Sin of Origin

by John Barnes

Terran missionaries determined to bring the planet Randall into the commonwealth, inadvertently start a war among the planet's three races

Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera

253 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

John Barnes (born 1957) is an American science fiction author, whose stories often explore questions of individual moral responsibility within a larger social context. Social criticism is woven throughout his plots. The four novels in his Thousand Cultures series pose serious questions about the effects of globalization on isolated societies. Barnes holds a doctorate in theatre and for several years taught in Colorado, where he still lives.

See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bar...

Reviews

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A couple of pages were missing when I read this, I believe it was a first edition. Regardless of a few missing pages, this book was incredible. Isaac Asimov and John Barnes did an outstanding job with the plot and characters. The back-story is excellent and the plot is even better, makes me wish this were part of an entire series. I can't wait to read more of John Barnes.

[Exokiwi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was the first John Barnes I ever read. I was hooked. More followed and more will follow This book showed off so many skills as a writer, a builder of worlds and understanding of pshychology

[Darjeeling · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's about a Christian crusade in space. A "Space Crusade" if you will.

[Dagmar Haiku · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good book for a train journey, but I would not generally recommend it to others. It contained some interesting thoughts, some aspects felt a bit forced and I actually felt a little reminded of foundation.
For those who like science fiction from the decade it came from it is surely a good read.

[John Loyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Something changed to make the Randallans attack the humans and keep them under seige. Hauskyld and Clio, the two xenists in the human encampment are given a field mission. First they must sneak past the war zone, and as hoped they get far enough away when they are found, that they are captured rather killed and taken to a prison where the natives keep Xhu'gha. While there the xenists learn about the natives. All three sentient species, Randallans, griffins and handsnakes. For centuries the three have formed triples, one of each species, and those that aren't in a group are Xhu'gha and are outcasts.

Fast forward eleven years. Most of the humans have departed. Clio has started teaching at the university and picked Andy over Hauskyld. The natives have separated into traditionalists that still form triples, Christian liberals and Christian Freedomites. There seems to be a growing amount of tension, and now it looks like a war will happen with no way for Clio and Andy to prevent it.

Fast forward another ten years. Clio, Andy, Kuf go to Arimathea as a diplomatic party from Randall. What is instantaneous for them has been 17 years. Clio gives a lecture detailing her discoveries, then they find a war has broken out between the Terran factions. Groups sending death through the gates. A group of Terrans from a Communist world come trying to get a peace treaty signed with the hope that worlds away from the center will survive.

Barnes creates the alien species on Randall and works up a society for them. That society is upset by the Christian Coalition humans that explore their world. The third section gets back to human politics but view from Kuf's point of view. The book was OK, better in some parts. Many interesting scenes, and a couple funny bits. Probably what you should expect when the cover says "Isaac Asimov presents." Not up to the lofty standards I come to expect from reading the meme war novels--Finity, Kaleidoscope Century and Candle and the fleshed out fairy tale--One for the Morning Glory.

[Ian Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Astronomers Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickcamsinghe came up with the idea that microbes are carried through space on comet. Hence life is spread through the galaxy this way rather than independently evolving in multiple locations.

"Sin of Origin" is loosely based on this idea and covers the first contact between human explorers and Randallans. It is set in a future where humans have spread across space and already encountered several intelligent species. The book is split into 3 parts set a few years apart each with a different protagonist. (The number 3 recurs thoughout the book in the way things are organised.) Two of the protagonists are xenists, which allows them to explain authoritatively and to jump to non-obvious conclusions in a plausible way. The driving force in the plot is the mystery behind the culture clash between humans and the Randallans, and the related mystery of the Randallans culture itself. The expositive and action are nicely intertwined, though the story is tinged with doom from the start.

The Randallan culture is both exotic and thought provoking as it the process of discovery that uncovers it. Hauskyld the xenist who dominates the first half of the book is by far the most rounded character in a book that is more about the clash of ideas and systems, rather than the clash of personalities.

"Sin of Origin" reminds me of the science fiction I read in the early 1980s. A mix of interesting ideas, adventure and well thought out exotic settings. The sort of book where character development is secondary or missing, but not the pure adventure of space opera.

[Jeff Youngstrom]

my review