Published: Aug. 13, 2010
Words: 97,557 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781452323602

Short description

Libra has never seen a tree. On her planet, every growing thing poisons humans. Using her extraordinary powers of chemical synthesis, she terrorizes the corporations and churches that hold everyone in slavery. Across the galaxy, Andre saves a Zgaarid spaceship and is implanted with Zgaarid technology. Andre meets Libra. The reaction is explosive. The galaxy will never be the same.

Extended description

Author Steven Mohan, Jr., wrote, "Chock full of clever ideas and wry wit, Mistress of Molecules explores the forces that bind chemicals, societies—and people. A fun, thoughtful read."

Blogger Michael Hunter said, "What I love most about the best science fiction is that it can be read on (at least) two levels: the surface story, and the underlying manifesto. Mistress of Molecules fulfills that definition of science fiction in spades. Recommended."

Eric Horlbeck said, "Mistress of Molecules is a great read! It is a clever, insightful book that makes you completely rethink your 'impossible' situations." (Read more) Author Steven Mohan, Jr., wrote, "Chock full of clever ideas and wry wit, Mistress of Molecules explores the forces that bind chemicals, societies—and people. A fun, thoughtful read."

Blogger Michael Hunter said, "What I love most about the best science fiction is that it can be read on (at least) two levels: the surface story, and the underlying manifesto. Mistress of Molecules fulfills that definition of science fiction in spades. Recommended."

Eric Horlbeck said, "Mistress of Molecules is a great read! It is a clever, insightful book that makes you completely rethink your 'impossible' situations."

Now let's let reader Dennis Cadena describe the book:
Etiquette bans wearing white after Labor Day. On Precursor, the planetary setting of Gerald Weinberg's immensely entertaining novel Mistress of Molecules, such a stricture is superfluous given the impracticality of white clothing in its dismal, pollution-filled environment. Which is not to imply that Precursor eschews rules; on the contrary, it is a society replete with onerous ecclesial canons enforced by an exclusively male ministerial arm against citizenry enslaved through addiction to crocus—a drug that is both vital to human survival in Precursor's hostile atmosphere and monopolistically controlled by a cartel of church, state and corporations.

The novel's opening scene dramatically portrays this oppressiveness in its depiction of a kangaroo court overseen by a pope who has preordained the sentence and execution of Nicholas Valois whose only real crime was being a threat to Precursor's ruling hegemony by his discovery of the means to manufacture crocus.

A science fiction novel with humans settled on different planets controlled by religious zealots may at first seem incongruous, but humans did not invent the advanced technology that enabled their galactic Diaspora. Instead, it was given them by the alien Zgaarid to use allowing the story to posit a future that is an extrapolation of the 17th and 18th century colonization of the United States and thereby to create an imaginative, yet never improbable, setting for the two principal characters - Libra and Andre.

Libra, who lives on Precursor, is Nicolas' posthumous daughter and a skilled chemist in her own right. Andre was born on Gemariah where, although he suffered a Dickensian childhood of moralistic abuse at his father's hand, he manages to become literate via the powers of his native curiosity and intelligence.

Structurally, the novel intertwines Libra's and Andre's stories leading to their fated meeting. Libra vows to carry on her father's legacy and free Precursor from its oppression by an elaborate plan of terrorism to bring down the ruling class. Andre resolves to liberate himself from the ungodly pedophiles and tyrants who inhabit the seminary to which his father exiles him as punishment for the sin of learning to read.

For both, their wits and their confidence are the keys to their salvation, but it is not a perfectly smooth road either ends up travelling. As their stories unfold, the pair has much to learn about unintended consequences and much to unlearn about their own unexamined and naïve assumptions.

While such a tale may appear thematically to be overly somber, Weinberg works with a gentler touch as he deftly weaves comedic scenes throughout. Some involve imaginative and unexpected minor characters, key to enlivening the plot and providing many delights to readers; but most are in the form of the small and big moments when Libra and Andre come to realize the limits of their own intelligence and the possibility that, as Hamlet reminds Horatio, there is more than is dreamt of in their philosophies.

The moment of change, the teaching moment, is the major surprise that Weinberg's novel holds for its readers. No one should miss the opportunity to partake in such an enjoyable and enlightening journey - something only the most magical storytellers conjure in their writings.
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Tags

love story, aliens, alien technology, ecoterrorism, church and state, aliens romance humans

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Reviews

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Review by: Susan Hidley on Jan. 24, 2012 :
Don’t be fooled. From its setting on Precursor—a barren planet where everything that grows is toxic to human life, and where people are enslaved by a corrupt alliance of corporate and religious interests—Mistress of Molecules might seem like the kind of machine-laden, hard science fiction that is strong on technical descriptions and weak on human interest. But human interest is what drives this engaging, action-driven novel in which chemistry—both the scientific and the romantic kind—plays an important part. Weinberg, who has made a career writing nonfiction that sheds insight into our relationships with technology, infuses this book with astute, often witty, and sometimes profound observations on the nature of societies, religion, freedom, and terrorism. The book also brims with intriguing scientific ideas and speculations. But what keeps the pages turning are the stories of Andre and Libra, two gifted, troubled souls, who, in seeking to shape a better life for the inhabitants of Precursor,find their own happiness as well.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Banty Hen Publishing on July 29, 2011 :
Gerald Weinberg's sci-fi work 'Mistress of Molecules' is, on the surface, a tale about chemicals, eco-terrorism, and interstellar travel. However, it works on another level - one of two people, each seeking freedom of their own. They may start out in different sections of the galaxy, but it's when they come together that things kick into high gear.

Libra, a gifted chemist, seeks to liberate the residents of her planet, Precursor, from the pollution-spewing policies that cut lifespan by almost half. Making matters even more dangerous is the nature of her society, which is run by a quasi-religious police state.

In another part of the galaxy, the young man Andre is brought up amidst squalor and abuse, in both his own household and in the religious order he's inducted into. Some of the book's more tense and gripping scenes take place where Andre finally rebels, and desperately flees the confines of the monastary-island and stows away aboard a starship.

Andre, against all odds, manages to survive and thrive amidst the alien race he encounters, the Zgaarid. But his world is turned upside down yet again as he meets the mysterious and intriguingly alluring Libra on Precursor.

Without giving away any more spoilers, let's just say that their road together doesn't run smoothly. But it's wide, deep, and the consequences shape the future of both the humans' world and that of the Zgaarid.

A solid, engaging sci-fi read!
(reviewed long after purchase)

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