The Wave and the Flame

Lear's Daughters #1

by Marjorie B. Kellogg

The planet Fiix has a climate of bizarre extremes which defies conventional scientific explanation. An expedition from Earth, expecting to find a desert planet, instead finds itself marooned in the middle of a savage winter. The local population, the Sawls, are small and apparently primitive creatures; but while Emil Clausen - mineral company representative in search of profits from the planet's lithium deposits - and planetologist Tay Danforth are missing, presumed dead, after being caught in ferocious floods, other scientists start to learn that the Sawl's have a complex and surprisingly advanced culture. In particular, linguist Stavros Ibia begins to identify with the Sawl's and determines to protect their planet from commercial exploitation, and to gain an understanding of their theological and historical roots.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction

358 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was intrigued by the theme of indigenous peoples vs. advanced race of humans. But my goodness,I surely didn't expect the ending... or rather lack thereof. Since neither the next book, "Reign of Fire" nor the two-book compendium, "Lear's Daughters", which includes these, aren't readily available (i.e. local library)I would recommend that any interested reader also obtain the sequel BEFORE starting on this otherwise Goodread.

[Ricardo L. Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

You will read, like and re-reread.
Took me years to find a physical copy. No ebook version available for the moment.
More than 3 decades after purchasing this series by mail in one of those bundle offers....I am re-rereading with fresh eyes. I was a bit of a Stavros. Studying languages but having no idea I had a gift with them or even what I wanted to do with my life. Only now in hindsight do I SEE why his story arc of becoming and becoming a bridge between two cultures was so riveting. And now all these eons later I appreciate the generous treatment of science and faith by the author.
Great world-building and plot development. Some of the crew are a little fuzzy to me until their action begin to matter but this is quibbling not criticism.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

love this book
only downside was the difficulty i had to connect the last and first names to a character at the begging
hope something like CONPLEX never exists in the future

[Spinachez · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book with an unusual focus on alien weather as a key theme. I will reserve full judgement as having read the first few pages of its sequel it seems that the two books could more or less have been one (albeit very large) book. The opening scene of book two starts mere seconds after the final events of book one.

The story itself follows the escapades of a scientific expedition from earth to an alien planet. Having arrived they have met the local aliens, called Sawls, and are struggling to deal with the planet's seemingly extremely violent and temperamental weather.

Mild spoilers: One of the first key events drives the Terrans into the Sawl's underground settlement as guests due to the planet's weather, but two of their number are trapped and lost outside. The bulk of the book is focussed on the Terrans trying to understand their Sawl hosts' culture and technology; especially its relation to the weather. The other key theme is the personal relationships between the Terrans, and a few of the Sawls as the language barrier slowly drops (though it never does completely) .

The book is relatively slow paced, which isn't a problem. My main issues with it are some fantastical elements occur that are glossed over while other individuals have internal monologues who content seems rather mundane yet is portrayed as disturbingly intense. I had the overall feeling of being on a different wavelength to the author which was quite jarring at times.

The book was interesting and I reckon a lot of my issues will smooth over with the events of the second book so I am withholding any more significant judgements.

I will definitely say that, given the structure of the story, you should plan to read both if you seriously intend to read the whole narrative. The ending of this book leaves too much unanswered.

[James]

The planet Fiix has a climate of bizarre extremes which defies conventional scientific explanation. An expedition from Earth, expecting to find a desert planet, instead finds itself marooned in the middle of a savage winter. The local population, the Sawls, are small and apparently primitive creatures; but while Emil Clausen - mineral company representative in search of profits from the planet's lithium deposits - and planetologist Tay Danforth are missing, presumed dead, after being caught in ferocious floods, other scientists start to learn that the Sawl's have a complex and surprisingly advanced culture. In particular, linguist Stavros Ibia begins to identify with the Sawl's and determines to protect their planet from commercial exploitation, and to gain an understanding of their theological and historical roots.