Starmother

by Sydney J. Van Scyoc

Here is a splendid new far-future adventure novel that poses challenging Questions on the meaning of being human.

Cadet Jahna arrives on Nelding, a backwater planet, as a volunteer in an interstellar peace corps The First Fathers of Needing, a brooding, repressive group, requested her particularly —surprisingly, for she is young and in-experienced. Her first impressions are gloomy. Jahna is delivered to the huge log fortress, Pengalen, where she learns, first, that she is to be assigned the care of infants and, secondly, from Becklord. the mysterious but attractive lord of Pengalen, that there is another Culture on Nelding, a forest community called Tentback which is considered unclean and inhuman by the First Fathers and their followers.

Genres: Science Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

186 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

aka Sydney Joyce Brown

Reviews

[Sol · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover looks like one of those "Gor as written by a woman" books, but that couldn't be further from the truth. This is a moody, atmospheric story of strange events on a backwater planet, with a woman from a prosperous secular world thrust into a situation beyond her imagining. Van Scyoc has a great gift for description - so much is said with very few words. Special attention is given to the environments of the grey and swampy planet, and the raucous singing and dancing of its mutant inhabitants, the mockdirad. The physical descriptions of the mockdirad aren't quite as effective. My best guess is that they're supposed to look something like a man with his face and torso stretched out to the proportions of a horse, and covered in fur.

The description is often rapturous, but the storytelling is more staid. It opens with the protagonist Jahna not understanding why she has been chosen to foster mutant infants, or what indeed is going on. She's a mostly passive observer as the layers of the mystery are peeled away and she comes to understand the bizarre sociobiological system governing the planet Nelding: the mutagens of the planet have done more than alter the human form, but human nature itself, by turning humans into "moldings" capable of being developed entirely by nurture rather than nature. It's an incredible idea in multiple senses, and Van Scyoc wisely doesn't try to invoke any scientific basis for the process. It's a satisfying resolution to the mysteries of the book, but it leaves me wanting more. Jahna arrives for a two year tour of service, and the entire book covers less than a week of time. It's not exactly sequel bait, but it does tantalize the imagination slightly painfully.

Feminist themes are obvious: Jahna is a citizen of a secular and egalitarian planet, and both societies she discovers on the planet Nelding are intensely patriarchal, in two different ways. The basic conflict Jahna faces is how to survive in a world in which she cannot be taken as an equal: even though she has power among the mockdirad, it is as a witch rather than a person. Her sense of ethics tells her that since she can do something about the state of this world, she must, but doing so requires both her personal sacrifice in spending years among the moldings, and an ethical sacrifice in that she must use what she sees as essentially deceptive ends, which also play into the less altruistic goals of Beck Lord, who has been openly manipulating her. In order to raise the station of women on Nelding, she must subjugate herself. Any action she takes herself must be essentially subversive, such as when she goes off of Beck's script and makes a pretense of mind-reading to force the mockdirad into longer penance.

Two other women are minor viewpoint characters, members of the two opposite societies of the planet. One is completely subservient to the misogynistic beliefs of her people, the other is violently rebellious, but in the sense that she wants entrance to the halls of male power: it isn't so much that she resents the existence of domination over others, but rather that she personally isn't wielding that power. The first is only weakly integrated into the story, but the second makes an interesting antagonist. Van Scyoc does a good job distinguishing each of their sections stylistically from Jahna and each other.

The author published around ten novels over 20 years, and I can't believe that she's become completely unknown. I'll have to check out some of her other work to see if it's similar to this.

[Keri Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars! StarMother is a hidden feminist gem from 1976! After reading, I realized that it’s not just sci-fi. It’s actually a gothic tale in a science fiction setting!

A woman from a sort of planetary Peace Corps in the future is sent to another planet on a 2 year mission about which she is given very few details. What they do tell her is that it will involve caring for mutant infants, something she has absolutely no experience in. She finds this odd, but accepts the mission anyway, wanting to be of assistance to their planet. When she arrives, she has to grapple with differences among the planet’s unique and varied cultures, which are all very different from her own way of life.

There is so much to appreciate in StarMother! It has strong atmosphere which led to an immersive reading experience. It contains unexpected POVs, written in very distinct voices that nicely round out the story. I found it difficult to guess where the plot was headed next. And it had a clever twist I couldn’t predict!

One thing that is a positive aspect for me, but might be a drawback for some readers, is that descriptions of some of the mutants are kept vague. So if you like to really know exactly what you’re looking at, this might not be for you. Van Scyoc’s writing suggests feelings and images with descriptions, but they aren’t as much concrete descriptions as they are about the feelings they give you. The ending wasn’t quite as satisfying as I wanted it to be, but still solid overall.

You might like StarMother if you are looking for:
- stories involving anthropology
- interesting mutants
- body horror
- questions about what it means to be human
- books featuring outcasts or outsider characters

[Ezra · Rating 4 out of 5]

StarMother is incredible in so many ways! The main character is a woman named Jahna, who is summoned to the planet Nelding. There she encounters two completely different cultures, each being very different from her own.

