SOJALS rating:

Mediocre (2/5)

I first read this on the 27th November 2002.

Zoe Fisher has been genetically engineered to survive, to flourish, on the world of Isis, a world that is extremely toxic to normal humans.

Her modified body includes an artificial gland that monitors and balances her body, levelling mood, sustaining alertness and banishing fatigue. However, her doctor, in an act of intended kindness, has destroyed this organ leaving Zoe increasingly subject to disconcerting emotional swings.

In particular her newfound emotional instability is weakening her loyalty to her mentor Avrion Theophilus. It is allowing her to feel rather more strongly than she would like for the politically unreliable Tam Hayes

As the human outposts collapse one by one under the onslaught from the Isis ecology, Zoe begins to explore her new environment.

I enjoyed this. I enjoyed the alien environment and technology used to subdue it. I particularly enjoyed the politics of the home world and their influence on the lives of the Isis colonists.

This was good SF - much better than "A Hidden Place". The downside is that I'd be happier reading more about the worlds of 'Devices & Personnel' and the 'Works Trust' rather than Zoe herself.