Accidental Creatures

Dec 15, Natalie rated it it was ok. The science was interesting, and the premise of the story was intriguing. The opening of the book was promising, but was bogged down by its character, most of whose personalities were neither distinctive nor distinguishable from one another or who contradicted themselves unconvincingly. The plot contained problematic holes as well. With another couple of revisions the book could have been very good.

Jan 14, Colin rated it really liked it Recommended to Colin by: This book was awesome, and really, really strange! I swear, sometimes I don't know where fiction writers get their ideas. Super political, smart, and interesting.

Lots to think about in terms of labor, "normalcy," environmental justice, corporate power, and resistance. Jul 01, Bonnie rated it liked it. Feb 16, Jane rated it really liked it. It's futuristic and weird, two things I love in a novel. Interesting While I didn't like this much,the story was very interesting,about new species.

The characters reasonably done but I just couldn't get into it. Jul 06, Rain rated it liked it Shelves: A light fun read with lesbian characters - a little over-the-top on the corny cliches - but enjoyable if you dont take it too seriously. Daniel rated it really liked it Jul 23, Emily rated it really liked it Sep 20, Summer rated it it was amazing Apr 18, Brad Polant rated it liked it Jan 26, L rated it liked it May 21, Marianne rated it really liked it Jul 19, Catherine rated it liked it Feb 21, This was an entertaining novel.

However, it was written in a way that I can only call fluff. It had an interesting premise and interesting ideas, but the execution made it feel like pulp fiction. It made for very easy reading. In fact, I read it in two days; granted a lot of that was during down time at work. The book is packed with a lot of action and dialogue.

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But it was fun and light. Come visit my blog for the full review… https: Sonni rated it liked it Dec 16, Gerhard Kleinhans rated it liked it Oct 23, Rebecca rated it really liked it Jul 31, Kristen Brown rated it really liked it Feb 09, After Ada organizes a successful strike against the company, she dies under mysterious circumstances. Her sister Chango wants nothing to do with vat diving, but she falls in love with a four-armed woman named Helix with a strange affinity for the vats.

Halfway through the book, Harris switches genres and reveals in a few summary pages that Helix has been spawned by Lilith, a creature biologically engineered for vat diving who has taken on the qualities of a primeval goddess and rebelled against GeneSys, now understood to be a sort of rival god. Thereafter, it's one extravagantly ad hoc turn after another as the plot rushes in a direction quite at odds with the biotechnological buildup and the social realism of the opening.

There may be a couple of good novels--one fantasy, one SF--embedded within, but shoehorning them together has diminished both.

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Customer Ratings We have not received enough ratings to display an average for this book. More by Anne Harris. Creativity Policy, Partnerships and Practice in Education. Romana Exklusiv Band When she finally ventures forth, she triggers a series of events that change the world. Almost immediately, she runs afoul of a mugger. In defending herself, she has to reveal her abnormalities and also suffers a knife wound. This event links her story to Chango's. It is Chango who rescues her and hides her in the marginal society of Vattown.

With the good heart of those who have nothing, Chango risks everything to help a fugitive.

Somewhere in here, they fall in love and eventually back out of love. Against everyone's advice, Helix insists on trying her four hands at vat diving and succeeds in starting a riot. Helix and Chango embark on an Odyssean journey through the netherworld of Detroit, pursued by the minions of GeneSys. Along the way, they meet with friends and enemies sometimes we have difficulty telling them apart , heroes and traitors, publicans and thieves.

One of the more interesting of these is Orielle, one of the publicans, a mutant blast dealer, "upwards of seven feet tall, her hair -- pure white and fine as spun glass -- skin not so much white as transparent. Meanwhile, we learn more of Hector's troubles. He set out to make the world a better place, but his greatest research has gone completely out of his control. His bosses are pressing him for promised improvements in production efficiency.

If he lets them find out that he has lost control, they will shut him down. He can't permit this, nor can he regain control of the project. He fights back with his guile and the importance of his project.

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Eventually, Helix returns to him with Chango, and they join his struggle. Of course, we eventually come to the confrontation with GeneSys.

Ada's memory is redeemed, the identity of the Night Hag is revealed, and Chango's world changes forever. Some will think that it changes for the better. On the way, we get to enjoy Harris' fast paced narrative, literate dialogue, and telling analysis of the dangers of genetic manipulation, as well as her obvious love for the city that she and I call home.

This is a better book than The Nature of Smoke, which was itself a good first novel. I hope that we can look forward to a series of books that entertain us while calling our attention to the dangers inherent in some scientific advances. Accidental Creatures won the Spectrum Award for best science fiction, fantasy or horror novel.