Dreams of an Unseen Planet

by Teresa Plowright

Three colony ships arrive on Gaea to find their presence has triggered the production of a red particulate atmospheric haze, rendering the surface uninhabitable & cutting off communication with Earth. Six years later, they're in desperate trouble. Aboard the American vessel, the birthrate has fallen to zero, the hydroponic crops are failing; sexual tensions rise as Estros--a last-gasp attempt to stimulate mass pregnancies--approaches. Timid hydroponics expert Micra suspects that the technicians have formed some sort of cabal. A delegation from the Chinese vessel pays a visit: telepathic spy Odile tells Micra that the Chinese, hoping to capture the Russian ship, caused a plague that has wiped out everyone aboard. Miera, influenced by an experimental drug prescribed by her psychiatrist to control her nightmarish "red" dreams, finally becomes sensitized to Gaea-influence: the planet is apparently a protoconscious entity; Miera's red dreams are the result of Gaea's contact attempts. Soon the cabal members, also telepathic, become sensitized to Gaea too. Then, after a visit to plagueridden Earth, Micra returns convinced that the colony must stay on Gaea & make the best of it: an opinion bolstered by the fact that those sensitized to Gaea are once more fully fertile. A dreamy, extraordinarily sensual debut, with well-handled telepathy notions, but few signs of originality & a plot that doesn't hold water. Indications of talent are, overall, fairly encouraging.--Kirkus (edited)

Genres: Science Fiction

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[Minerva B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hmm, it was a bit hard to get into this book at first. There's something about the way it's written that didn't flow as well as other authors' writings, say Madeline Miller, for example. And there were quite a few typos in the edition I read. Some of the descriptions were confusing, and I wasn't sure what some of it meant.

I also thought the name of the book did not reflect the story that well. It sets it up as if a woman on Earth dreams of this distant planet that's better suited for humans' needs after Earth becomes devastated from pollution and whatnot, but the book begins with the colony already arrived at the planet. The dreams are actually calling to the main character Miera, because it's alive. There's a line in the book that said "sins from a distant colony" that I think could've been a cooler name for the title of the book.

The book isn't heavy on any science, so some of the technical things about space travel don't make sense or are not explored/accurate. Like it was hard to know if the ship was in orbit, or farther away, because the main character kept describing seeing trees on the surface, and I couldn't understand if those were just illusions from the surface (even from orbit, you wouldn't be able to see trees clearly). The book focuses more on the idea of telepathy, mind-linking and connecting to this planet.

Nonetheless, I appreciate many of the elements and themes in the book. It definitely started to get better halfway through. You can tell it was written by a woman, and Plowright wasn't afraid to discuss taboo elements that have, for a long time, not been found in classical sci-fi except in Le Guin's works. There is a big focus on feminity, female-related issues, menstruation, fertility, conception, sexuality, and even homoerotic elements relationships women (which is what made the book a lot more interesting, though I wish it would've been explored more).

I also wish that the reason for the Ventura project would've been explained more at the beginning (i.e. what pushed humans to seek a new planet). It's only briefly addressed at the end of the book (third act). One of the main things they said had ravaged Earth was a series of manmade pandemics, which was an interesting topic to discuss way back in 89 (biological warfare).

All that being said, the message of the book is clear: as a human race, we have to reconnect with our planet and listen to its needs. Only then can we persevere.


Edit: August 29, 2025. Upon rereading the book a second time, I understand the book better, and I've come to appreciate it more. I give a 5/5 from my initial 3/5

[Raj · Rating 3 out of 5]

On a distant planet, the birth rate is effectively zero and the colonists are getting worried about their viability. One woman, Miera, dreams of red: is the planet outside trying to contact her telepathically?

The first third or so of this book annoyed me as the protogonist was so passive. Things happened to her but she never initiated anything. It wasn't until about a third the way through that something happened to give her a kick up the backside and she started acting. It was about then that I started to enjoy the book. The book definitely has a feminine touch, something I might call touchy-feely, which isn't something that I read that often, but I quite enjoyed.

[Erik Graff · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a rather mediocre first try by novelist Teresa Plowright.