Name of a Shadow

Name of a Shadow (Chance) Ann Maxwell Date: 01 December, 1976   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Science Fiction

The world of Malia is doomed to molecular destruction because of an undeclared war against their colony planet, Vintra. Two outlanders are willing to chance the legendary Malian arrogance to find out why a world would seek destruction, or at least why they would hate their colony planet so. They find instead a mystery that they must unravel before Malia is condemned to die... because the planet might well be innocent.

This book did not grab me. In fact, it was really hard for me to care about the Malians and their heady pursuit of sensation. Moreover, the basic premise of a number of worlds with cross-compatible humanoids who nonetheless are different because of their planets of origin was less than compelling. I rank this book as high as I do because for all that, it is well-written, and another person might find engaging what I find cold. But really, I don't care about these characters, and so the book ranked as a mere plotline rather than a story for the ages.