A Woman of the Iron People

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A Woman of the Iron People
A Woman of the Iron People book cover.jpg
First edition cover
Author Eleanor Arnason
LanguageEnglish
GenreScience fiction
Publisher William Morrow & Co
Publication date
April 1991
Pages525
ISBN 0-688-10375-8
OCLC 22207447
813/.54 20
LC Class PS3551.R4853 I5 1991

A Woman of the Iron People is an anthropological science fiction novel by American writer Eleanor Arnason, originally published in 1991. It is a first contact story between peoples from a future Earth and an intelligent, furred race of people who live on an unnamed planet far from Earth.

Contents

Along with White Queen, A Woman of the Iron People won the inaugural Otherwise Award in 1991. The later paperback edition consisted of two separate volumes, In the Light of Sigma Draconis and Changing Women, split at the natural dividing point of the novel.

Plot

A Woman of the Iron people is divided into two parts. The first primarily deals with Lixia's growing understanding and involvement with life on the planet. Soon after arriving on the planet she meets Nia and starts to pick up the language of gifts, which is a sort of trade language, from her. They leave their current location and journey west, meeting Derek and the Voice of the Waterfall along the way.

The second part of the novel deals primarily with the question of intervention. The various factions of humans, most of whom are still in space, disagree as to how much the humans should intervene on the planet. Questions are raised about the policy of intervention.

Characters

Sources

If there is a space ship
A story is therefore science fiction.
Unless it also contains the holy grail,
The presence of a space ship is sufficient
For everyone to acknowledge a story as science fiction.
Aiya, this is not very difficult, people!

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