On Nelding, Jahna has to try to understand each culture, and has to decide how to interact with the people of each culture without violating her own values. She also has to struggle with whether to try and influence the cultures on Nelding to make them align more with the values of her own culture.

Both of Nelding’s cultures are complex and feel very real. The author, Sydney J. Van Scyoc, essentially does not info dump. Instead she makes you learn through immersion by writing chapters from the point of view of a character from each culture represented in the book. Each point of view character is completely different from the other POVs. You slowly decode each culture through context clues, and the repetition of terms and concepts. Rather than being confused and frustrated, I found this learning process made the story a fascinating mystery that I was dying to solve!

Despite all of StarMothers strengths, it does have some problems. The end came too quickly, and didn’t wrap everything up in the most satisfying way. But the major problem I had with the book is some of its implications and real world analogies. It is heavily inspired by the history of colonization and the interaction between European colonists and various indigenous peoples. It isn’t pro-colonization, the main colonizers are definitely shown negatively, but I think some things should have been handled differently. It was published in 1975, so it isn’t up to our current standards. The book does its best work in its pro-feminism and anti-patriarchy messaging.

While being aware of the flaws, I still think that StarMother is a brilliant and underrated work of science fiction!

[Nathaniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m so glad I discovered this book. It joins my small but growing collection of weird body horror-esque books (it sits on a shelf with The Chrysalids, Annihilation, and Wilder Girls). I might need to start looking for more vintage sci-fi books.

[Levi Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this in a night, really cool idea, writing was lame

Also my cover has cool psychedelic artwork which I liked

[Robert Burita · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book. It was one of those fantasy books vaguely disguised as a sci-fi book, but not in a cheap way. The story was engaging and the conclusion mostly satisfying.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Starmother, space cadet Jahna is chosen to be the caregiver for "mutant" infants on a grey, unwelcoming world. However, the hostile welcome she receives conceals the extent of the genetic mutations that she later finds. The more she learns about the world and its split societies (order and silence vs. primal lust and chaos), the more she realizes that something is amiss. I can't say any more without revealing spoilers.

At just over 200 pages, this book is incredibly short. The world was fresh and interesting (especially the society of the mockdirad), but I felt that the author could have done so much more with this concept. The ending doesn't feel in the right place. At least this didn't fall prey to the "Love Interest" that seems to fall into every science-fiction novel.

[Rodzilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book with unconventional plot and pacing. Full of observations of fascinating planet and culture, but falls short on characters. This could have been an all-time epic but somehow didn't. And yet that seems intentional, as if influenced by LeGuin's unconventional plot arcs without LeGuin's mastery. Still, an intriguing read with unusual feminist tinge at a time when that was unusual. 3.5 stars, rounded up for originality.

[Charles · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this more than I did. The idea seemed good. I didn't think the execution was as strong.

[Judi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good read about a disturbing planet with a very strange society. I think perhaps Ms. Van Scyoc was making a social commentary; I'll leave that to you when you read it...Enjoyed the title character although I thought she was a bit slow on the uptake some times. Not as good as the Sun Scrolls series.

[Kittin · Rating 1 out of 5]

38% DNF NOPE

[M Shrak · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember reading this as a teenager. It was an interesting book.

[Rod · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such an odd, odd book. Definitely not your typical science fiction adventure by any means. As others have noted, the author has a way with descriptions (especially of location) that is excellent, especially with the way she works in all five senses. The trouble is, the world felt really fleshed out... the characters, maybe not so much. So many of them you get the feeling there's a tremendous back-story there, but you're never given access to it. As such, going through the book (and even at the end) you never really feel like you've got to know these characters well enough to care about them (other than perhaps to say things like "What the HECK is HER problem??"). I know that's comparable to Real Life, I'm just not certain that it makes a very good read. It seems like overall this is a parable about ambivalence. When I finished reading it, I felt... ambivalent about the book.

[Cuauhtemoc · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked Sydney J. Van Scyoc writing style, this is not the common Science Fiction novelette. It seems like this is written from an Anthropologist or related science professional point of view. I felt like Sydney J. Van Scyoc was denouncing indirectly current patriarchal cults/religions or even zealots organizations, that do not have much respect for women or science. The book was written in the 70's and I do not think much has changed in that department.
The story is short and some things go on without much explaining. However, the writing style, the minutia in the descriptions, and the narrative are very good. I will certainly look for more books from this author.
I also believe that she handled stereotypes much better than male writers from the same period. Sydney J. Van Scyoc style is different and refreshing.

[bluetyson]

isbn,original

[Corinne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book left me feeling puzzled, because it was so short that the plot couldn't develop properly and the idea of "impriting" one's self on some babies is simply strange.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ending dropped the ball a bit. But intriguing all around.