Pennterra

by Judith Moffett

Book Overview

Pennterra by Judith Moffett released on Aug 25, 1988 is available now for purchase. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0865531897
• ISBN13: 9780865531895
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: Contemporary Juvenile
• Length: 382 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.

Customer Reviews

From a different point of view...

Most of the time when you find yourself trying to understand another culture, another way of life, on a alien planet, you're trying to understand the aliens. Not the humans. The different point of view in this book is not the hrossa, but the Quaker colonists who are the first of two ships to reach the planet Pennterra. This is a book that seems to explore new ideas of mankind's place within a planet's web of life. It also explores issues of sex, family life, technology, ecology, and evolution. It reminded me of such great novels as JEM by Frederik Pohl and Adiamante by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. Get it used or new, but be warned. It is only for adults.

Quakers in Space?..."Pennterra" says ..It can happen!

There is quite a bit of information about the Society of Friends (Quakers) out there, but none as in a more unlikely location as Judith Moffett's "Penterra". The information she provides about the Quaker's stand on non violence, sexual mores and dealing with an entirely different lifestyle are fascinating. The book moves quickly along the lives of George Quinlan, his son Danny, the Hrossa who are allowing the Quakers to set up their colony " Swarthmore" and the new group on the planet " The Sixers". (named for the ship they arrived in on Pennterra)Danny reaching puberty is handled well, although I blushed at some of the more "graphic" parts of this section, and I'm no prude! That Danny becomes a integral part of the next step in the Quaker/Hrossa world is only fitting to the process.Ms. Moffett is a gifted author and her many and varied works show this.As for the Asimov opening..I started to read it, but found it too ponderous. Judith Moffett said pretty much the same thing as Asimov, and FAR more entertaining!

Humans encounter a living planet

A group of Quakers reach a distant planet, encounter the sentient hrossa, and work out a way to live in peace with these beings. Then they must deal with a second group of humans arriving (non-Quakers) who do not have the same penchant for peaceful co-existance. I found the study of Quaker process in an alien place a delightful unearthing of the human spirit. The hrossa are a sexy lot, and their effect on humans is fun to observe. My favorite part, however, is the unfolding of a new, dynamic, and (not so) alien theory of evolution. If peace and cooperation are your thing, you'll enjoy participating in the world of Penterra.

Complex and wonderful, challenging and insightful!

I agree with the first reviewer, except that I found the Quaker issues fascinating - what non-violence toward other sentient beings than humans really means, for example.I also found the presentation of sex and society issues worthy of the best science fiction: clear yet not heavy-handed.I recommend this book strongly to anyone who likes science fiction that makes them think.

Well-thought out story of human and alien cohabitation

Pennterra is the story of a human colony on an alien planet, to which the first group of colonists (Quakers, but more of that is made than needed) have adjusted, but against which the new group of colonists are resisting. The story is interesting from the Gaia planetary lifeform theory, as well as seeing two stages in normal human response to aliens. There is an important subplot about a young boy reaching puberty, and adjusting to a different set of sexual mores lived by the aliens. This is probably the least interesting part of the story, but is part of the larger story of a completely differently biological imperative for the aliens. While the sexual coming of age is too easy and too limited, the emotional coming of age is well done, and supportive of difficult adolescent issues. Since the book was published in 1987, it is compared to Ursula LeGuin (probably because of the sexual subplot associations to The Left Hand of Darkness -- has no one read her other books?), but I think that it is more in line with the Octavia Butler books.