Earthsong

Native Tongue #3

by Suzette Haden Elgin, Julie Vedder (Foreword)

In Earthsong, the trilogy’s long-awaited finale, the Aliens have abandoned Earth, taking their technologies with them and plunging the planet into economic and ecological disaster. Devastated, the women decide to take their failed Láadan project back underground, desperately seeking guidance from their long-dead foremothers. The women discover an ingenious solution to the problem of human violence and seek to spread their knowledge—but has their final solution come too late?

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Feminism, Dystopia, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fantasy, Speculative Fiction

268 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1994

About the author

Suzette Haden Elgin was an American science fiction author. She founded the Science Fiction Poetry Association, and is considered an important figure in the field of science fiction constructed languages. Elgin was also a linguist; she published non-fiction, of which the best-known is the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense series.

Born in 1936 in Missouri, Elgin attended the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in the 1960s, and began writing science fiction in order to pay tuition. She has a Ph.D. in linguistics, and was the first UCSD student to ever write two dissertations (on English and Navajo). She created the engineered language Láadan for her Native Tongue science fiction series. A grammar and dictionary was published in 1985. She is a supporter of feminist science fiction, saying "women need to realize that SF is the only genre of literature in which it's possible for a writer to explore the question of what this world would be like if you could get rid of [X], where [X] is filled in with any of the multitude of real world facts that constrain and oppress women. Women need to treasure and support science fiction." [1]

In addition, she published works of shorter fiction. Overlying themes in her work include feminism, linguistics and the impact of language, and peaceful coexistence with nature. Many of her works also draw from her Ozark background and heritage.

Elgin became a professor at her alma mater's cross-town rival, San Diego State University (SDSU). She retired in 1980.

Reviews

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jul 18, 715am ~~ Well, the first 100 pages (all of part one in my edition) were okay, but I just skimmed the rest. At least I learned what happened to Earth after the end of the second book.

I found Earthsong repetitive, and tired quickly of the same basic outline in each section: one woman who 'knows' trying to convince everyone else what should be done, but spending pages doing it. The book felt more like a highlights only recap of a history text than a compelling novel, especially with the huge leaps in time during the narrative, something I had mentioned in my review of The Judas Rose, book #2 of the trilogy.

Although I will admit that the solution to the problem of world hunger was creative, I still believe that if a person is hungry enough, if it is a matter of life or death, you will eat whatever you can find, even insects. It would be a matter of overcoming the gag reflex. Not that I ever want to put my little theory to the test, but the way our world is drying out and burning up, who knows what might be on the dinner table in a few years?

[Lisa Schmeiser · Rating 4 out of 5]

I freely admit that the first time I read this book -- badly jetlagged -- I was all, "And now she's gone off the reservation." But a second reading shows that this is the most subtle and brilliant installment in the Native Tongue series, because Haden points out the challenges of trying to reform a society even as external factors shape it beyond recognition over hundreds of years -- all through monkeying with the basic conventions of narrative to point out how fragmented and incoherent intention can be, no matter how clearly people try to communicate it.

[Lindig · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aaargh! Whole premise of first two books summarily dropped in favor of airy-fairy method of communication. Most irritating!

[Kris]

I am terribly unsatisfied with how these latter two books in the trilogy played out the ideas Elgin put forth in the first, and this book feels even more disconnected than the last. But they are a time capsule, one that I love despite how off the rails the plot goes, and one that remains frustratingly relevant today.

Elgin started this trilogy with the hypothesis that a language designed to express particular joys and struggles experienced by women in a patriarchal system would change the world. When the language didn't have the expected reach, both in-universe and in reality, the women turn to solving hunger with 'audiosynthesis' and entrainment-based healing.

All of these ideas emerge from a belief that human connection and empathy, the ability to communicate, hear and be heard, is what will save us from a violent patriarchal system. This idea is what drew me into Native Tongue, and it's why I still find some kernel of value in Earthsong despite the wild ride it takes readers on.

I can feel Elgin go from hopeful to dismayed through this trilogy. So dismayed and buried in buried in binary gender essentialism that even when she brings in an ice age that kills off the men, she cannot bring herself to imagine a society of a different shape. To come up with a rallying cry to bring women together, and not be heard—I only wish she knew how her books could have resonated through time if she'd stayed the original course she laid for herself. So even though I did not enjoy this book, I see it as a very particular example of a failed attempt at building a political community.

I've got plenty of points where I disagree with the ideologies Elgin puts forward here, both explicitly and implicitly, but in the spirit of furthering that community she was looking for, I'll set those aside for another time.

[Uvrón · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very disappointing. This book is a chaotic and politically fucked-up mess, taking the Native Tongue trilogy in directions nobody asked for or wanted. Haden Elgin’s perspective is so limited, and her philosophy has become more depressing since book 1. There is little community or solidarity here; feminist virtues are instead based on self-deprivation, martyrdom, even isolation from your fellow women and anyone who knows your true goals and philosophy. And at the end of it, no matter what mess she puts her setting through or how many generations of women resist, the US Christian patriarchy pops up again as strong and stale as ever.

It makes me sad for the Haden Elgin of 1994, and there are moments of a glimmering connection to something she expresses. I wish Haden Elgin hadn’t tried to express these ideas in this setting, and pretended they all made sense as a novel. She could have instead created something more like Tiptree’s Her Smoke Rose Up Forever, another book of anguish and limited perspective but one with enormous emotional power as a short story anthology. When you can’t find a way out, it’s better to scream and bash at every part of the wall within reach than to try and find answers in your prison.

[Netanella · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was bad timing on my part. If I had known the Aliens were going to leave, I would have died the day before, or the day after. Nazareth

3 1/2 stars, rounded up, of course.

My buddy read with Jassmine at WoTF is here.

Taken as a trilogy, this book is much stronger than it is alone. Funny how synergy works that way, almost in a similar fashion as the book's audiosynthesis and resonance healing. This book requires a lot of the reader to digest (no mouthfood here) and understand. But once processed, the various themes - some quite subtle, some not - are more comprehensible. I was expecting anger and passion, but we don't get that. Instead we get the loss of the Aliens, the collapse of Earth's and the colonies' economies, and the challenge to conquer hunger as a means of saving the human race. A new Linguist House is created, the Meandering Water Tribe (so neat!). And a new challenge for the women - employing music now instead of language.

The feminist revolution continues. It is long and winding; like the new House it meanders slowly to its inexorable destination. How does humanity change in the face of patriarchy if patriarchy is all it's ever know? How does humanity evolve? Elgin's answer is akin to the sounds of water.

[Riah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Native Tongue, the first book in this trilogy, but the second two books weren't nearly as strong. This one is centered around a really interesting idea, focused on music instead of language, but the time span of the book is so long (literally hundreds of years) that it's just centered on the idea without any real characters with arcs. I was also disappointed that the preface was an explanation of how the story got told, from outside the world of the story, where the prefaces of the first two books were from within the universe of the story. Ultimately, I don't regret having read the second two, but I'd recommend that others read the first book and stop there.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last book in the Native Tongue trilogy is unfortunately the weakest. At the very end of the previous book, The Judas Rose, all aliens suddenly departed the solar system and cut off contact with humans. They'd collectively decided to quarantine humanity due to its violence. This abrupt departure precipitates economic chaos in Earthsong, or rather this is implied. Unlike the previous two books Earthsong has a much muddier narrative and it is often unclear how much time has passed between chapters. Ostensibly everything is told via a psychic 'trancer' but whether they are reporting their past or future remains ambiguous. While this structure had a lot of potential, it results in a rather confused and unfocused narrative, in contrast to Native Tongue and The Judas Rose.

Nonetheless, intriguing concepts are explored in Earthsong. As there are no more aliens, the women of the linguist lines who translated for them are unemployed. Faced with this existential crisis, they try to determine why the aliens left and how to change humanity so that the quarantine can be lifted. This involves a radical new use for language. The nearest thing to a protagonist in the book, Delina Chornyak, determines by communing with her dead ancestor that famine and starvation need to be eliminated. To my astonishment, her research into solving this problem involved no investigation of why some people cannot afford food. Economic inequality is completely overlooked. Instead, she essentially considers it as a technological problem: how can people be fed without food? It turns out that the answer is music, or 'audiosynthesis'. By illicitly spreading this discovery, the linguist women transform the world. I've read another book that examines whether some costless method of sustenance would end poverty, By Light Alone by Adam Roberts. In my opinion that handles the concept much more thoughtfully, although it is also a flawed book.

I did miss the aliens, and the whales. Of the human characters, only Delina Chornyak was given enough pages to become familiar. The others appeared ephemeral amid the passage of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years. I also noted a diminution of the enjoyable humour in previous books. Nearly all the dialogue consists of bitter bickering arguments - with the amusing exception of the last chapter, in which the linguist women discuss their delegation to the UN. It's a shame that the finale isn't as strong as the two previous books, but overall the trilogy is a fascinating and original one. It plays with linguistics in really striking ways and examines misogyny thoughtfully. However it has a bleak and ascetic ethos that not everyone will appreciate.

