Outreach

Dushau Trilogy #3

by Jacqueline Lichtenberg

On a lonely distant planet, Krinata and the residents of a fragile young colony, dependent on a life-saving mental link to the near immortal Dushau, struggle to survive

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

Paperback

First published January 2, 1986

About the author

Jacqueline Lichtenberg is creator of the Sime~Gen Universe, primary author of Star Trek Lives!, founder of the Star Trek Welcommittee, creator of the term Intimate Adventure, winner of the Galaxy Award for Spirituality in Science Fiction and one of the first Romantic Times Awards for Best Science Fiction Novel. Her work is now in e-book form, audio-dramatization and on XM Satellite Radio. She has been sf/f reviewer for The Monthly Aspectarian since 1993.

Reprints and new titles coming from Wildside Press, 2011.

Co-blogs at: http://www.aliendjinnromances.blogspo...

Find currently available titles and free chapters at
http://www.jacquelinelichtenberg.com
With Professor Jean Lorrah, she teaches sf/f writing online via Tarot and Astrology.

Reviews

[Dr susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great sci fi adventure

I don't remember reading these books when they were published. My big complaint with current sci fi books is the doom, death, and destruction. Apparently, older sci fi books had just as much doom, death, and destruction. The story is great, the characters are fascinating, and the body count is high. This book takes a big dip into metaphysics, but the ending makes sense and gives hope.

[James]

Settled in safety on the Dushau's secret planet of refuge, among other refugee Dushau, "Lady" Zavaronne, the first human to link minds with the Dushau and survive, must attend the Dushau Jindigar's wedding, but the local Hive Mind creatures attack the Dushau colony. The long-lived Dushau are going into Renewal, the reproductive phase, and losing the ability to psychically shield the colony from the Hive natives. When the offworlder colony is over run by the Hive, Zavaronne and Jindigar must construct a new Hive mentality this world can accept before they all go insane.

[3sm3 · Rating 3 out of 5]

i really enjoyed the two prior but skimmed this one a lot. all the drama was built around their linking and it just got a bit boring.

[Elsi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Third novel in Lichtenberg's Dushau trilogy. Outreach concludes the adventures of Krinata, a 33 year old human researcher who has assisted Jindigar, an Duschau outcast, to escape from the rapidly declining empire of the Allegiency empire. After picking Farfetch (the middle book in the trilogy) from a bookbox, I immediately set out to swap for Dushau (the first book) and Outreach so I'd have the entire series.

At the end of Farfetch, Jindigar has managed to constitute a functioning oliat from six Duschau and Krinata. With the human in the telepathically linked group, the oliat is fragile and has yet to achieve a smoothly function rapport. But, they've managed to convince the nearby natives that the multi-species colony of escapees from the Allegiancy empire is a new type of hive, thus allowing the colonists to co-exist with the natives. But its a precarious truce at best.

Now the time has come to disband the oliat as most of its Duschau members are quickly approaching Renewal, a biological change that occurs every 1000 years restoring youth and fertility, but suppressing the telepathic ability to join in the oliat. Native swarms become confused by the lack of cohesion in the oliat and attack the colony -- preventing the oliat from successfully dissolving their telepathic linkages. It's up to Jindigar and Krinata to come up with a solution that will preserve the sanity and even lives of the oliat's members and also forge a permanent acceptance of the colony by the native species.