A Woman of the Iron People by Eleanor Arnason

My thanks to the following people who read this novel in manuscript and gave me advice on changes: The oldest established SF-writing workshop But such is the mythic power of the stories recounted by Nia and the other aliens that this book trancends simple genre definitions, becoming a quietly moving meditation on the nature of humanity and the self.

A quiet, masterful book in the grand anthropological tradition of Ursula LeGuin, A Woman of the Iron People won the Mythopoeic Award-normally granted to works of fantasy, not science fiction. The pair encounter others who defy this standard, including a man who has rejected the warlike isolation of the other males for a life of spiritual fervor and contemplation. But even this seems to be not so monolithic as it originally appears Nia is outcast precisely because she defied her culture’s conventions and fell in love with a man. As Lixia travels the planet with Nia, an outcast woman from the Iron People tribal group, she experiences several discrete cultures whose main similarities seem rooted in the species’ biological expressions of gender and the mating impulse. There, she encounters the native intelligent species, who are very like humanity in some ways but utterly alien in others. Lixia is one of eight human anthropologists sent down to the surface of an alien planet. This “excellent, anthropologically oriented SF tale” novel ( Publishers Weekly) explores the mix of fear and fascination as humans and aliens meet, alert to the potential for both mutual enrichment and mutual destruction, and offers “strong characters, well-written dialogue, and a plot full of adventure” ( School Library Journal).

Unexpected danger plagues the mission as Lixia is determined to expand her knowledge.

As the anger increases on the ship, the ground crew becomes more and more affected by the conflict and begins to rely on their instincts to keep the project moving forward. But the factions on the mother ship hovering above the planet may create an unintended chaos for both the life on the planet and the humans exploring it.

Lixia and the members of her human crew are determined not to disturb the life on the planet circling the Star Sigma Draconis which they have begun exploring. Award–winning anthropological science fiction novel about first contact with an alien culture is “fascinating” and “irresistible” (Ursula K.

A Woman of the Iron People by Eleanor Arnason