[Amie Whittemore · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's much, conceptually, to admire about Elgin's work in this trilogy, and in this final piece of it, and I did read it fast, but....sometimes the disparate, story-telling, the avoiding of scenes of conflict, the focus on exposition and narration and so little dialogue, action...well. On one hand, it feels very feminist--who needs a plot triangle! F that and so on. On the other hand, it seems like...wait, I do actually want to know how (SPOILER KIND OF IF ANYTHING IN THIS SERIES CAN BE SPOILED?) Robots (?) caused an ice age? Like, please tell me more.

Also, I found it heartbreakingly realistic that when the men finally find out the women have been conspiring to the BETTERMENT OF THE UNIVERSE, the men are like fuck this really ruins our power structure and even though we thought we were pro-feeding everyone, actually in reality not so much. Like, story of all power all the places.

So, whatever, I guess I'm saying that I want to be part of a conspiracy of good.

[Molly (Myrrh) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't feel like this book followed the plot course of the previous two - it took a complete turn into left field, and left me disappointed. The plot of the first two books, following Laádan, was all but abandoned entirely, instead going down a path that seemed only tangentially related. Disappointed. Not to mention the sexism so prevalent in the first two never dissipated - the sexist society was an important part of the plot, and that wasn't resolved either.

[Rosmona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uhm... A triloxía ten unha premisa interesante e a desta terceira parte pode gustarlles axs anti-especistas en particular, mais pésalle ben o tempo (é feminismo da segunda onda). Trátase dun feminismo pacífico, binarista, esencialista de xénero, teocéntrico, USAcéntrico e -aínda que loita contra o capitalismo máis atroz- fica nun capitalismo amable.

[Jacqueline Langille · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I appreciate the necessity of feminist sci fi, I found this 3rd book in the trilogy rather opaque. The writing style is excellent, as with the other two novels in this trilogy, yet I was left unconvinced by the experimental structure and the central conceit of Earthsong. I fear if communicating big, evolutionary and revolutionary ideas is the motive, the opacity and experimental prose fail in this regard.

[Megan Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The different cover artist for first printing of this third book in the Native Tongue trilogy should have been a clue. Earthsong diverges from the first two in both form and content and feels like a completely different book. My theory is Elgin had given up on Laadan becoming popular in use by the time she wrote Earthsong and shifted direction, hence the audiosynthesis plot line. Earthsong still has a lot to say about humanity, activism, and change and is a worthwhile read, but it requires a shift in mindset.

[Zoe · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF 70%

[Tali Lerner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harder to read, but expands the story and the world. As a whole the work is one of the best i've read.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

While Native Tongue and The Judas Rose both clearly reflect life during the Cold War in its projection of the future, Earthsong captures the nihilism and uncertainty of the post-Soviet era. Elgin by this time has clearly lost faith in her constructed language Láadan and pretty much abandons it in this book, to its massive detriment.

The plot is lost to drift through space without the tether of Láadan, with the repressed women of the linguistic lines giving up on empowering women who are not linguists through the development of Láadan, in favour of taking up a grander and more nebulous task of replacing food with Gregorian chants. Nazareth, ostensible protagonist of the previous two books, shows up as a ghost in order to haunt her grand-daughter to set her on this mysterious quest.

The issue of racism, hinted at being solved in the previous book (perhaps as a cover for it not really appearing at all, otherwise), shows up in abundance in Earthsong. Unfortunately Elgin insists on referring to the native population of USA as "Indian", pitting them culturally against the "anglo" linguists (despite the linguist families being present across the world, explicitly Africa and presumably Asia). It is a sudden turn that does not really fit with the world that was built in the last two books. It seems to me that the loss of the soviets as an antagonists for the USA led to Elgin lazily resorting to having the USA antagonise itself through clumsy racial barriers.

The non-linear storytelling present in the previous two books is turned up to 11 in Earthsong, with the book providing a string of non-linear vignettes, providing a vague sense of mystery that attempts to hide the fact that the story isn't really there. The main driving force of the past two books -- the subjugation of women by men via the removal of their rights and the change in their legal status rendering them on the same level as minors -- is removed at some point and only referenced in passing, which is bizarre since it's the most interesting plot point in the trilogy.

