Kingdom of Cages
 Sarah Zettel
 (Reviewer - - D. H. BROWN)
 2001 Warner Books
  ISBN: 0446524913

Planets & peoples have been ravaged by environmental collapses & mutating diseases of the Diversity Crisis. All except Pandora, a 1000-year-old biogenetics research outpost where respect for the ecosystem has become a fanatical religion & a genetically controlled population lives in self-sufficient isolation.

Smugly peaceful & benign The Pandorans tend their lush, eternally perfect city-domes -- until the day a starfleet of desperados arrives with an ultimatum: either the hot-house Pandorans must use their genius to solve the Crisis or their world will be destroyed & hordes of starving refugees set loose in paradise.

The Pandorans develop a plan -- the Eden Project -- which requires two children to be sacrificed to evade the approaching Crisis. Chena & Teal cannot retreat to space nor escape into the wilderness so how will they survive?

Senior Staff Reviewer D. H. BROWN writes:

When I reviewed Sarah Zettel's The Quiet Invasion I stated very clearly that I would never hesitate to read another of her books. Well, lo & behold, Warner Books sent me her latest book & once again I am wowed!

One of my favorite things about Science Fiction is the view I see from the eyes of an author far into the future. Where time has cooked & boiled our enduring fears into our greatest nightmares.

This is the one thing that I think Science Fiction brings to modern man & society: that forward-looking eye which gives us pause & warning.

Nowhere in our story throughout the Kingdom of Man has separation produced viable alternatives on this path of evolution we have trod.

It had been proven, time & time again, that diversity contains the cure for most of our ills either social, cultural & in many cases, physical.

Sarah Zettel has brought this into sharp focus in Kingdom of Cages making the reader look specifically at those things that would seem to be good & right but do not honor diversity.

Diversity brings healing, understanding & with understanding the lessening of conflict. All that arises in the absence of diversity & in the midst of secrets is misunderstanding, loneliness & the seeds of destruction.

As I've already said in my review of her previous work & will probably say again as I read more of this author, her characterization are riveting, compelling & screws the reader to his/her seat without mercy.

Kingdom of Cages was a book I could not set down. For three days, whenever I had the opportunity I found myself reading far into the night when the words were a blur.

Such gripping narrative is rare & is all the more precious when the covers of a book turn into two hands that pull your nose into the pages & refuse to let go.

So, Sarah Go! I am only middle-aged & still have a few years left of reading -- give me some more!

Go find one of Sarah Zettel's books because if you truly love SciFi, I know you will not be disappointed!

More from Sarah Zettel: The Quiet Invasion; Playing God; Fool's War & Reclamation.
(02/10/02)

D. H. BROWN
A RebeccasReads.Com Reviewer -

Reviewer's Bio:
D. H. BROWN is the author of the critically acclaimed HONOR DUE and the Citizens Warrior Series. The son of missionary parents and with the help his Uncle Sam, he has touched base in more than 40 countries. In 1986 he produced the independent children's film Lessie's Rainbow. During the late 80s and early 90s, he wrote the book Common Sense and delivered the seminars of the same name for the Community Action Network of Seattle (CAN). While doing his early Vietnam recovery work, he counseled Veterans and spoke widely to men's groups in Washington state, and was a founder of The Lodge of the Wolf.

D. H. BROWN has worked as a Logistics and Weapons Specialist in Viet Nam; day laborer; Director of Security; Armored Car Driver; Police Officer; Professional Hunting Guide; Trapper; Dog Sledder; Homesteader; Truck Driver; General Contractor; Minister; Editor; Writer; Speaker; Restaurateur; Movie Producer; Antique Restoration Specialist; Personal Care Worker; PC Repair Specialist; Computer Instructor; Webmaster and Web Designer. "I write about what I know."

He lives deep in the Pacific Northwest rainforest with his wife, author and editor Rebecca and Buddy Dog, working on his next book.
Visit him at: www.dhbrownbooks.com