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Rebel Sutra
The world of Maya, consisting of two distinct social classes, the Changed, genetically altered for superiority, and the colonists of Babelion, a worker class, finds its unquestioned assumptions threatened when the brilliant colonist Arsen meets Della, a rebellious Changed. 15,000 first printing.
351 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2000
52 people want to read
About the author
Shariann Lewitt
33 books7 followersAlternate Known Names:
Shariann Lewitt
Shariann N. Lewitt
S.N. Lewitt
Nina Harper
Gordon Kendall - pseudonym also for Susan Shwartz
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 26, 2011
This should have really been my thing, as I prefer first person narration when I can get it. However the first section was such a slog that I think it left me more than a little irritated and jaded by the time the interesting parts of the story rolled around.
Other reviewers have noted the incomplete and unreliable knowledge of each of the three characters who's thoughts we hear, and that the three combine into a collected and more complete set of knowledge (a sutra itself), but I'm not convinced that it works. Or perhaps it's just a problem of pacing, with so many of the what would be termed the action scenes in a movie crammed into the last quarter of the book. Possibly the pacing and structure aren't quite right for the scope of the universe, but they work well for the individual moments of epiphany (especially Anselm's) and make some of the three narrators actions more comprehensible than they might have been if the story was told in the third person.
I enjoyed the idea of a Hindu(ish) dominated world, where bisexuality and polyamory are so common place as to barely be worth dwelling on. And I enjoyed much of the discussion surrounding bodies, spirits, the numinous, and truth and illusion. However, I am cautious about taking any of it as anything beyond artistic creation, and think that the author has left herself wide open to complaints and attacks from various ethnic and religious groups. I'm unsure of Shariann Lewitt's own cultural backgroud, but I could hear the howls about cultural appropriation starting up while reading the thing! OTOH, those howls and debates are good for us all, so more power to the author if does set that pot boiling again from time to time.
It's well worth a read, if you have the patience, but the blurb is misleading. It's far less like 'Dune' that it sounds like it might be, and far more inwardly focused and less humourous than I was expecting. An interesting surprise, but not an amazing one.
Other reviewers have noted the incomplete and unreliable knowledge of each of the three characters who's thoughts we hear, and that the three combine into a collected and more complete set of knowledge (a sutra itself), but I'm not convinced that it works. Or perhaps it's just a problem of pacing, with so many of the what would be termed the action scenes in a movie crammed into the last quarter of the book. Possibly the pacing and structure aren't quite right for the scope of the universe, but they work well for the individual moments of epiphany (especially Anselm's) and make some of the three narrators actions more comprehensible than they might have been if the story was told in the third person.
I enjoyed the idea of a Hindu(ish) dominated world, where bisexuality and polyamory are so common place as to barely be worth dwelling on. And I enjoyed much of the discussion surrounding bodies, spirits, the numinous, and truth and illusion. However, I am cautious about taking any of it as anything beyond artistic creation, and think that the author has left herself wide open to complaints and attacks from various ethnic and religious groups. I'm unsure of Shariann Lewitt's own cultural backgroud, but I could hear the howls about cultural appropriation starting up while reading the thing! OTOH, those howls and debates are good for us all, so more power to the author if does set that pot boiling again from time to time.
It's well worth a read, if you have the patience, but the blurb is misleading. It's far less like 'Dune' that it sounds like it might be, and far more inwardly focused and less humourous than I was expecting. An interesting surprise, but not an amazing one.
September 26, 2013
This was a really strange book. And the sort of thing I kept putting it down to devour other books. But there was something in it that made me keep coming back to it.
There is a *lot* going on here. Not only generations of conflict and rebellion in the main story, allusions to Hindu cosmology, but it turns out this is only a footnote to a broader, system-wide conflict. Which is a really fascinating concept; when the actors find out that their entire planet belongs to something greater and they are insignificant specks. Or something. Despite having all this build up, I didn't feel like this particularly resolved much of what it set up; it's almost as if this was the start of a longer series? (Maybe it is?)
Also the cover art. It's almost a cliche in SF how terrible cover art is, but this book lived on my nightstand for almost a month, and after lots of time, I've decided the figure in the middle must be a guy, and is presumably the main guy, but....dang. (The other two characters were easier to guess.)