Unfortunately, Earthsong feels like a let down compared to the previous two books. I feel like Elgin should have given this book, and Láadan in general, more time to cook. Or perhaps somehow have had the trilogy completed before the fall of the Soviet Union.

[Anna Ivanchenko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too bad the third book is not as much about linguistics - but instead it is about music. A good ending to the series though I don't believe that the author's proposal would help mankind to change. Oh well, maybe I am just too pessimistic.

[Nelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

As my more elegant northern New England foremothers may have described it: “a fart in a windstorm.”

[Jan M · Rating 1 out of 5]

While I still see the great writing of Suzette, I must admit this book broke my heart. The previous two has some hope for the males and indeed some males acted with common sense in the second one. However, in this one the idea that males are somehow unable to think beyond their "innate programming" which is so inferior to females made me hurt. I do not believe this and the author (or some commentator who helped publish this) does put into her notes how this may seem dated with the changes in society since the time it was written. To me this proves the point. I do believe that there are differences between men and women but I also believe that a hell of a lot of those are cultural. When society changes so do the actions of males and females. Just look at our disgust of the treatment of females in other parts of the world; the practice of female genital mutilation, wearing of burkahs so not even your children can recognize you and the stoning of women who commit adultery. They are but a few examples of how we are different here in the United States and Europe, and how the appearance of females in more and more "male" positions is common place and accepted.
Beyond this the story dealt with solving the ancient problem of starvation was very interesting. While I squirm at the idea (I like the act of eating and filling the tummy) I did like the way such a task was so monumental the change in society. I fear I must take umbrage, though, at the idea that we must fundamentally change the human race in order to make "utopia". One man's utopia is another man's hell. Anything that is forced and to such a fundamental change seems poorly thought out. Instead I think the Founding Fathers had a better idea. Stay as much out of human endeavors as possible without having chaos and leave the rest to the citizenry. I think that requires massive education (not indoctrination, education) and with the internet we are now capable of that. Societal standards set- learn to read and write your language and two others, math to calculus, logic, history (in bare bones way to prevent indoctrination-memorize), geography and geology and biology, chemistry, etc. What a kick in the pants that would make. Can you imagine? Instead of secrecy and forcing change. Whoa, enough of the venting.
I finished and it didn't get better. I would not recommend this book, just the previous two.

[Nuno R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the most generous and ambitious book of the trilogy. A happy surprise that comes and gives meaning to the series. The premise seems to be taken to its extreme, in a utopian fashion. While reading it, it felt at times strange and unconvincing. but it was defenitely worth reading.

The thought-experiment underlying the series was really interesting, maybe even unique. Since it was meant to be wider that the scope of fiction. Elgin set out to launch "Láadan", her constructed language potentially better suited to express women's perceptions, into the world, the real world.

It is an inspiring case where the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis and feminism meet, using fiction as a weapon of reality, not an adversary.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good ending to the trilogy. I was expecting a lot more bara (anger, with cause, with someone to blame, but with nothing to do about it) in the book itself, but the situation has improved from the previous two books-- there was a mention in this book that women were given human rights back again! I suppose I thought it would keep getting worse until the end of this book. I was also glad to see some of the men evolving too.

I loved the epilogue of writings from the Meandering Water tribe too.

[Rianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

9/52 books read in 2021.
2/12 bookshelf books read in 2021.

So this is definitely the weird one from the trilogy.
It isn't like the first two in pretty much every way, except location and the same linguist families keep showing up.
However, I like it. It ends the trilogy with hope. It gives new meaning to the first two books.
It might save my BA thesis.

Don't attempt to read this without having at least read the first book, but do read it.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really didn't like this as much as the first two books in the trilogy. Whereas they had a plot, this third book was really more a collection of short stories, with little to tie them together. Frankly, it was neither very well edited nor very entertaining, and was missing the thought-provoking ideas of the first two books.

