A.B. Normal

Aliens!

Reviewed: 09-10-20

I have written reviews of other items in this series with a more generalized critique. In this review, oh gentle reader, (I like to keep my delusions healthy and well fed) I want to talk about how the book deals with gender, with one brief diversion into peeve.

The indeginous sentient species on the 3rd planet of the Tau Ceti system are intersected, or hermaphroditic. To be clear, they possess the reproductive organs for two sex types simultaneously. It is not clear if they are capable of asexual reproduction, but, during coitus they each creature uses all of its reproductive organs in joining with its mate and both are apparently capable of impregnation and gestation. This would, it seems to me, have been a excellent opportunity to explore sexual and romantic partnership without gender roles. Dahners provides gender blended pronouns (although they betray an androcentric perspective in that they are comprised of "feminized" additions to traditional male pronouns; "himr" for instance) and dialogue that could easily have projected no gender clichés. He however chooses not to, and the narrator doubles down on his choice.

From the beginning each of the creatures plays to conventional gender conventions: one is strong, independent, seeks to provide security for the pair and while the other is passive, dependent and seeks security. The narrator provides a male persona for one and a female persona for one. Within this context the two play out the standard "frenemies to lovers" HEA romance.

Dahners does give the "male" character a break in that he is not rude, boorish, and selfish in the way Dahners portrays other men in the story, although he does go to that format for the lover who spurns the "female" character in the opening seconds of the romance and sets up the need for rescue around which the progression to lovers is based. This is not to say that the female-ish character sits at home and eats bon bons: she fishes and hunts, uses weapons and is assertive to others, but adapting one of the worst stereotypes for female influence in having her assume a wily, conniving and scheming role in the pair's reunion with the clan from which they were separated and doing so while achieving a high level of status. in this phase, the male-ish character, clever and inventive in other activities, becomes the dumb lunk, ignorant of social manipulation and achievement.

This missed opportunity is sad, particularly given the Y/A audience to whom is is directed. It would not have been difficult to draw these characters without gender stereotypes; to have them simply be two beings who face a crisis and fall in love while negotiating it. There was no compelling narrative aspect that required the stereotype: aside maybe the desire to have a plot device that tracks Ells developing romance with that of the TeeCees. Given the potential benefit of portraying domestic partnering without gender roles to a young adult audience, I don't see the upside of what he has done.

It could have been predicted however in Dahners' unbelievably egocentric handling of the first meeting of two sentient beings from different solar systems. In the first reference to the indigenous being his characters encounter they refer to the it, a being encountered on its own turf by the interloper from the rocket ship, identifies it as an "alien". I don't think I can concieve of a more arrogant, chauvinistic conceptualization. Honestly, I don't even understand the impulse to identify the residents of the spaces I am invading as aliens. But he does, and his characters do, throughout the series. It makes it pretty clear how much Dahners is locked into convention, even when he seeks to create other worlds, even when he creates his own opportunities to abandon it.

From the perspective of a teacher, I would love to have the opportunity to teach a class on gender, gender roles and gender stereotypes using this book. It is, I think, an excellent example of how a man, even when writing as a woman, is led by his own privilege into revealing the supremacist inside him

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Perspective on Men

Reviewed: 09-05-20

I have written more general reviews in other series episodes. I want to say something about Mr. Dahners portrayal of male gendered characters in the series.

There are two kinds of men in Ell Donsaii's world: "friendly boys" and complete assholes. The friendly boys are in love with Donsaii, either romantically or platonically. On in some cases romantically and then plaronically. But, they all love her and are devoted to he; they would make the supreme sacrifice for her. They will never have to worry about that though because Ell Donsaii kicks ass and she's only one who does.

