Mirabile

by Janet Kagan | Science Fiction & Fantasy |
ISBN: 9780812509939 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingGoryDetailswing of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 9/6/2022
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3 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingGoryDetailswing from Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Tuesday, September 6, 2022
I got this softcover from Better World Books, for another release copy.

It's a linked short-story cycle set on a remote planet where a small population descended from Earthlings are attempting to incorporate Earth-genetic creatures into the local ecosystem - with lots of unexpected side effects. The protagonist is a woman in what sounds like late middle-age, who is devoted to monitoring and tweaking (where necessary) the new organisms that develop - and to mentoring the next generation, most of whom seem to adore her. It's surprisingly good fun, not least because after a lifetime of ardent SF fandom I don't think I've encountered Kagan's work before...

It has a lot of the "sentient beings using technology for good" aspects of James White's "Sector General" books, and also reminded me a bit of Becky Chambers' Record of a Spaceborn Few. It has elements such as cheerfully-past-middle-age folk still doing their work and finding romance, bickerings among different communities based in part on their specific ecological niches and in part on cultural baggage from Earth, and some truly delightful mutations; tweaking Earth sheep to be able to eat the local vegetation resulted in sheep with rich blue wool, and an apparently freakish mutation in Earth-kangaroos at first presented as scary-sounding "kangaroo rex" and then - well, I won't spoil it, but there's an on-world community of Australian descent that was delighted to find out what those carnivorous marsupials were becoming.

Each of the stories - which are presented as being told to an extended-family group as evening entertainment, with some of the kids chiming in regarding the stories they were present for - expand a bit on the origins of the community, some of the difficulties in their past (the "Bad Times" are mentioned often, and there was a plague on one of the ships that utterly decimated its population, making the Mirabile folk all the more ready to get vaccinated when a possible disease-vector appears), and the structure of their society. [I love the fact that their "guilds" generally refer to what might be online communities now, focused not on personal origin but on interests they have in common; there's a guild for various cultures, from "Australian" to "Texan" to "Sioux", and for other concepts - the chapter on the new cathedral's belfry introduced the "Cathedral" guild, which had a delightfully misplaced fondness for bats based entirely on a few bits about "bats in the belfry" from the ancient documents.]

The core of the stories is ecological balance - from inventive ways to utilize new species (for food - some of them are delicious! - for protection, as a unique trade item) to more dramatic steps that must be taken when a "frankenboar" develops and begins laying waste to the local trees by tunneling beneath them to devour the roots. There's a lot of care taken in managing potential threats, often finding that they aren't that threatening after all if handled properly, or that they can be relocated or otherwise dealt with. And the nature of the planet is such that there's value in saving nearly all genetic material, as they never know when certain traits might come in handy.

The other key element: family and community, which, here, is often the same thing. Human genetic diversity is as important as that of the ecosystem, so people are encouraged to mix and match so as to create a more diverse next generation. [They can marry (with their own rather entrancing formal-offers-of-courting-gifts rituals) - but that does not apparently have much to do with if, when, or with whom they opt to have children. The main character often mentions that one reason she's so fond of her beloved Leo is that whenever she meets one of his kids or grandchildren she finds them delightful, suggesting that the family genotype is a pretty darned good one.]

I'm rambling at this point - a common problem with books that I love this much; I want to quote *everything*, highlight every funny or scary or dramatic or heartwarming bit. OK, just one quote - from the author's note at the end:

"One of the joys of writing science fiction is that the writer can read anything that appeals to her and claim she's doing research." This is followed by a suggested reading list that might demonstrate just how many of the far-fetched (seeming) elements in the story are based on real-world evolution!

And I'll leave it at this: the book made me grin a lot, chuckle out loud, even get a bit teary in a good way. Recommended!

[There's a TV Tropes page on this short-story collection, with some interesting tidbits.]

Journal Entry 2 by wingGoryDetailswing at Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Monday, November 7, 2022

Released 1 yr ago (11/7/2022 UTC) at Nashua, New Hampshire USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I'm adding this book to the To The Stars SF/fantasy/horror bookbox, which will be on its way to its next stop shortly. Enjoy!

** Released for the 2022 Science Fiction challenge. **

Journal Entry 3 by Chicvolley99 at Denver, Colorado USA on Friday, December 9, 2022
Received in the To the Stars: A Science Fiction Bookbox 2.0.

I will release back into the box.

Journal Entry 4 by Chicvolley99 at Denver, Colorado USA on Monday, December 19, 2022

Released 1 yr ago (12/19/2022 UTC) at Denver, Colorado USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Released into the To the Stars: A Science Fiction Bookbox 2.0.

Please enjoy!

Journal Entry 5 by imawinn2 at Neenah, Wisconsin USA on Friday, February 3, 2023
Took this book out of Spatial’s To the Stars Bookbox. I seem to like a lot of books that GoryDetails enjoys. So, going to take a chance on this one.

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