Science Fiction. Humans have colonized the inhospitable world of Pava, but they still have to worry about budget cuts back on Earth and their own lack of resources. I've said it before, I will say it again. Pohl: excellent at science fiction; bad at people. His human characters spout cliched, boring dialogue, and their motivations are shallow and have no real emotion behind them, but his talent for world-building keeps me reading. He writes technology that comes with consequences, alien lifeforms that are truly alien, with alien thoughts and alien bodies. He straddles the line between science fiction and speculative fiction, because he's got spaceships, but he also addresses their socioeconomic impact. So, in the end, what you've got here is thoughtful SF. This book isn't as far-reaching as some of his others. It's more self-contained, concerning itself with the perils that come with colonizing a planet that's not quite ready for it and the sentient alien bugs that already live there. Religion is also a major player in this book, but it suffers from the same bland, emotionlessness as Pohl's humans, and really isn't used to its best advantage. Mostly this is a story about pioneers. In space! I liked it.Three stars for fantastic world-building and awesome alien bugs.