Early in her life a pattern develops in the way things go with the other gender in Ell's life. Ell meets a boy, wows the boy (in good ways and bad), but, ultimately, leaves the boy after an extended if not prolonged dating period during which Ell makes it clear the she needs no man, and each relationship fails to launch. For some reason that pattern changes with the person who becomes the actual boyfriend - as opposed to friendly boy - but not by much. That is she meets him, wows him, makes it clear she doesn't need hi, but falls for him. even though, from the readers perspective, this guy is no different than the other three. What it looks like is that Ell decides in the last cast that she's not going to let another friendly boy drift away and so closes with him.

Other, more peripheral, men are either devoted to Ell Donsaii, or they think she's "just a girl" and behave in a stereotypically boorish manner right up until she puts them in their place.

These men are a variety of the complete asshole males, though a kinder softer version. The antagonists of these stories however are neither kind, nor gentle. Indeed, they are kidnappers, murderers, rapists and radical terrorists. There are causes for concern in the composition of Donsaii's deadly enemies. All of them are men, all of them people of color (or non-white if that term is not applicable) and all of them near or far eastern in origin: Chinese at first, then middle eastern. The series is currently at 16 episodes and only the first 8 are available on Audible, so it's possible that some of the future enemies are Eastern European or even Western, but the ones we've seen so far fulfill all of the worst stereotypes of these cultures and peoples.

Aside from these exaggerated bad guys, men are basically plot devices for Dahners: the ways and means to take Ell and her fellow female actors through the developments of their lives. Ell needs romance, voilà! there's a boy and she's married.

I don't think any of this is meanly meant. However, there is no doubt that, in Ell's world, men are generally not very nice people.

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3 people found this helpful

Nice

Reviewed: 08-25-20

As with others, good story. Starting to strain the believability quotient some but, it is specfic after all. Characters are well developed in the sense that their interactions are substantive and characters exist for more that just moving the plot forward, but shallow in the sense that there is little to no backstory for any of them, even the protagonist has little backstory except that her parents were good athletes, mom is a teacher but we have only seen her as wait staff. Step dad is an ass (and there is generally one, arrogant bad male in every episode, so far now femme baddies). I’m still a little worried about the consistent portrayal of non-whites (with exception of black 1st line characters). Bad guys are all either east or west Asian. Well see what develops.

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Upbeat positive SciFi story

Reviewed: 08-22-20

This is a kind of sweet coming of age story about a young woman with some special skills. The message, that humility, great skill and beauty can coexist in the same person. The characters, though not deeply developed are likeable when they’re supposed to be and not likeable when not. There are depictions of Arab terrorists that seem mostly free of stereotype and bias, but I’m an old white guy so a cannot speak to that authoritatively. Ditto for issues of gender and sexuality (although there are no characters that fall within these concerns). Anyway, a benign, easy way to spend a couple of hours.



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Required reading

Reviewed: 08-16-20

It is hard to tell, given the vast range of time and place covered by this text, whether it is a solid historical account. The level of detail, specificity of attention and shear number of people, places, ideas, beliefs, heresies and orthodoxies would require a fact checker to spend as much time verifying the book as was taken to write it.
This is not to say that the book is cumbersome or weighed down by minutia, it is not. The story is told in a brisk, efficient manner, logically laid out and well written. The history is given according to epoch, region and spiritual movement. There is no jumping between places and people or ideas.
For me the material and its treatment makes clear that, in essence, every religion is the same. Most if not all of the early religions were polytheistic and essentially consisted of a cast of characters that sprang from a creation myth. There was a head god, one or more lieutenants, a throng of other characters responsible for the various actions of the earth, environment or mysteries of existence that needed explaining. There is human relating, human/deity pairings, blended offspring and drama. There are exceptions, the early religions of Asia, for instance, which have features of the the others but other ideas, consistent with the needs of the culture or the peculiarities of geography or circumstance in the region of origin.
Later religions too have a similar pattern. All generally descend from the ideas one charismatic individual, whose work is eventually codified, politicized and overtaken by the power dynamics of all human enterprise. I am tempted to say that Buddhism is an exception, but an investigation of various iterations around Asia make clear that that is not so.
Christianity is no exception. In its bare bones it is a cult of personality, built around a poor rabbi trying to reform his religion and prepare his people for the coming end of the world. The spread of the religion is primarily due to the work of Saul (Paul) of Tarsis, the only disciple who advocated teaching Christ’s message to non-Jewish congregations
This is all a a gross simplification of almost 50 hours of material, but I do it to make the point that the book’s presentation covers the material in a way that is short on miracles and long on group dynamics, politics and human desire for power, in addition to the drive for transcendence that all humans share.
The book is required reading for any person seeking to understand Christianity today.

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If you want to know what women were doing…

Reviewed: 07-24-20

while old white men were out creating the world and stealing history, this is (one of) your book(s). Well written, well paced interesting, informative. Nicely done. Makes clear the importance of women’s contribution to the advancement of civilization, even during times when they were enslaved by their spouses and never permitted to leave the house.

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7 people found this helpful

So powerful it hurts

Reviewed: 10-22-19

This book makes it’s points so saliently, illustrates it’s premises so clearly and demonstrates the reality of its conclusions so poignantly that it is both hard to put down and difficult to pick up. The fact of men’s disdain, disregard and frank disgust with women is irredeemable portrayed. It is depressing and hard to hear and, sadly, leaves little hope for the future save that enough people get angry about it that revolutionary intervention becomes viable. Should be required reading for every person seeking a degree at any university.

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Why a male narrator?

Reviewed: 07-20-19

This is a good starting effort for a series, connected in a way but standalone with a more or less resolved plot by closing.
Tess is a great character, very committed to her victims, unwilling to let personal, official or bureaucratic concerns allow suffering to continue beyond the second it takes to solve the case. The plot and antagonist are fairly formulaic and therefore predictable, but that doesn’t really detract from the story. This is by no means the Great American Novel, but it makes no pretensions in that direction.
It’s a simple thriller and meets the requirements of the genre with a strong female lead. It also sets out an ideal world in which women are held up the the merits of their work, not what men think women should be, while also being clear about how stereotypes about women affect the way crime agains women is investigated. It did provide one more glimpse of the double standard: what do you call a perceptive and assertive law enforcement officer? “A bitch with a badge”
My one critique outside of the story is to question the choice of a male narrator for a story about a strong female character. I have to confess that I wouldn’t really have a problem with a female narrator of a strong male character, but I think the difference is clear in the sense there are a lot more stories of strong male characters than there are female. I think women should read women for the foreseeable future. Prejudiced? Yes. Do I care? No.

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6 people found this helpful

A**hole

Reviewed: 02-21-19

I liked the premise of the book and it started out really sweet. The chemistry between the two main characters is nice and makes me want to cheer for them. But (you knew there was going to be one) a subsidiary character - Fiona - is such a consummate, unremitting, intolerable asshole that I couldn’t listen to any sections she inhabited. Her aim seemed to be to embarrass, irritate and humiliate by turns her supposed friend - the protagonist - and I cannot imagine why the author felt the need to write her in in the first place. Aside from the emotions evoked above, there is nothing I can see that she adds to the narrative, except, sadly, to encourage me to stop listening.

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1 person found this helpful

DANGEROUS!!!

Reviewed: 02-04-19

Okay, first the story was a great fantasy and played the submissive mindset well, if exaggerated. As far as being a Dominant is concerned, at that the author is a dangerous failure. A Dom, any Dom has one concern: the safety and security of his submissive.
Let me count the ways in which this author fails in the depiction of these sciences.
1. No safety call.
2. No safe word.
3. No contract
4: No effort at all to makes sure the sub feels safe and secure.
5. No aftercare.

I know this is fantasy. The trouble is there are thousands of people out there with no experience whatsoever who don’t get that this is a fantasy that no one should actually attempt to enact IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER.

So reader beware. And don’t try these things at home. Remember: SAFE,SANE,CONSENSUAL.

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