[Jack Deighton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Earthsong is the third in Elgin’s Native Tongue trilogy, the first of which, Native Tongue, was published in 1984 and the second, The Judas Rose, in 1987. This edition is a reprint of Earthsong’s 1994 publication.
The trilogy’s premise was that due to aliens coming to Earth and requiring translators a group known as Linguists came to have a monopoly on the trade. (As I recall their expertise had been developed by talking with whales and dolphins but my memory may be tricking me.)
Despite the trilogy being set in the 22nd century, society was still largely male dominated and though women linguists were utilised they were very much subservient to the males – as were women more generally with very little in the way of autonomy. Women past child-bearing age go to live in Barren Houses and in these was developed a language (which Elgin named Láadan,) so that women’s perceptions could be expressed more adequately. This was kept secret from the males of course. In The Judas Rose Láadan was introduced to non-Linguist women but failed to catch on and was indeed opposed vigorously. But their new language changed the women and men could not bear being with a woman for longer than thirty minutes - some (not myself) might say not much difference there, then - to the extent that they lived in separate Womanhouses.
Those two books were an interesting thought experiment and, while being perfectly adequate as SF, were marred for me by the fact that seemingly every single man in them was characterised as being incredibly stupid.
In Earthsong, a crisis has been precipitated by the aliens suddenly disappearing from Earth (citing as their reason humanity - for which of course read men - as being too violent.)
A foreword supposedly written by the main protagonist of the earlier two books, Nazareth Joanna Chornyak, warns us that the story, as mediated by trancers channelling her thoughts, is going to be disorganised, told through many different voices, and not in chronological order. The trancers are necessary because Nazareth is dead and in some sort of limbo.
The book proper starts with her great granddaughter Delina Meloren Chornyak petitioning the head of the Pan-Indian Council of the Americas (PICOTA) to allow her to use their ceremonies invoking a vision quest in order to talk to Nazareth to ask her what to do about reestablishing relations with the aliens. When he is finally persuaded and Delina meets her forebear, what Nazareth says to her seems impossible. It is to eradicate hunger.
After a long time Delina realises the question boils down to ‘How can people eat less food and still thrive?’ The answer she finds is in religion. Throughout history ascetics, nuns, monks and so on claim to have got by, flourished even, on little food. The secret, Delina realises, lay not in religion itself but more specifically in chanting. But it turns out that any sort of singing will suffice. By analogy with photosynthesis Delina calls the process of deriving sustenance through song, audiosynthesis. (It was here I felt Elgin had gone over the score. Now we are in outright fantasy land. Sound is a form of energy, yes, but by what mechanism can it be converted to chemical energy. In any case, are these accounts of abstinence credible? Religious adherents have been known to engage in deception to ensnare the gullible, to impress the credulous.)
Yet what would lack of hunger mean? If everyone has access to food (or can gain the necessities of survival elsewhere) then conflict will be reduced, if not eliminated, a means of control of people removed. And, as happened with Láadan, humans would change, they would be in effect a new species, with a new outlook on life.
Elgin’s background is perhaps showing when a (male) character asks, “would you please explain how it happens that the President and Vice-President of the United States” [of Earth] “are always incompetent?” and when given a counter example says, “He thought Presidents were allowed to fix things. He didn’t last long,” which leans into that pernicious strand of USian thought which distrusts government, which thinks government is a bad thing and which also, therefore, encourages conspiracy theories.
The same character’s assertion that “There cannot be a conspiracy that size to do good! …. Human beings are only capable of really buckling down and working together in groups when their goals are evil,” has simply misinterpreted human history. Co-operation (plus the passing on of knowledge) - not conflict, and certainly not individualism - is what allowed humans to become the dominant species on our planet.
As speculation, as SF, this is all fine, outrageous premises have often been turned into good stories. The story here, though, is only touched on obliquely, its ramifications for future human relationships left unshown.
The novel is our prime way of exploring what it means to be human. It is difficult, therefore, to convey a change in human behaviour using it as a medium. If Elgin doesn’t quite manage to, her attempt can be applauded.

[Jassmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Translation, you know, is not a matter of substituting words in one language for words in another language. Translation is a matter of saying in one language, for a particular situation, what a native speaker of the other language would say in the same situation. The more unlikely that situation is in one of the languages, the harder it is to find a corresponding utterance in the other.

In some ways, this is the weakest book in the trilogy. In others, it's the strongest one.
One thing that I believe is good to know before you start it is that there is a solid time gap between Elgin finishing The Judas Rose and starting Earthsong. She did it on purpose, because she thought that the idea of women language will become popular - which didn't happen and I think that this disappointment changed this book a lot. Because Láadan, the core of the previous books, almost disappeared from this one. It's mentioned a few times in the beginning and then almost not at all. Which I think was a serious mistake - even if the project was a failure, dropping it altogether just destroyed the feeling of continuity of the series.
In lots of aspects, this books seems to be separate from the rest of the trilogy as if it was about something entirely different. From my POV it's more like Elgin moved from "the middle class/privileged" feminism to basic socio-economical questions (in the spirit of Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot). And if you read the essay "The Meandering Feminist Revolution of Earthsong" attached to some of the editions, you know that the principals of Elgin's reasoning didn't really change. That said, she does little to support the feeling of continuity.

