The Weave

by Nancy Jane Moore

The Weave brings us a first-contact story in which humans, seeking to exploit the much-needed resources of a system inhabited by creatures they assume are "primitive" and defenseless, discover their mistake the hard way. Human Caty Sanjuro, a seasoned marine and dedicated xenologist, and native Sundown, a determined astronomer, struggle to establish communication across the many barriers that divide their species, at first because they share a passionate interest in alien species, but finally because they know that only they can bridge the differences across species threatening catastrophe for both sides.

Genres: Science Fiction

360 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 15, 2015

About the author

Nancy Jane Moore is the author of the science fiction novel, The Weave; the novellas Changeling and Ardent Forest; and the collections Conscientious Inconsistencies, Flashes of Illumination, and Walking Contradiction and Other Futures. Her short fiction has appeared in a number of anthologies and in magazines ranging from Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet to the National Law Journal.

A native Texan, Moore lives for many years in Washington, DC, and now makes her home with her sweetheart in Oakland, CA.

She has studied martial arts since 1979 and holds a fourth degree black belt in Aikido.

Reviews

[Sherwood Smith]

A solid science fiction novel filled with interesting women, The Weave caught me up from the start, and short of a slightly draggy data lumpish bit (setting up the parameters of the journey to the newly discovered planet with alien life) midway through the first third, kept accelerating steadily to the end.

In the early chapters Moore foreshadows where this novel is going, which shifted the tension line from surprise to anticipation. The characterizations were strong enough, their various attitudes believable enough, for me to want to see how the inevitable conflict--given human motivations--played out. I knew what was likely to happen, but not how all the characters would deal. I fine that sort of tension line far more intriguing than shock for shock's sake.

This is a first contact story. I liked the aliens, and I really liked the way Moore developed the discovery of their telepathy, and how humans reacted. How some learned to deal, some refused to, clinging to their own assumptions because that made sense, especially given orders from higher up.

Central was Caty Sanjuro, who I really liked: a tough, no-nonsense marine-xenologist (before aliens had been discovered!), with two marine parents, who still wanted to reach for the stars.

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Earth finally sends a ship to explore another star, which has a planet that seems a prime candidate for colonization and lots of material wealth in the asteroids. But the planet is inhabited by a pre-industrial civilization of aliens with an incredible difference from us. One of the exploratory crew, both a marine and the only one trained in the principles of xenoanthropology, struggles not only with understanding these people, but with trying to protect them... and maybe her crew, from them.

The book starts out decently enough, with characters that at least have some appeal and a type of plot I'm interested in, and some interpersonal conflicts that, while they might be a bit on the exaggerated side, at least feel more or less realistic. Then we get to the alien planet and, while it's unfair to say the book falls apart, it does lose my interest.

It's hard to talk about my feelings for this book without talking about the big difference between us and the aliens. I guess it could be a little spoilery, even though it comes up fairly early on, but it's not spelled out in the description, so I'll cut it.

The aliens are telepathic, and communicate in images, and, what's more, they read images off humans (who, from their perspective, are constantly shouting every single stray thought that crosses their mind). This is not my favorite trope of aliens. In fact, aside from superhero-type books where that's the whole point, I almost consciously avoid SF books where aliens (or future humans) have actual telepathic abilities (with a bit of a pass for ones that are explained more scientifically than 'telepathy is totally real science') just because I feel it's so worn out. I read this one because I got it in a bundle of other books and I wasn't 100% sure. That's just to get my biases out of the way... however, even with that, once I'm in a book with an element like that, I try to make the best of it.

This book that hard. First, on a structural level, the fact that the aliens were telepathic and communicated only in images made reading conversation between the main human character and the main alien character a chore. It was constantly things like "I sent an image of a duck playing hockey to represent the kind of concept I wanted to get across. And I got an image of an alien duck dancing which indicated that they missed the point." albeit with better examples than those ones which I just made up off the top of my head. But it was just a stream of that and made first contact and mutual understanding-building with aliens, normally something that really interests me, dull.

The bigger problem though was on a plot level. I mean, it's just hard to take a book seriously when multiple people, military people no less, including the main character, actually say things like, "Okay, sure, they have telepathic abilities we don't understand but it's hard to imagine that they could be any threat to us." No, it's easy to understand that for anyone who gave it a moment's thought or had any exposure to science fiction, and if your duty is protecting the ship, you should be considering the military applications of telepathy even if they haven't been shown yet. The attitude continues with characters constantly being pig-headed stubborn to advance the plot and drive the conflict, characters refusing to believe there's any threat (when there actually begins to be evidence), and characters on the other side not doing fairly obvious things to make an explicit threat and show of force that might stop an extended ground conflict from people who don't believe.

Unrelated to the telepathy, I think the ending also kind of trailed off into an extended aftermath that didn't seem to be necessary (or at least, necessary in that detail) rather than coming to a satisfying conclusion.

All in all, I'll give the book two stars. It was okay. I didn't hate it, it just didn't live up to the early promise and had elements that I just don't respond well to.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have you ever looked up into the night sky and think I’m going to meet aliens some day. The book starts off with both the main human protagonist and the main alien protagonist looking up into their respective heavens and making this bold statement.

The Weave is a first-contact story in which humans, wanting to exploit the much-needed resources of a system inhabited by aliens they assume are "primitive" and defenseless, discover their mistake the hard way. The story takes place in the 25th century when humankind has spread throughout our solar system living on the moon, Mars and several of the moons around Jupiter and Saturn. However, wars are still fought, resources are still limited and basically humans are still the greedy bastards we all know and love, basically, Masters of the Universe or so they think.

We discover a planet and give it the name Cibola (the Spanish word for a pueblo conquered by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado), 40 light years from our solar system that has an intelligent species living on it that are technology-wise comparable to 19th century/early 20th century earth and if you remember the history of Coronado etc., you can guess what ensues – a major clash of cultures or this case species.

I’ve always had a problem with how Hollywood portrays ETs (except for the movie Arrival; now that was thinking outside the box). The aliens in The Weave are very different in that they communicate only using telepathy and can read minds. They have the ability to speak this way on a one-on-one basis or as part of the entire planet/the “weave”. When they meet humans for the first time they are startled to hear sound coming from our mouths. Interesting concept!

[Samuel Lubell · Rating 3 out of 5]

My review of The Weave by Nancy Jane Moore is up at SFRevu (http://www.sfrevu.com/php/Review-id.p...). I called it an old-fashioned hard SF First Contact novel (although I did point out it was a bit too predictable).

[Katherine Lake · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent sociological/psychological story of alien/human interaction. Unique world building and character development with charm and gentle humor. I was delighted with this book and will anticipate reading others by this author.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting space fantasy with an alien world inhabited by telepathic beings both more primitive and more advanced than humans. What will happen when the humans come to take the resources of the "primitives" and ignore their telepathy? Will an agreement be reached?

[Kate Page · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this, although I thought it tailed off at the end. The plot was a bit predictable, and rounded up in an overly descriptive way that reduced the tension and the involvement of the characters.
I enjoyed the alien world, the strong central woman character. Reminded me a lot of Ursula Le Guin. Will look out for her and would read more by her.