Mistwalker

by Denise Lopes Heald

The jungles of the planet Ver Day were unforgiving to natives--and death for offworlders. Sled-hauler Sal banks didn't like to have to depend on anyone or anything, but she needed extra muscle to pull a sled on her next cargo run, so she hired Meesha Raschad first and found out he was an offworlder second. Then she was stuck with a heavy cargo load, a late start, and a dangerously inexperienced newbie for a partner. Meanwhile, the govies were trying to make them forfeit the run, for no reason Sal could figure. But it had something to do with Raschad--who pulled hard and kept his troubles to himself. Which would have worked fine, except that those troubles soon followed him to the dangers of isolated Tumble Town....

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Aliens

321 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 1994

About the author

Sometimes credited as D. Lopes Heald.

Reviews

[Re · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing imagination and well-written also. Had heard and read this author just 'disappeared' & that this book was a good read. It was a GREAT read!

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ver Day is a jungle planet, crawling with bugs and bities, dripping with mud, sap, and poison. Original settlement there was so difficult only a small minority survived, adapting to living on the planet. They're known as 'greenies' and have a green flush to their skin thanks to eating the local plants.

Ver Day is going through a time of transition - population has increased in the few cities, and off-world immigration is on the rise. A push is being made to change the long-standing laws which limit 'tech'. Our story focuses around Sal, a hauler (someone who drags sleds of supplies to outlying settlements). Sal lost her family young, and keeps herself to herself, but she needs an extra hauler for her sled and the only muscle available is a 'newbie' (off-worlder). Newbies are despised because of their reliance on tech, their lack of common sense, and their tendency to die the minute you become attached to them. But with little choice, Sal hires the newbie on.

Anyone who has read C. J. Cherryh's Angel with the Sword will be familiar with the bones of this story. Hard-living, independent, trust-shy poor woman meets educated pretty-boy with upper class troubles. There's a lot of hurt/comfort, a slow growth of understanding between two very different people - but a whole world of problems which could keep them apart.

The characters are beautifully-rounded and sympathetic, and Ver Day itself is an inescapable presence, with its weather, its plants, and its wildlife. I swear these people rarely get a chance to wake up without having to pick off the latest bug or snake which has crawled on them while they slept.

Overall a very satisfying read with a believable resolution.

[Adobe · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the planet Ver Day, tensions are rising between immigrant "newbies" and the First Settlers, the planet's majority population of green-skinned Luddite deep ecologists. Greenie packer Sal Banks doesn't know Meesha Raschad is a newbie when she hires him to help haul her cargo through the jungle, and Raschad doesn't quite appreciate the trouble he is bringing on Sal by accompanying her through the green backlands, where newbie-hatred runs high and Ver Day's terrifying native fauna runs wild.

Half the book passes before Mistwalker finds its rhythm, and even when its characters shake free from obtrusive romance-novel clichés, they never become memorable. There are some terrific action set-pieces in the novel, including an incredible scene where voracious creatures overrun a barricaded town, but Mistwalker is unable to sustain the tension of these high points. Instead, it subsides, again and again, into the First-Novel doldrums, and its characters are forced into illogical actions in order to drag the plot along. (And, oh god, those obtrusive romance-novel clichés reappear in the eleventh hour.)

But who cares, because Ver Day's green, green world is an excellent SF sandbox, and its depiction of a Wild West frontier-planet populated by radical environmentalists is fascinating. Mistwalker skimps on the human beings, but it nails the setting. I can't remember the last time I read a book that got the psychology of tropical forests -- the humidity, the rot, the insects -- so precisely.

[Genie McFate]

I adore this book and have read it many times. Not only does she create a fantastic enviroment and culture, but it's also an excellent adventure story. Heald packs her story lot of detail that doesn't slow down the momentum of the story, but provides the reader with a wonderful surprises each time they read the book.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have enjoyed reading this book. I have purchased five different copies because of rereading. It has a few typos in the book but you can tell what they were really saying. This book would definately make an excellent sci-fi movie. I would have loved a second book following up on all the issues that he was going to aid the planet in dealing with the short comings of their government.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is more about the unveiling of repressed sexual sensibilities, without any of the sordid physical descriptors, rather than about the title namesakes. Although the Mistborn do put in a couple of brief appearances, those appearances left this reader wishing the book had considerably more about the Mistborn and their alien culture in it. Unfortunately the author bogs down in speculative inner feelings throughout to the detriment of the story.

[Ralph McEwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting story with a rugged smart female leader, the off world male trying to prove himself, a cast of gruffy characters in a world with other kinds of life living in a with the surrounding jungle.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly love this book. I wish there was something else by this author, that it was available on Kindle and on Audio. My paperback copy is falling apart and I'd better buy a replacement while I can still find it. I reread it once or twice a year.