I have a good mind, she thought. I am articulate; I think before I speak, and I speak the truth. Why am I so bad at making myself understood? It was an old question, and one she had no answer for; she suspected that if she'd had to rely on English rather than Láadan she would have been a woman with one of those labels attached. Borderline personality disorder. Hysteria.

Once more, Elgin's characters are exquisitely written. I was especially fond of Delia who we meet right in the beginning and I was so sorry to see her go. The author weaves the story in complicated narrative structure, resembling the mosaic structure of her previous novels, but even more shattered. We get some large pieces, but also a lot of tiny ones - some of which are really hard to decipher and understand why are they a part of this story. (Sometimes too hard in my opinion.) And other times, I feel like Elgin is way too good at selling us her characters and their situation in such short spaces, because she often leaves me wanting to just read a book about them instead of moving on. (There is so much funny short-story ideas!)

"Will, for heaven's sakes, let me go bring her in here where you can be comfortable while you talk to her!"
"Oh, no!" He shook his head firmly. "She expects me to go out there and hunker down and do monosylables and wise grunts and noble platitudes at her, and she's earned that. I'm not about to disappoint her."
His wife cocked her head and stepped back, her hands once more on her hips, and stood there looking at him as if he were a very rare and exceedingly nasty bug; she blew through her lips in total exasperation.
"I don't care," he told her. "This is an Anglo woman, and she is busting her tail trying to be her idea of a Native American doing a sacred fast, and I'm not going to make her feel like a fool by acting normal. I will go out there and meet her expectations as best I can."

The story also gains some diversity and even though I wasn't quite sure about it in the beginning, I think that Elgin manages to walk fine line between stereotypes and making fun of them. Her Native Americans are surely on the wise side, but they feel like fully fledged humans and Elgin treats them with respect (she f.e. doesn't describe the particulars of the ceremony needed for vision quest that is part of the plot, only the results and the vision itself).
Part of me feels that this trilogy might have been even better with some more editing, but those might be just my personal preferences. (But still the truth is that there is a lot of loose threads - which in part is clearly author's intent, but still... I would love to get some of those tied. And there are also some... I wouldn't say plot-holes exactly, but... some things just don't make sense.) It's definitely a book that would be greater enjoyed in discussion, because it presents plethora of interesting concepts and thoughts that are, in the end, probably more interesting than the plot itself. I would definitely recommend the trilogy if you are interested in linguistics or feminism (ideally both). It really is an interesting piece.
I'll close this review with one of the funny passages, unfortunately it spoils the ending of The Judas Rose or maybe even a bit of Earthsong, but it happens right in the beginning...

"Well, Delina, I am sorry," Nazareth told her, "and I am sorry you've had so hard a time. Still... I never said that line, you know. Not once. Other people said it. And the way I died... that wasn't deliberate."
Delina's laugh rang out harsh and sudden, startling the grasshoppers into leaping, all at the same time, all around her.
"I don't believe you for one minute, Greatgrandmother!" she cried. "Don't try that with me! You were out therein the roses. You looked up and saw the AIRYs waltzing across the lawn and whoopsing away with no explanation . And you said to yourself. 'Well, I certainly don't want to have to deal with this mess!' And you dropped dead on the spot with a sheaf of roses tastefully draped over your thighs! That is what really happened!"

P.S. I'm now obsessed with the idea of whale's supremacy. What if whales are actually smarter than humans? What if whales made a contact with aliens before humans? All those possibilities that Elgin missed...

[Readelf · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay I'm not going to call it a hot mess, but I am going to admit to bring utterly bewildered and confused

***** spoiler ****

So I decided to go along for the ride with the ghost whisperer spirit journey, and I also took the living on music in my stride. The way I figured it, this is a fantasy book where the language you use physically alters in world in intangerable ways (rather than altering the world in obvious ways like lying on the side of a bus, or telling people you've won an election when you haven't. Which are obvious ways of changing the world in tangible ways with words). If your language changes the nature of reality -- sod it! music can keep you fed. Also I've read Nancy Kress and we all know how feeding the masses with photosynthesis works out. What I don't understand is the Native American thing. Like at all. Why did loads of linguist women have to marry them, why did we not really refer back to this at any point until the very end where it turns out Native Americans can talk to dolphins. And actually WTF. Just actually wtf.

Then there's the fast forwarding through time, which would have worked if it had been more clearly signalled.

