Plot introduction
The novel opens in the year 2198 and shows several preliminary scenes both on Earth and on alien planets; however, most of the action takes place much later, in the year 2374, on planet Cavanagh's Star. The planet is far from Earth, but very similar to it in atmosphere; it is claimed already by three alien races when a group of gethes (alien term for humans, literally carrion eater) arrives to explore, led by former police woman, Shan Frankland. The Bezeri (squid-like water dwellers) are the planet's natural inhabitants, the Isenj are invaders here to take advantage of unused land, and the Wess'har are the mediators, here to defend the Bezeri from Isenj pollution. Also coexisting on the planet is Constantine - a Christian colony of humans (led by Josh Garrod) who landed on the planet several generations ago in an attempt to escape the corruption of Earth. Constantine is guided by the Wess'har, Aras, who is plagued with a strange disease which outcasts him from Wess'har society. The political balance is tenuous, and Shan must play the mediator between her anxious, disobedient crew and the powerful military force of these alien beings. At the same time, she is troubled by her own past and the strange relationship that seems to be forming between her and Aras, as she struggles to lead a mission whose goal she doesn't yet consciously know.
Explanation of the novel's title
"City of Pearl" is the name humans have given to a Wess'har city located on planet Wess'ej. Josh Garrod's predecessor, Benjamin, who was taken to see the city by Aras, was said to have wept at its beauty. Many of the people of Constantine relate it to heaven, despite Aras' insistence that the City of Pearl is "just a city."
Plot summary
On Planet Earth, Superintendent Shan Frankland (A hardened, self-sufficient, and brutally honest female cop) is preparing for retirement when she is confronted by politician Eugenie Perault, who recruits Shan to lead a top-secret mission into outer space on a ship named the Thetis. Her destination is Cavanagh's Star; a planet hundreds of light years away, but with an atmosphere strikingly similar to that of Earth. However, rather than risk exposure of the classified information Shan will need to carry out the unknown mission, Perault gives Shan a Suppressed Briefing (SB), which installs the information into Shan's subconscious mind, only to be brought forth when circumstances call for it. Knowing only that she was preceded on this journey by a colonist group named Constantine (who have never been heard from again), and that the time in speed-of-light travel will amount to 75 years on Earth but only months for her ship, Shan sets off in command of a mix-matched group of specialized civilians (called the "payload") anxious to use the planet for their own gain, and competing for control with Commander Lindsay Neville, the independent leader of a small force of marines.
When Shan and the Thetis crew reach Cavanagh's Star, however, they have big surprises ahead of them. Not only do they find Constantine alive and thriving as a religious colony within a carefully controlled biosphere designed to grow crops brought from Earth, but they also discover a unique and complex environment of alien plants and animals, including such species as the scavenger rock velvets, and the bog-dwelling predator shevens. The civilian scientists are itching to take samples and compile medical information. But the small band of humans soon learns that the planet isn't theirs to claim.
Two unique alien races inhabit Cavanagh's Star; the water-dwelling, squid-like Bezeri, and the bipedal Wess'har. The Wess'har, who originate from Wess'ej, the planet's moon, are strong environmentalists who see each species as an intelligent race; they are extreme vegans, and take pride in the fact that their architecture is subterranean and unobtrusive. For centuries, they have protected Cavanagh's Star and the Bezeri from the Isenj - a third alien race who once attempted to colonize the planet. When the pollution from Isenj cities which they had built on the planet got so bad that it was killing Bezeri by the millions, the Wess'har stepped in. Now, not a single trace of the enormous Isenj civilization can be found on the planet - a stunning example to Shan's crew of what the Wess'har military is capable of.
On the planet, Shan meets Josh Garrod - the Christian leader of Constantine - who explains to her the ways of the Constantine people. They live in a hardworking, god-oriented society in which crime is almost non-existent and technology is kept to a minimum. Josh is in contact with the Wess'har (mainly through a representative named Aras) and follows their orders compliantly, knowing that the Wess'har could obliterate Constantine at any time, should they so wish.
According to the agreement between Shan and the Wess'har (made through Josh), the Thetis has been allowed to land and to make camp within the boundaries of Constantine. However, both Constantine and the Wess'har are wary of the Thetis and its intentions. The crew is permitted to explore the planet (with Wess'har or Constantine guides) but are given one ultimate rule: no samples. The Thetis must leave nothing and take nothing - and that means no scientific samples. Shan's crew grumbles at the arrangement, and some resolve not to heed the warnings given to them.
Through Josh, Shan eventually comes in contact with Aras, the Wess'har representative and protector of the Constantine colony. However, Aras is not a normal Wess'har, nor does he even look like one, though Shan does not yet know this. He used to be completely Wess'har, but his appearance, along with many of his attributes, had altered since he had been infected with a disease unknown to humankind. This "disease," called c'nataat, is actually a symbiotic creature which uses genetic information from previous hosts and ingested materials to alter its current host's genetics to fit its own needs. Though in many ways it had made Aras more efficient (it gives him an indefinite lifespan, and allows him to hold his breath under water for extended periods of time), the disease, which is transferable by touch, has cut him off from everyone he knows and left him suspended in time as his friends and family slowly die off. When Shan learns about his trouble - and touches Aras for the first time in 170 years - a bond begins to form between the two of them.
In the meantime, within the Thetis crew, issues are rising. Shan must fight for the power and respect she requires to run her mission; the "payload" scientists are angry at the restrictions placed on them, and Commander Neville is sore at her lack of power as only second in command. However, Shan and Neville learn to work together as the anger of the payload increases and Neville discovers she has yet another issue on her hands - an unplanned pregnancy has occurred from a hookup just days before the launch of the Thetis. Abortion pills are available, but Neville decides to have the baby, despite the fact that medic Hugel tells her it could be complicated. At the same time, Shan begins to get little whispers from her SB, telling her to look for a gene bank that Constantine supposedly possesses. It is a compilation of seeds and embryos from Earthly plants and animals, and rumored to be the largest ever compiled. Also, she keeps thinking the name "Helen," but does not know who this is.
This is the first of a series of 6 books dealing with the complications and consequences of the actions taken in the first book.
Perelandra is the second book in the Space Trilogy of C. S. Lewis, set on the planet of Perelandra, or Venus. It was first published in 1943.
Pauline Diana Baynes was an English illustrator, author and commercial artist. She contributed drawings and paintings to more than 200 books, mostly in the children's genre. She was the first illustrator of some of J. R. R. Tolkien's minor works and of C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia.
City of Illusions is a 1967 science fiction novel by American writer Ursula K. Le Guin. It is set on Earth in the distant future, and is part of her Hainish Cycle. City of Illusions lays the foundation for the Hainish cycle which is a fictional universe in which the majority of Ursula K. Le Guin's science fiction novels take place.
Karen Traviss is a science fiction author from Wiltshire, England. She is the author of the Wess'Har series, and has written tie-in material based on Star Wars, Gears of War, Halo, G.I. Joe and the newest Nomad Series working with Nick Cole and Jason Anspach. Her work crosses various forms of media including novels, short stories, comics, and video games.
Crossing the Line is a science fiction novel by British writer Karen Traviss, published in November 2004. It is the second book of the Wess'Har Series. Its predecessor was called City of Pearl, published in February of the same year. Some of the main characters include Shan Frankland, hardened copper now infected with c'naatat; Aras, the lonely Wess'har, outcast by his horrible disease; Eddie Michallat, journalist who finds himself in a position to affect history; and Lindsay Neville, the Marines Commander trying to deal with the loss of her newborn son David, and bent on revenge on Shan.
The World Before is a science fiction novel by British writer Karen Traviss, published in October 2005. It is the third book in the Wess'Har Series.
The Wess'har Wars series is a six-book science fiction novel series written by author Karen Traviss and is set several hundred years in the future. It involves humanity's contact with a number of alien species with conflicting interests and beliefs, while her central character, Shan Frankland, is caught in the middle of a coming conflict. All six novels have been published by Eos, an imprint of HarperCollins: City of Pearl, Crossing the Line, The World Before, Matriarch and Ally. The last book of the series, Judge was released on March 25, 2008.
Forge of Heaven is a science fiction novel by American science fiction and fantasy author C. J. Cherryh. It was first published in June 2004 in the United States by HarperCollins under its Eos Books imprint.
Ascending is a science fiction novel by the Canadian writer James Alan Gardner, published in 2001 by HarperCollins Publishers under its various imprints. It is the fifth novel in Gardner's "League of Peoples" series. It is a direct sequel to the first novel in the series, Expendable, in that it picks up the dual story of Festina Ramos, Explorer turned admiral, and the transparent glass woman Oar, where the earlier novel left off.
Trapped is a science fiction novel written by the Canadian author James Alan Gardner and published in 2002 by HarperCollins Publishers under its various imprints. The book is the sixth installment in Gardner's "League of Peoples" series of novels, set in the mid-25th century. While the majority of the novels in the series take place in outer space, Trapped is set on "Old Earth", and does not feature the series' continuing character Festina Ramos.
Radiant is a science fiction novel by the Canadian author James Alan Gardner. It was published in 2004 by HarperCollins Publishers under their Eos Books imprint. It is the seventh novel in Gardner's "League of Peoples" series. Like the six preceding novels, Radiant is set in the middle of the 25th century; like most of them, it takes place in outer space and on alien planets, and features the continuing character Festina Ramos.
The Eye of the Heron is a 1978 science fiction novel by American author Ursula K. Le Guin which was first published in the science fiction anthology Millennial Women.
The Armies of Memory (2006) is a science fiction novel by American writer John Barnes, the fourth book of his Thousand Cultures series. The story is told from the perspective of a middle-aged special agent named Giraut. The Armies of Memory explores the intermingling of artificial and human intelligence as an alien threat is on the horizon.
Matriarch is a science fiction novel by the British writer Karen Traviss published in September, 2006. It is the fourth book in the Wess'Har Series, following The World Before and preceding Ally.
Ally is a science fiction novel by British writer Karen Traviss, published in March 2007. It is the fifth book in the Wess'Har Series.
Judge is a science fiction novel written by Karen Traviss. It is the sixth and last book of the Wess'Har Series. It was nominated for the 2009 Philip K. Dick Award.
The Day the Earth Stopped is a 2008 American direct-to-DVD science fiction film produced by independent studio The Asylum, directed by and starring C. Thomas Howell. Its title and premise are similar to those of the 2008 remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still but the film's plot also incorporates elements from other science-fiction films involving aliens, such as Transformers, Independence Day and Earth vs. the Flying Saucers. The film is Howell's second Asylum film in which he was attached as director, the first being War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave.
The fictional character the Swamp Thing has appeared in five American comic book series to date, including several specials, and has crossed over into other DC Comics titles. The series found immense popularity upon its 1970s debut and during the mid-late 1980s under Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette, and John Totleben. These eras were met with high critical praise and numerous awards. However, over the years, the Swamp Thing comics have suffered from low sales, which have resulted in numerous series cancellations and revivals.
Lightning Point is an Australian television teen drama set in the modern day with fantasy elements. It was filmed on location at the Gold Coast and Byron Bay in 2011. The half-hour series is produced by Jonathan M. Shiff for Network Ten in association with Nickelodeon and German public broadcaster ZDF. It was re-broadcast on Network Ten in Australia on 22 June 2012, and again on the same network from 5 July 2014.
Barbie: Star Light Adventure is a 2016 American computer-animated adventure film. It was released to DVD on September 13, 2016, and made its television premiere on Nickelodeon on October 2, 2016. Before its official debut on home video, the movie was given a limited theatrical release on July 30, 2016.
