy on the terms, names, and cultures that arenât explained with exposition. I appreciate a book that does this sort of thing without constant exposition, butâ¦Hellspark goes a little overboard. And no glossary of terms or persons.
Style: third person past tense
The title refers to the main characterâs planet of origin.
Setting: alien planet
Characters:
Tocohl Susumo : Trader, human woman
Maggie: her AI
Alfvaen : a Siveyn who brings a message to Tocohl from Swift-Kalat
Geremy: a friend of Tocohl
Swift-Kalat - Jenji, MGE survey ethologist
Ruurd Van-Zoveel
Captain Rav Kejesli
And moreâ¦
Story:
Alfvaen needs a âglossyâ (speaker of languages) and wants to hire Tocohl. As part of a survey on a new planet (Flashfever), Swifty-Kalat is convinced that the natives (sprookjes) are sentient and Alfvaen believes it. But they have yet to make an official determination. Swift-Kalat needs Tocohl to help prove it. She takes the job, of course, and the side job of giving Alfvaen some language lessons. There is the added complication of a murder which the sprookjes are believed to be responsible for.
Tocohl addresses the entire team (47 various species/nationalities and specialties) and asks for any information regarding the sprookjes. As she interviews and studies various individuals it is a study in culture clash. With plenty of undefined words and customs thrown into nearly every sentence, it is at times difficult reading (even for the veteran Scifi and fantasy reader).
Eventually, Tocohl names one of the sprookjes Sunchild and established a communication of sorts. She decides the issue all along has been proxemics and kinesics which Tocohl has been talking about since the beginning of the book. The language lesson she gives Alfvaen (which is less a language lesson than a spacial body language lessen) was foreshadowing. The sprookjes have nonverbal language (explained because it is so load with thunder storms on the planet) but they are sentient and in fact very intelligent having been studying the survey team all along. Once they get that the language is visual they can start a dialog.
In the end, it turns out that two of the sprookjes are key witnesses in the murder investigation - which was pretty much forgotten most of the book- rather than the perpetrators.
Hellspark
by Janet Kagan
My take: A science fiction story rich in alien background including strange customs, names, and bits of language. Published in 1988, this is the sort of science fiction common then (or at least it is what I read back then). Sitting on my shelf all this time, I had forgotten everything about it until a re-read. This one though is a little more heavy on the terms, names, and cultures that arenât explained with exposition. I appreciate a book that does this sort of thing without constant exposition, butâ¦Hellspark goes a little overboard. And no glossary of terms or persons.
Style: third person past tense
The title refers to the main characterâs planet of origin.
Setting: alien planet
Characters:
Tocohl Susumo : Trader, human woman
Maggie: her AI
Alfvaen : a Siveyn who brings a message to Tocohl from Swift-Kalat
Geremy: a friend of Tocohl
Swift-Kalat - Jenji, MGE survey ethologist
Ruurd Van-Zoveel
Captain Rav Kejesli
And moreâ¦
Story:
Alfvaen needs a âglossyâ (speaker of languages) and wants to hire Tocohl. As part of a survey on a new planet (Flashfever), Swifty-Kalat is convinced that the natives (sprookjes) are sentient and Alfvaen believes it. But they have yet to make an official determination. Swift-Kalat needs Tocohl to help prove it. She takes the job, of course, and the side job of giving Alfvaen some language lessons. There is the added complication of a murder which the sprookjes are believed to be responsible for.
Tocohl addresses the entire team (47 various species/nationalities and specialties) and asks for any information regarding the sprookjes. As she interviews and studies various individuals it is a study in culture clash. With plenty of undefined words and customs thrown into nearly every sentence, it is at times difficult reading (even for the veteran Scifi and fantasy reader).
Eventually, Tocohl names one of the sprookjes Sunchild and established a communication of sorts. She decides the issue all along has been proxemics and kinesics which Tocohl has been talking about since the beginning of the book. The language lesson she gives Alfvaen (which is less a language lesson than a spacial body language lessen) was foreshadowing. The sprookjes have nonverbal language (explained because it is so load with thunder storms on the planet) but they are sentient and in fact very intelligent having been studying the survey team all along. Once they get that the language is visual they can start a dialog.
In the end, it turns out that two of the sprookjes are key witnesses in the murder investigation - which was pretty much forgotten most of the book- rather than the perpetrators.
by Janet Kagan
My take: A science fiction story rich in alien background including strange customs, names, and bits of language. Published in 1988, this is the sort of science fiction common then (or at least it is what I read back then). Sitting on my shelf all this time, I had forgotten everything about it until a re-read. This one though is a little more heavy on the terms, names, and cultures that arenât explained with exposition. I appreciate a book that does this sort of thing without constant exposition, butâ¦Hellspark goes a little overboard. And no glossary of terms or persons.
Style: third person past tense
The title refers to the main characterâs planet of origin.
Setting: alien planet
Characters:
Tocohl Susumo : Trader, human woman
Maggie: her AI
Alfvaen : a Siveyn who brings a message to Tocohl from Swift-Kalat
Geremy: a friend of Tocohl
Swift-Kalat - Jenji, MGE survey ethologist
Ruurd Van-Zoveel
Captain Rav Kejesli
And moreâ¦
Story:
Alfvaen needs a âglossyâ (speaker of languages) and wants to hire Tocohl. As part of a survey on a new planet (Flashfever), Swifty-Kalat is convinced that the natives (sprookjes) are sentient and Alfvaen believes it. But they have yet to make an official determination. Swift-Kalat needs Tocohl to help prove it. She takes the job, of course, and the side job of giving Alfvaen some language lessons. There is the added complication of a murder which the sprookjes are believed to be responsible for.
Tocohl addresses the entire team (47 various species/nationalities and specialties) and asks for any information regarding the sprookjes. As she interviews and studies various individuals it is a study in culture clash. With plenty of undefined words and customs thrown into nearly every sentence, it is at times difficult reading (even for the veteran Scifi and fantasy reader).
Eventually, Tocohl names one of the sprookjes Sunchild and established a communication of sorts. She decides the issue all along has been proxemics and kinesics which Tocohl has been talking about since the beginning of the book. The language lesson she gives Alfvaen (which is less a language lesson than a spacial body language lessen) was foreshadowing. The sprookjes have nonverbal language (explained because it is so load with thunder storms on the planet) but they are sentient and in fact very intelligent having been studying the survey team all along. Once they get that the language is visual they can start a dialog.
In the end, it turns out that two of the sprookjes are key witnesses in the murder investigation - which was pretty much forgotten most of the book- rather than the perpetrators.
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