The Others: A Science Fiction Novel

The Others #1

by Margaret Wander Bonanno

What if Columbus had stumbled upon a 21st-century civilization in the New World? The Others and its sequels Otherwhere and Otherwise explore the inevitable conflict that arises from such a clash of cultures through the eyes of two women, one from each world, whose love and courage transcend time and ideology.

Genres: Science Fiction

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Margaret Wander Bonanno was an American science fiction writer, ghost writer and small press publisher. She was born in New York City. She wrote seven Star Trek novels, several science fiction novels set in her own worlds, including The Others, a collaborative novel with Nichelle Nichols, a biography, and other works.

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book caught me off-guard with its scope of history and story, depth of world and characters, and skillfully interwoven frame narrative. It blurs the line between sci-fi/fantasy genre fiction and the more ubiquitous "literary fiction," feeling in-part a Kingsolver novel and a feminist-Zelazny fantasy (I know, that last descriptor is a bit of a contradiction).

Honestly, for a book I knew nothing about and found at a used book shop, I was very pleasantly surprised.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

**Potential spoilers** I thought this was a lovely novel; well written and wonderfully unique. To sum up the premise ... 'aliens' land on a planet, they call themselves the 'others', and realize there is another humanoid species on the planet. As a result, they isolate themselves on an archipelago far to the west of this planet's only continent. So, the primary perspective for the entirety of the trilogy is that of the alien species; they are incredibly advanced technologically, physically and mentally. The story is told narratively, so the primary character is looking back at her life and recording what has happened. Everything starts when it seems likely that the other humanoid species on this planet is mastering seafaring vehicles and it seems likely that they will one day find their islands. As you can imagine what happens as two unique and very technologically diverse societies meet - chaos eventually ensues. I thought this was wonderful look at what it means when two distinct societies try to meld themselves together. A beautiful love story was also weaved throughout it. Definitely a must read if you're a sci-fi fan. The book is kind of hard to find as it isn't currently in print.

[Jean-françois Virey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rereading this book more than thirty years later, with my annotations from the nineties, sent me back to that period in my mid-twenties when I corresponded with the author, whose obsessional interest in Star Trek's Vulcans I shared. I was apolitical back then, and totally missed just how far left- how woke (to use today's term)- the novel was. Virtually all male characters are sexual predators, unless they transition to become females and enter the "Matriarchy". Women are noble and form true friendships, protecting them against those highly flawed, toxic men, without whom the world would be a better place. The author's Others are her reinterpretation of Star Trek's Vulcans, but with significant changes: they have banned all music and poetry, they are total pacifists (to the point of Amish non-resistance to evil) and the word "logic" has been replaced with "discipline". But the rest is all there, down to the telepathy, the pointed ears, the mating cycles, and even the names of months (TasEth and echo of Tasmeen.)
I still like this book, although I do not share its politics, and have already started rereading volume 2, which I remember finding more interesting, volume 3 being a letdown. It is all told from the point of view of Lingri, an atypical Other who expresses the author's own ambivalence towards the whole concept of Vulcan culture.

[Aric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty neat. The memory of it has stayed with me for quite a long time. A futuristic race is discovered by a group of much more primitive colonists on an imagined world. It's a strange study of cultural politics from the outside in.