Click on image to enlarge.
|
Death Between the Stars
by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Category: Science Fiction
Description: A Terran ignores xenophic bigotry and shares a starship cabin with a non-human telepath, with unexpected results.
eBook Publisher: Marion Zimmer Bradley Literary Works Trust, 1956 Fantastic Universe
eBookwise Release Date: November 2005
 
111 Reader Ratings:
Available eBook Formats: OEBFF Format (IMP) [30 KB]
Words: 5703
Reading time: 16-22 min.
I read this story--my first Marion Zimmer Bradley--out of intrigue. Zimmer Bradley's work is quickly snapped within milliseconds of release on Fictionwise to quickly top the charts. Humans and aliens on starships are exhausted subjects--but not in 1956. Ah! Marion Zimmer Bradley is an artist who wrote well way before her time. This probably explains the current appeal of her stories still. 'Death Between the Stars' is a compelling tale of human nature when faced with something different or perplexing. The writing is deliberate and refined; the alien with a ghastly telepathic touch utterly plausible even to the hardest cynic. Me. The writer's grip of Sci-Fi is startling. Characters and their dialogue perfectly paint scenes--humanoid or other--that culminate almost shockingly into an astonishing twist. To the Science Fiction die-hards, lovers of Darrell Bain, George R. R. Martin and the like, Zimmer Bradley will not disappoint. Try her Darkover series (jointly written with Elisabeth Waters). -Eugen Bacon, Fictionwise Recommender
I felt--as yet--none of the revulsion which the mere presence of the Theradin was supposed to inspire. It was not much different from being in the presence of a large humanoid animal. There was nothing inherently fearful about the alien. Yet he was a telepath--and of a nonhuman breed my species had feared for a thousand years. Could he read my mind? "Yes," said the Theradin from across the cabin. "You must forgive me. I try to put up barrier, but it is hard. You broadcast your thought so strong it is impossible to shut it out." The alien paused. "Try not to be embar-rass. It bother me too."
|
)