Then there's the bit where a small ice age wipes out lots of the men, because the women live on music but the men have to eat. At the end of the ice age the women regain adult privileges and rights etc...... but.... the idea of the overaching importance of men is so engrained, that it is decided the only way to release the secret of feeding off soundwaves to the masses for government approval is to make the men think the whole thing is kinda their idea.

The way this is done is through a scheme wherin the president of the united States' personal secetary tricks the president of the united states into raping her and then somehow tricks the VP into murdering her to cover up the rape. This then leads a famous female musivian to falsely confess to to the rape and murder. She then explains the whole thing is part of a epic plan that's gone on for centuries and she reveals conspirators and the whole conspiracy. The president and VO no longer need to be punished for rape and murder in any because it was all the woman's fault -- wtf wtf wtf wtf wtf wtf wtf! Also, initially they decide to ban music etc and literally take free food away from people (an act they accept is wrong, but correct for the status quo). However they then change their minds and pretend sound feeding was all their own idea and realease it to the masses. No reason is given for this. And actually at this point I just decided I didn't need one as it would make the book longer.

There's also some cracking good spirited 80s racism in there. Meant with the very best of intentions, but somewhat jarring. I mean is it okay to send one from each of the skin types of earth: the yellow people, the white people, the black people, the brown people, and the red people? I kinda get the intention of unity, but again wtf.

Also there's the bit were women arent allowed to enjoy having sexy fun (lie back and think of linguists, or native Americans, or something). And one woman is banned from being a pilot by the other women because her brain waves show she enjoys being a pilot so much that it's an estatic experience for her. What a buzz kil.

And anyway, the Native American dolphin thing. What actually is with that.

There you go. I read the book do you didn't have to. If you do it anyway out of puerile curiosity, it was utterly your own fault.

[Nicolas Lontel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have la couverture très différente de deux premiers tomes, l'éditrice semble nous annoncer dès le départ qu'on s'éloigne un peu des thèmes qui prédominaient alors pour se concentrer sur de nouveaux questionnements. Alors qu'on peut penser que le gynolecte a échoué, selon le point de vue des femmes des Lignes, elles se tournent vers le projet de supprimer la fin dans le monde à l'aide de l'audiosynthèse, une pratique de chant qui nourrit à la place de la nourriture et qui permettra aux êtres humains de se débarrasser de leur dépendance au système capitaliste et des enjeux de pouvoir disproportionnés dans un monde pris dans des catastrophes de tous les ordres (économiques, climatiques, etc.).

Ce n'est évidemment pas un rejet du Láadan qu'on observe dans le roman, le language n'étant qu'une des étapes dans l' "évolution" humaine, mais de nouvelles perspectives de mettre fin aux formes de violences émanent de différences de pouvoir (tout ça est très Foucaldien).

Je dois avouer, et à lire les commentaires je ne semble pas être la seule personne, a être légèrement déçu· par ce dernier opus, non pas seulement qu'il ne s'inscrit pas en continuité avec les précédents ou semble abandonner un peu trop le Láadan et l'aspect science-fictionnel au profit d'une certaine fantaisie (communiquer avec les esprits / l'idée d'audiosynthèse). Earthsong semble fragmenter encore plus son récit en plusieurs "nouvelles" liées, ce sont encore de nouveaux personnages qui émergent, les anciens disparaissant complètement vers le milieu du roman au profit du nouvelle génération, mais les nouveaux ne semblent plus être aussi travaillés ou je n'ai pas ressenti d'attachement particulier envers elles et eux. On semble avoir un peu tout lâché les structures du départ (ce qui est bien pour la société du roman ; les femmes semblent avoir même regagné le droit de vote [pas celui de représentation par exemple]), mais les nouvelles organisations ne sont pas détaillées, on en apprend davantage que "par accident" dans la narration.

J'ai bien aimé la présence de l'annexe à la fin. Le rôle des Premières Nations dans le récit aurait probablement été mieux servi si celles-ci avaient été présentes dès le premier tome de la trilogie et non pas comme simple ressort narratif dans une idée de diversité (qui est assez mal justifiée à la fin, on comprend que ce n'est pas ce que les femmes veulent nécessairement véhiculer comme idée, mais ça reste assez mal formulé/justifié).

Bref, une finale qui se tourne vers de nouvelles directions plutôt que de poursuivre sur la lancée des deux premiers romans ; on comprendra que les opinions peuvent différer sur son appréciation.