There is a *lot* going on here. Not only generations of conflict and rebellion in the main story, allusions to Hindu cosmology, but it turns out this is only a footnote to a broader, system-wide conflict. Which is a really fascinating concept; when the actors find out that their entire planet belongs to something greater and they are insignificant specks. Or something. Despite having all this build up, I didn't feel like this particularly resolved much of what it set up; it's almost as if this was the start of a longer series? (Maybe it is?)
Also the cover art. It's almost a cliche in SF how terrible cover art is, but this book lived on my nightstand for almost a month, and after lots of time, I've decided the figure in the middle must be a guy, and is presumably the main guy, but....dang. (The other two characters were easier to guess.)
October 23, 2011
A very interesting novel, one of my all-time favorite books. The world is interesting, the society that has developed is intriguing, the characters are likable and realistic.
I can't for the life of me understand why this book and the author aren't more widely-read.
I can't for the life of me understand why this book and the author aren't more widely-read.
August 27, 2008
I really like this one. Our heroes are rebels and they aren't always successful or useful to their society. Good. Who needs it anyways?
March 26, 2023
I understand why other people may not enjoy this book as much as it's very much not your standard science fiction novel, but I think this might be one of my favorite books I've ever read. It's a very strange narration style, which I enjoy, a completely original setting that left me constantly wanting more, and a description of Hindu spiritualism that should be out of place in a sci-fi but somehow fit perfectly. I forced myself to read this slowly, about a chapter or maybe two each day, because there was so much packed into those chapters that I had to sit and reflect on them each day.
September 29, 2013
A sci-fi adventure, a political drama, and a love story.
The colony of Maya has few habitable areas; and two distinct groups of
settlers. One group is "Changed" - genetically enhanced, confident in
their superiority. They live in a mountain complex, served by
technology that gives them every luxury. The other group, down below,
are more what we would see as "normal" humans - they live in a
crowded, poverty-stricken, but often joyous and life-filled community
called Babelion, that, due to its Hindu background, we might see as
bearing some resemblance to urban living in India today.
In a token nod to 'fairness,' the young people of both communities are
tested for ability together - if they can communicate with the
artificial intelligence than runs the mountain community, they are
allowed to live there. Of course, none of the young people from
Babelion ever pass the test. But the test provides an opportunity for
a young 'changed' woman, Della, to meet a boy from the other side of
the tracks - and her tryst results in her bearing a son, Anselm.
Unwelcome among his mother's people, Anselm grows up to become a
political leader and revolutionary firebrand in Babelion, agitating
for equal rights.
But more may be going on than just this local struggle, as a larger
drama is gradually revealed, involving the rulers of a galactic empire
which the forsaken people of Maya had entirely forgotten....
A rich and complex book - and a very enjoyable one. Shariann Lewitt is
definitely an under-recognized author.
The colony of Maya has few habitable areas; and two distinct groups of
settlers. One group is "Changed" - genetically enhanced, confident in
their superiority. They live in a mountain complex, served by
technology that gives them every luxury. The other group, down below,
are more what we would see as "normal" humans - they live in a
crowded, poverty-stricken, but often joyous and life-filled community
called Babelion, that, due to its Hindu background, we might see as
bearing some resemblance to urban living in India today.
In a token nod to 'fairness,' the young people of both communities are
tested for ability together - if they can communicate with the
artificial intelligence than runs the mountain community, they are
allowed to live there. Of course, none of the young people from
Babelion ever pass the test. But the test provides an opportunity for
a young 'changed' woman, Della, to meet a boy from the other side of
the tracks - and her tryst results in her bearing a son, Anselm.
Unwelcome among his mother's people, Anselm grows up to become a
political leader and revolutionary firebrand in Babelion, agitating
for equal rights.
But more may be going on than just this local struggle, as a larger
drama is gradually revealed, involving the rulers of a galactic empire
which the forsaken people of Maya had entirely forgotten....
A rich and complex book - and a very enjoyable one. Shariann Lewitt is
definitely an under-recognized author.
September 23, 2008
I was so disappointed in this book! The story is original and interesting, but I hated the way it was written. The author has a very detached, analytical writing style that made me feel utterly removed from both the characters and the storyline. What should have been an exciting sci-fi adventure about rebellion and forbidden love became dry and boring.
abandoned
June 27, 2007I've been currently reading this for like a month now. It's not readable, and I'm quite disappointed.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews