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ISBN none (France pbk),,, 0-88878-277-2 (Canada pbk),,, 0-7043-4218-9 (UK pbk),,, 0-553-29789-9 (US pbk)
novel, science fiction, post-apocalyptic, posthuman, identity, genetic engineering, women
Three centuries into the future. First novel. Originally published in french as Le Silence de la Cité . Received several awards in 1982, among them le Grand Prix de la SF Française. Translated into english by Jane Brierly.
"In the midst of a war-ravaged world, the silent City rises from the decay. Sealed off from the Outside for three hundred years, it is the final refuge for a handful of human beings, men and women who are the guardians of knowledge and science -- and the purveyors of life and death....
"Now, in the empty corridors of the City, one among them has created an extraordinary baby girl. Forged from genetic material stolen from the Outsiders, she is the first of a new race -- a human being endowed with remarkable powers of rejuvenation. But as Elisa soon discovers, neither her life nor her talent is a gift: both carry a price she cannot, will not, pay. Born to save the City, she may ultimately have to save the world instead -- even if it means opposing the very one who made her..." [jacket blurb, US pbk, 1992]
"A metamorphic journey into disturbing possibilities of gender, social order, and genetic science....
"Informed with a maturity of feeling too seldom encountered in science fiction." --William Gibson.
Recommended.
The Unofficial Elisabeth Vonarburg Page
(maintained by Laura M.Quilter, e-mail: lauramd@uic.edu)
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