[Sydis0n · Rating 3 out of 5]

I absolutely ADORED the first two books of this series. Native Tongue and Judas Rose were both five star reads for me, with the first being a personal six. I loved everything S.H.E did with the writing, her style, the characters, the interwoven plots? Amazing! Earthsong, the final book of this trilogy, is much different than the first two. I knew from reading reviews that many found this final book dissappinting, primarily due to the abrupt change in focus. I am chronically unable to leave a series uncompleted, but I did wait a year to tackle this last book, allowing me to read it with fresh eyes and a weaker attachment to the first two books. Despite this, I still found Earthsong lacking for a few specific reasons.

To be clear, I enjoyed this book. I am glad I finished it and it carries similar themes to the first two books of the "seed of change." Elgin does fantastic work with generational writing that spans centuries of change through meticulous planning by ingenious women. However, I felt that this final book was more disjointed in it's various POVs, most likely due to the underlying narrator—a deceased woman sharing her story through mediums. While certainly intriguing (and on par with the already peculiar world of aliens, space travel, and futuristic technological advancements) the sections felt, at times, inconsequential to the overarching progress of the women's plans.

I also concur, even a year later, that the abandonment of Láadan was still dissappinting. I found the new idea of adiosynthesis (feeding peace through music) very fun to explore, but I could not help but imagine the potential that Láadan could have had if the final book continued its spread to outside of the Lines. We could have seen a similarly cathartic conclusion of the series without completely diverting from the original plot.

Overall, the book by itself would have gotten a four star rating for its beautiful writing and intensely complex world building, but as an installment of a series, it's inability to blend drops it to a three.

[⋇⊶⊰abi⊱⊷⋇ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Language can change not only your perception of reality but also reality itself. I enjoyed this installment much more than its precursor, The Judas Rose; again, that one was just too fanatically religious for me, but this one. This one was just my speed.

Delina, through the help of the PICOTA and a vision quest where she saw her very dead great-grandmother, uncovers the possibilities of audiosynthesis. Are you joking with me? This is the coolest idea I have ever heard of in my life. I am dying to know if this would hold up in our reality. I will be making a note to look into that further at a later date. Back to Delina's delicious idea (literally) that music or aural stimulation could replace mouthfood, as they so lovingly call it. With the pushback of the women of the Chornyak Barren house, she ultimately tests her theory and determines this is a viable way to cure hunger (again, coolest thing I have ever heard of). The women immediately know this is not something that can be shared outright with the public. In her vision quest and discussion with her great-grandmother, it was determined that the aliens had fled Earth because humans are intrinsically violent. Woven into our DNA, the need to punish, kill, and harm is inescapable for the human race, even more so in the males of this world. They determined together that if you could change one key part of who humans are, you could change their need for violence, enter audiosynthesis. To think that the human race could well and truly evolve is so incomprehensible to me since it happens over generations and generations, but this book did make me stop and wonder, what will the next iteration of humans look like, act like? To implement this newfound discovery, they used the same channels they had used to disseminate Laádan, a woman's language they had created, to such a point that by the time audiosynthesis was discovered, there would be nothing anyone could do to fully stop it.

In the afterword, it was said that Elgin originally wanted the name of the book to be The Meandering
Water Tribe, after the women's tribe created by the PICOTA for the women of the Lines. She said that the most powerful feminist movements must meander and take different routes, much like water in the river does. Not only is this beautiful imagery, but a powerful message on being deliberate in how change must come about, taking the quickest route is not always the best way.

[Beth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wtf was that?!

The binary of it all aside...wtf was that?!

Book 1: slow burn, but introduced an interesting concept.

Book 2: a bit disjointed, but built on Book 1's interesting concept and introduced two fascinating characters.

Book 3 (SPOILERS): completely abandoned the interesting concept of Books 1 and 2, disappeared both fascinating characters, and introduced (and NAMED) a slew of utterly insignificant characters and worlds.

This is the hardest I have ever struggled to finish a work of science fiction. I find myself glad that the author is dead, so that I don't have to be angry with a living person.

Elgin's love of language is clear from the drop, but (SPOILERS) abandoning that love for indigenous fetishization in Book 3 was utterly revolting.

She doesn't. Understand. PEOPLE.

(Ms. Elgin... Your language never got off the ground because you don't. Understand. PEOPLE.)

Generations - CENTURIES - of women working together in perfect harmony and secrecy? No bad women, only shallow/undereducated women? Every man is stupid/evil? EVERYONE IS STRAIGHT!?

I feel betrayed. I feel like Suzette Haden Elgin betrayed my feminism. Comparisons to Margaret Atwood are desperately misplaced.