The Weigher

by Eric Vinicoff, Marcia Martin

The closest thing to a government official that her anarchistic species would tolerate, Slasher was also several hundred pounds of fanged and taloned fury, well-equipped to win in the ritual combat of her people. But Slasher did not realize that by defending the two fangless, clawless human explorers to her world, she would become a disgraced outcast.

Genres: Science Fiction

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 1992

Reviews

[Kevin Phyland · Rating 4 out of 5]

The planet had no name where the native, Slasher, lived. Built like an upright Kodiak bear with ferocious pheremonal instincts and razor-sharp claws, she lives in a heirarchical society of individuals, where she earns her twilga as a Weigher - a judge of disputes. When a strange animal is killed in the woods it arouses Slasher’s interest and when another is captured alive after floating down from the sky, it manages to use a machine to impart their language. However the animal, a human, smells so strangely to the inhabitants that it invokes killing rage and once more the human is killed. Finally a pair, male and female (cloned from the original visitors), survive their first encounter and come under the paid protection of Slasher. The humans trade technical knowledge for knowledge of the natives, after a perilous voyage into their unknown rites, but some conservative elements of the locals prevail upon the rest that the humans are demons and they flee the town. The book then parallels Huckleberry Finn with a journey upriver, where they meet a variety of locals and puzzle out a way to become accepted - a task which looks insurmountable. An entertaining novel, it is a much expanded and changed version of a 1984 novelette by Eric Vinicoff & Marcia Martin, and has a bit to say about cargo cults and interfering with natives’ lives.

[Thistle · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the longest time, this had been my favorite story I ever read. It started as a novella (1984) and then in the 90s was fleshed out into a full novel. When I downloaded it for my Kindle, I wasn't sure which version I was getting -- I hoped for the novel, but it tuned out to the the novella.

Set on an alien planet, the natives were sentient big cats. Like the big cats of Earth, they were strongly independent and barely social at all -- to live together, they needed individuals who acted as Weighters (judges/peacemakers/accountants all rolled into one).

The story followed one Weighter as humans arrived on her world and changed everything in good ways and bad.

My "problem" with this story was only that I knew it too well. Though it's been many years since I last read it, I felt like I knew it word for word. Not only did I know the entire plot turn for turn, I felt like I even knew the phrasing and wording choice. While not fair to this story, I rated it a liked instead of a loved because it was just too familiar with it. As much as I enjoyed it, I was bored because I knew the whole thing already.