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To the Resurrection Station
It began like any other day . . .
Until Belinda Smith was abruptly snatched from the comforting surroundings of university life by her mysterious guardian and imprisoned in the solitary confines of Gorwing Keep. Suddenly, she was the reluctant heiress to her planets' largest fortune—and the unwilling bride-to-be of an alien prince.
But fate had still more surprises in store for the young woman. And soon Belinda, her unwanted fiancee, and a battered old robot would find themselves fleeing across the galaxy in search of a new life. Their destination: a real-life fountain of youth, found in only one spot in the entire universe.
The fabled planet Earth . . .and its legendary resurrection station.
Until Belinda Smith was abruptly snatched from the comforting surroundings of university life by her mysterious guardian and imprisoned in the solitary confines of Gorwing Keep. Suddenly, she was the reluctant heiress to her planets' largest fortune—and the unwilling bride-to-be of an alien prince.
But fate had still more surprises in store for the young woman. And soon Belinda, her unwanted fiancee, and a battered old robot would find themselves fleeing across the galaxy in search of a new life. Their destination: a real-life fountain of youth, found in only one spot in the entire universe.
The fabled planet Earth . . .and its legendary resurrection station.
- GenresScience FictionFiction
276 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 1, 1985
3 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
About the author
Eleanor Arnason
109 books73 followersEleanor Atwood Arnason (born 1942) is an American author of science fiction novels and short stories. From 1949 to 1961, Arnason and her parents lived in "Idea House #2," a futuristic dwelling built by the Walker Art Center. Arnason's earliest published story appeared in New Worlds in 1972. Her work often depicts cultural change and conflict, usually from the viewpoint of characters who cannot or will not live by their own societies' rules.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 2, 2014
Stuff I Read - To the Resurrection Station by Eleanor Arnason Review
Oh man, this book. I picked this up some time ago because of the cover. It looked ridiculous and like a crazy blend of science fiction and maybe some fantastic elements. I think I was hoping for something a bit Douglas Adams-y. I actually read it because I was at WisCon and so was Arnason and I was hoping to get the book signed (which sadly did not happen). What I found was not what I was expecting at all. First, this is all science fiction, though there are a lot of strange elements to it. It's satire as well, though not the same sort of blatant, jokey satire (spoof?) that Douglas Adams excelled at. Instead this is a slightly more subtle spinning of a very entertaining story.
People comparing this to a gothic text aren't exactly off in that respect, with Belinda being taken by her guardian (really her uncle) to a remote estate to be married off to a native on the planet that humans have also settled on. I think part of the point of the book, though, is that it uses a lot of these trappings, like the classic gothic tale, like the classic post-apocalyptic Earth, and instead of going the expected direction with them, doesn't. These genres are played with, but mostly to show that there are more options, mostly to play with the readers' expectations.
Because Belinda is very good at bucking expectations. I was quite surprised to find that she was queer, either a lesbian or bisexual (though she never really identifies as either). It was amazing to see that play out, that it wasn't really treated like a huge thing, that it was just part of her character, and that she pursued same-sex relationships (and even had sex with a woman described on the page). She admits toward the end that she's probably going to have sex with a guy as well, but that's only really implied, and she doesn't go very deeply into if she really wants to, more that she would probably do it and that she's not typically attracted to men.
But the action of the plot takes the characters all over. It's a fast-paced book that is fun and hard to put down. The characters move from the gothic of Belinda's familiar estate to a small city to Earth in the far future where intelligent, mutated rats rule much of the world alongside robots who are starting to break down. Through all of this a number of points are made about humanity, about class and power, but I think the most interesting parts for me dealt with the idea that Belinda is creating a new pattern as she goes, that she is something of an anomaly, as the story is something of an anomaly as a book. It's sort of meta, but it does seem to be saying that we (as writers or readers) can create a new pattern by our participation. It's an awesome message, really, and one that states that we don't have to fall back into the familiar, into the war narratives or mysteries or gothic traditions.
Which is why I really liked the resurrection station, as well. I liked that when the robot is given a new body it's nothing like his old one, that he is told that if he had been given his old body he would have just fallen into old patterns. It's interesting to think, and it reinforces the idea that a new pattern can emerge, that it should emerge, and that it will be rewarding when it does. In the end that's probably why I loved this book so much, because it's so unlikely, and so optimistic. I just really like it, and am giving it a 9.5/10.
Oh man, this book. I picked this up some time ago because of the cover. It looked ridiculous and like a crazy blend of science fiction and maybe some fantastic elements. I think I was hoping for something a bit Douglas Adams-y. I actually read it because I was at WisCon and so was Arnason and I was hoping to get the book signed (which sadly did not happen). What I found was not what I was expecting at all. First, this is all science fiction, though there are a lot of strange elements to it. It's satire as well, though not the same sort of blatant, jokey satire (spoof?) that Douglas Adams excelled at. Instead this is a slightly more subtle spinning of a very entertaining story.
People comparing this to a gothic text aren't exactly off in that respect, with Belinda being taken by her guardian (really her uncle) to a remote estate to be married off to a native on the planet that humans have also settled on. I think part of the point of the book, though, is that it uses a lot of these trappings, like the classic gothic tale, like the classic post-apocalyptic Earth, and instead of going the expected direction with them, doesn't. These genres are played with, but mostly to show that there are more options, mostly to play with the readers' expectations.
Because Belinda is very good at bucking expectations. I was quite surprised to find that she was queer, either a lesbian or bisexual (though she never really identifies as either). It was amazing to see that play out, that it wasn't really treated like a huge thing, that it was just part of her character, and that she pursued same-sex relationships (and even had sex with a woman described on the page). She admits toward the end that she's probably going to have sex with a guy as well, but that's only really implied, and she doesn't go very deeply into if she really wants to, more that she would probably do it and that she's not typically attracted to men.
