Found this at the Goodwill, in the children's section, which I disagree with slightly - I don't think the story would hold a child's interest very well, being a glorified love story.
The Coelura
Anne McCaffrey, illustrated by Ned Dameron
ISBN: 0312930429 (this illustrated edition from 1987, original story from 1983)
Read November 5, 2014
I want to say this is a good book, because the story and the world and the illustrations (let's be honest here and say that my delight was MOSTLY because of the illustrations) were so much fun to jump into for a short afternoon read. I read it over lunch, it's only 156 paperback-sized pages, and many of those pages are illustrations. If it weren't for the copyright page, I'd be highly temped to say that the illustrations came first, and the story was created as an attempt to mesh them all together, but knowing the story was written first makes me somehow gleefully happy at the bonkers illustrations of characters, environments, and poses that Dameron decided needed interpreting. His vision of the protagonist at age 14 is especially delightful, and very reminiscent of the eighties.
So, is this a good book? Sadly, not really. The language is stilted and grasping for "alienness" in phrases and descriptions, the characters all speak and act like they're college theatre majors doing their first Shakespeare production, with lots of expansive gesturing (in the text, as well as the illustrations) and very proper, very formal, very unrealistic dialogue. The plot isn't any great shakes either - in 120 pages, it ought to be trim, but a lot of time and energy are wasted on the wordy dialogue-laden intro, then the follow-up manages both to totally fulfill cliche expectations while missing a giant Chekov's gun in regards to one specific character which changes the entire climax and denouement of the story (in my opinion for the worse). Also, egregious editor fail: bells "peal" and one can "peel" fruit. Different words, different meanings.
Summary: (spoilers?)
Caissa is the "body-heir" of a planetary regional governor (no more specifics, just that he's obviously rich and important and part of "society" in this place - our descriptions of jobs and titles are forever maddeningly vague) and thus will inherit all of his wealth and glory and positions, in addition to whatever she manages to accrue on her own. Her "womb-mother" is obsessed with fashion and the high-life, and doesn't spend much time on this small world with nothing other than hunting and a small court of provincials. Mom leaves one day in a huff, declaring that she's still owed part of her "contract" that dad hasn't fulfilled, and Caissa is now curious. She discovers that there is a missing species on the planet, but meanwhile she just had her first serious proposal to be a mother to a body-heir of another society person (her dad is adamant that she consider the proposal for political reasons that STILL, even after finishing the story, remain unclear), and she's so miffed by his inept and condescending advances that she runs away to fly her personal aircraft out in the wilderness to seethe and pout. Out there on her own she hears a faint distress beacon from the restricted islands which are connected to the missing species, finds a crashed ship, and the rest of the story proceeds according to exactly what you're thinking it will, discovering the "missing" species and their purpose and value, establishing a love-interest, and putting very shaky legs on a mystery/conspiracy. There are random detours and red-herrings that spawn at random intervals, flap around wildly to be sure to be noticed, and then are utterly ignored.
So, good story? Not exactly. It was a bit frustrating, and more amusing to read than actually good or interesting, but it was a fun experience, and there were those excellent zany illustrations to pore over!
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