Child of Earth

By David Gerrold

Book one of the Sea of Grass trilogy Want to visit another world? It might not be as easy as you think. When Kaer's extended family signs up to emigrate to Linnea, a planet known for horses as large as houses and dangerously mistrustful natives, Kaer is certain the move will bring the divided household closer together. What none of them are prepared for is the grueling emigration training in the Linnean dome, a makeshift environment designed to be like Linnea in every possible way, from the long, brutally harsh winters to the deadly kacks-- wolf-like creatures as tall as men.The training is tough, but Kaer's family is up to the challenge. Soon they begin working like Linneans, thinking like Linneans, even accepting Linnean gods as their own. The family's emigration seems to be just around the corner. But then, a disaster on Linnea itself changes everything.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1932100474
• ISBN13: 9781932100471
• Release Date: May 2005
• Publisher: Benbella Books
• Length: 232 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.9" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

good juvenile (Heinlein would proud)

This was a good story, the first of a trilogy. The books are in the new large format paperback so they cost a little more. The story is about an "extended" family moving to another, more primitive planet. Instead of showing up like the typical missionaries of old, they are going to try to blend into the primitive society until that society "grows up. It might work.

Being David Gerrold

I've often wondered what it must be like to live in David Gerrold's brain, a brain that creates such complex worlds, ecosystems, creatures, species of higher intelligence, etc. "Child of Earth" follows the story of Kaer and Kaer's family, through their preparation for moving to the world of Linnea, earth-like, but not exactly. Gerrold brings in all the elements you'd expect from a Gerrold novel--bad puns, redheads, creatures and characters from former Gerrold works, friends from Gerrold's real life, political commentary, more bad puns, and chocolate, all framing the main photograph, which is the action surrounding Kaer's family, the giant horses of Linnea, and leaving one wondering how many years it will take for book 2 of this trilogy to hit the shelves. I'm not sure why this is classified as a "young people's" book, since it involves some pretty complex scientific descriptions which I am either too old or too dense to follow thoroughly. I managed to finish this book on an 8-hour drive from one end of California to the other and will now twiddle my thumbs until the sequel gets written. But then I've been doing that about Gerrold's Chtorr series for decades, so I'm used to it. Good read. Buy it.

Classical Gerrold

Which is to say, this is a novel in which you'll find many elements that you'll have loved if you've read any of his other works, particularly the most recent ones: alternate social experiments, a first person narrator (with a twist!: there is one particular detail you never get to know about this character!), the emphasis on commitment, education, family ties, etc.. I don't understand why, together with his Dingillian saga, this novel has been billed as "fiction for young readers". Although, if you think of it... If being an adult means you cannot immerse yourself in the world of someone else's imagination and chew on the implications of the ideas and scenarios thereby presented, you must definitely be of a certain age to enjoy this.