But the action of the plot takes the characters all over. It's a fast-paced book that is fun and hard to put down. The characters move from the gothic of Belinda's familiar estate to a small city to Earth in the far future where intelligent, mutated rats rule much of the world alongside robots who are starting to break down. Through all of this a number of points are made about humanity, about class and power, but I think the most interesting parts for me dealt with the idea that Belinda is creating a new pattern as she goes, that she is something of an anomaly, as the story is something of an anomaly as a book. It's sort of meta, but it does seem to be saying that we (as writers or readers) can create a new pattern by our participation. It's an awesome message, really, and one that states that we don't have to fall back into the familiar, into the war narratives or mysteries or gothic traditions.
Which is why I really liked the resurrection station, as well. I liked that when the robot is given a new body it's nothing like his old one, that he is told that if he had been given his old body he would have just fallen into old patterns. It's interesting to think, and it reinforces the idea that a new pattern can emerge, that it should emerge, and that it will be rewarding when it does. In the end that's probably why I loved this book so much, because it's so unlikely, and so optimistic. I just really like it, and am giving it a 9.5/10.
July 1, 2013
For the first few chapters, I thought this was shaping up to be really funny, as a sci-fi parody of a gothic novel. (Not a classic gothic novel, a 1960s-1970s gothic romance). Then the satire bit kind of went away, and it just turned into a rather poorly-written C-rate sci-fi novel. It’s still clearly meant to be humorous (although the cover gives no indication of that) but it falls quite flat.
Although it’s nice (and unusual!) to have a lusty, bisexual heroine portrayed in a sex-positive way (although there are no explicit scenes), the events of the book (I hesitate to describe them as a plot) are rather random, to the extent that I think the reader is supposed to find it funny. Characters themselves even say things like “Why did I do this? What is my motivation? I don’t know!” I kinda just went: Hmm. It does go in unexpected directions, I’ll give it that.
I picked this up after reading Arnason’s excellent and decidedly overlooked ‘Woman of the Iron People’ – after reading that, this one was quite a let-down.
Although it’s nice (and unusual!) to have a lusty, bisexual heroine portrayed in a sex-positive way (although there are no explicit scenes), the events of the book (I hesitate to describe them as a plot) are rather random, to the extent that I think the reader is supposed to find it funny. Characters themselves even say things like “Why did I do this? What is my motivation? I don’t know!” I kinda just went: Hmm. It does go in unexpected directions, I’ll give it that.
I picked this up after reading Arnason’s excellent and decidedly overlooked ‘Woman of the Iron People’ – after reading that, this one was quite a let-down.
March 30, 2008
I really like Eleanor Arnason's quirky sensibility, so I liked this early effort on her part. You can tell it's her first novel - for one thing, whenever the author doesn't know what to do, a character will sigh or shrug (in one case someone shrugs while lying down). Also, the theme of contact between different cultures, which shows up on most of her work, is not as well developed as it will be later.
But I do love her dry sense of humor, i.e.: "It was much more civilized to worship a single god with no physical presence and hardly any personality traits."
As is the case with most Arnason novels, the plot is meandering, to say the least.
But I do love her dry sense of humor, i.e.: "It was much more civilized to worship a single god with no physical presence and hardly any personality traits."
As is the case with most Arnason novels, the plot is meandering, to say the least.
July 25, 2012
Bounced off. I think it's an sf parody of a Gothic novel, but I didn't get very far in.
July 24, 2025
I read a later-written book by Eleanor Arnason (Ring of Swords) and was so charmed by it that I decided to try some of her other books. This title is one of her first novels and although it has some quirky characters and humor, it is very slow paced and meandering. Still, I did particularly like these lines: “She was half native herself - and half in love with a man who used to be a giant mutant rat. Things like that made a person more open-minded.” Gotta love a female main character attracted to women, men, and giant mutant rats. Pansexual, for sure. Arnason’s books also make a person more open-minded.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 13, 2023
Charles Paysuer's 5-star review here is very good and much, much kinder to the book than I am. I can see and understand everything that he says, but in the end, I still didn't enjoy this book, despite some of Arnason's unique touches. There's a lot in this book that relies on randomness (and, as Payseur suggests, part of the author's subversive satire), but as a story to follow, the different elements just felt cut off from each other.
May 14, 2023
This is a parody of sorts, moving from gothic guardians to space flight to post apocalypse Earth. It is okay, but, since it is a parody, the characters are mostly stereotypes. I think this would have been better as a short story.
This a standalone novel.
This a standalone novel.
July 1, 2019
An early book by an author that got better. The fun of this one is how it mashes up science fiction tropes and ones from Gothic Literature. Some eyebrow raising stuff, but enjoyable.
January 25, 2008
I spent a long time trying to figure out why this is so meh when Ring of Swords is so awesome, and the closest I could come was that it wants to be a novel of ideas but it's squished into the shape of an early '80s SF adventure. Sigh.
I also learned that while interspecies is \o/, and lesbian interspecies is \o/\o/, interspecies lesbian incest, even if it's only technical and doesn't happen anyway, is /o\.
I also learned that while interspecies is \o/, and lesbian interspecies is \o/\o/, interspecies lesbian incest, even if it's only technical and doesn't happen anyway, is /o\.
April 3, 2017
I have read and liked other novels by Arnason in the past, but in this one I simply could not get over the racism inherent in the depiction of the grey-skinned alien 'natives' whom Belinda despises so utterly. Yes, I suspect she is supposed to be wrong about it, but the entire viewpoint of the book disgusted me too much for me to keep going -- even when the aliens are on-screen and we are seeing their culture, it is from Belinda's dismissive, judgemental point of view. I have better things to do with my reading time than marinate in that.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews