Farseed

From the Publisher

Farseed was a A VOYA Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Selection of 2007

“This thoughtful planetary adventure is extremely well done. This novel is a fine example of [Sargent’s] work.” —VOYA on Farseed

“The interpersonal dynamics, plus the challenges of adapting to another world, give this long-awaited second book in the Seed Trilogy strong appeal.”  —Booklist on Farseed

Children's Literature - Natalie Gurr

Decades have passed since the events of Earthseed. Ho split off from the main group and tried to establish his own settlement without much success. They have had little communication with the other settlers, which is why Ho's daughter, Nuy, is surprised to see strangers approaching her community. Ho is less the receptive and Nuy is forced out of her home and must help the visitors. Meanwhile, back at the main establishment, the group is wondering what happened to the group sent to find Ho. They organize an expedition to search for answers, but are unprepared for the hostility they encounter. Farseed is the second book in "The Seed Trilogy" and explores the concepts of survival and colonization. The characters are often lost in the unfeeling examination of what it might be like to settle a new planet. There is little emotion in the novel and the characters are hard to relate to. Other science fiction novels such as, The Princess of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs or "The Foundation" series by Isaac Asimov, provide more excitement and feeling. Reviewer: Natalie Gurr

VOYA - Michael Levy

Announced as the second book in a trilogy, this sequel appears more than twenty years after Sargent's widely praised Earthseed (Harper, 1983/VOYA April 1983). The first book recounted the awakening of life on a sub-light-speed colony ship, the eventual abandonment of the human colonists on the Earth-like planet they name Home, and their splitting into two settlements led by young adults named Zoheret and Ho. Now more than twenty years have passed, and the larger group-more cautious, sticking close to their original landing site, and maintaining much of their original technology-has lost contact with the more adventurous people who traveled south to the ocean in the first volume. Things have not gone well for the latter group, however, and they now live impoverished and primitive lives, still ruled over by Ho, who appears to have gone half-mad. One day while out exploring, Ho's daughter Nuy discovers three strangers who have come from the original colony to reestablish relations with her people, but her father, thinking that the strangers carry death with them, murders one of them. A potentially bloody confrontation looms between the two settlements, but the children born on Home, some of whom bear unusual psychic gifts, might hold the key to survival for all humanity on the planet. This thoughtful planetary adventure is relatively quiet and understated but also extremely well-done. Sargent, who has won both the Nebula and Locus Awards, is a significant figure in modern science fiction, and this novel is a fine example of her work.

KLIATT - Lesley Farmer

Finally, more than 20 years after Sargent wrote her classic Earthseed, her sequel has arrived. The story opens a logical generation later with two factions trying to survive on their adopted planet Home. While the majority of the people settled north where the Ship dropped them off, rebel Ho took his contingency south and to the shore—until a large storm drove them inland. When the northerners came south to trade, many of Ho's group died from sickness. A decade later Ho's daughter Nuy spies Chiang scouting the area, she is curious about him and his people. Because he promises food and help to the nearly starving little band, Nuy brings Chiang back to her people, only to witness him being immediately killed. For her efforts, Nuy herself is cast out. How will she survive? Will Chiang's people kill her in revenge? Can the two groups ever rejoin? That is the dilemma for the Ship's "offspring." \Sargent writes a suspenseful survival story that addresses the struggle against nature and against man, with the ultimate message that man needs to cooperate in order to survive the ravages of nature. While some of the characters are well drawn, others are hard to distinguish, and the subplots seem to take away from each other rather than add to the general theme. The tone of the story seems to echo Native American practices; a few gadgets are mentioned, such as a medical diagnostic instrument, but the overall tone has a primitive feel. Nevertheless, readers of Earthseed will welcome this sequel, and hope for a trilogy in the not-too distant future.

Children's Literature - Kathleen Karr

This is science fiction writer Pamela Sargent's sequel to Earthseed. Ship touches down on the planet Home some years after the sapient Ship has deposited settlers from Earth upon it. In the interim, two colonies have evolved: the conservative, dome-based civilization led by Zoheret, and the primitive one of the rebel Ho. But it is the second generation that takes over this story. Zoheret's daughter Leila longs to break free from her sheltered dome world to explore the alien planet, while Ho's daughter Nuy has mastered the arts of survival in the wild but needs refuge from her maddened father. As Ho's dreams of revenge against his former comrades ratchet up to outright warfare, it is Nuy who takes over the plot in an effort to bring peace to the planet. Sci-fi has never been known as a genre strong in characterization or dialogue, but between the obligatory descriptions of planetary life/technical equipment/societal structures, Sargent manages to give the feisty Nuy enough personality to keep the reader's attention.

Kirkus Reviews

In Earthseed (1983), Sargent told the story of Ship, sent into space with a mission to find new worlds for humanity to populate and regenerate in lieu of extinction on a dying planet. Ship found such a planet, and the colonists called it Home. This sequel takes place almost 20 years later. The colonists have divided into separate, disparate and untrusting groups: those who endeavor to replicate the lives lost on Earth, and those who have abandoned "civilization" to revert to the natural environment. Nuy, the 16-year-old daughter of Ho, leader of the breakaway faction, knows that her father has slowly sunken into madness. His hatred and fear of the original colonists has spread terror and malignancy through his few surviving followers. When Nuy stumbles across travelers from the original settlement trekking toward her village, she struggles with conflicting emotions: fear of the death her father says these travelers will bring, and hope that there is a better life out there somewhere. This bleak story has an interesting premise, but can be plodding in its development; intriguing plot lines are hinted at, but neither explored nor clarified. It most clearly resembles life itself: a murky, unresolved struggle for survival. (Science fiction. YA)