ATTENTION!
ALL SUMMER LONG
I'LL BE HAVING WEEKEND 99-CENT SPECIALS ON MY EBOOKS!
WATCH THIS SPACE TO LEARN WHICH TITLE
IS BEING FEATURED THIS WEEK!
You missed out on v.1 The Speaking of the Dead
but the regular price is only $2.99
which is quite reasonable.
Volume 2 completes the novel
(this is not a series!)
JUNE 6-9
THE TERMITE QUEEN, v.2:
THE WOUND THAT HAS NO HEALING
THE TERMITE QUEEN, v.2:
THE WOUND THAT HAS NO HEALING
 |
| Ki'shto'ba Huge-Head and the Seer Kwi'ga'ga'tei receive The Speaking of the Dead in the opening chapter. |
AND OTHER ONLINE EBOOKSELLERS
ALSO ON SCRIBD
ALSO ON SCRIBD
SYNOPSIS
"In The Termite Queen: Volume One: The Speaking of the Dead, the death of a specimen of intelligent giant termite impels a team of scientists to mount a new expedition to the alien planet where the specimen was captured. During the voyage out, the linguistic anthropologist Kaitrin Oliva and the expedition's chief, the entomologist Griffen Gwidian, fall in love and form a union, after which Prf. Gwidian begins to exhibit some troubling changes of mood and behavior. Meanwhile, on the alien planet, civil discord is brewing among the termites; Mo'gri'ta'tu, the Queen's Chamberlain, hatches a plot to murder the Holy Seer Kwi'ga'ga'tei, a plot foiled only by the sudden reappearance of the Flying Monster.
"In Volume Two, the team arrives at the planet to a combative reception, but, aided by Kaitrin's insights into the termites' unique language, the "Star-Beings" and the Shshi are soon communicating and learning to know each other. The Shshi accept Kaitrin as a friend and even come to revere her as the Mother of her people. Meanwhile, Griffen's inexplicable insecurities escalate, while the dastardly Mo'gri'ta'tu continues to foment conspiracies. Ultimately, the two plotlines intersect in an explosive climax, after which the team must return to Earth and try to come to terms with what they have experienced."
AUTHOR'S COMMENTS
I got my idea for a species of intelligent termites way back in the 1970s when I
first saw the documentary "Mysterious Castles of Clay," about the African
fungus-growing, castle-building termite. At the time I was writing heroic
fantasy, but I was reading a good deal of science fiction and I was struck by
the idea that an intelligent lifeform might evolve from similar insects on
another planet. They would retain many of their social insect characteristics
while developing a language that humans would be unable to accesss. A specimen
of this lifeform would be brought back to Earth and a female linguistic
anthropologist would discern that it was intelligent and learn to communicate
with it. When I returned to writing in 2000 after a long hiatus, I still had
this idea in the back of my mind and I decided to pursue it. The Termite Queen
(a 2v. novel) was the result.
EXCERPTS FROM REVIEWS OF VOL.2
"The technology is there, but doesn't take center stage. Taylor gives just enough description of this far future world, its technology and history to set the stage; then lets her characters act out the story. It really is the story of people -- humans and off-worlders alike -- engaged in the whole gamut of sophont existence. From the highs of the quest for new knowledge to the depths of jealousy and hatred of what is not understood, Taylor gives us a well and rather tightly woven web of story." --Chris Brown"Yes, it is a long story, but I found it to be interesting and thought provoking all the way through.
I disagree with other reviewers regarding having the Shshi and Human stories separated -- I felt that they both complemented and contrasted each other -- plus, gave a very satisfactory end to the two book series, with little or no loose ends left dangling.
I also liked the way the next series of books were introduced near the end of this story - can't wait to get into those! [The Labors of Ki'shto'ba Huge-Head]" -- Chris Graham
"Though the author modestly characterizes TQ as literary Sci-Fi, the description doesn't begin to capture the full flavor of Taylor's accomplishment. Rather, in TQ V 1 and 2 the author serves up a tome that crosses genres as easily as her intergalactic cast of characters crosses from real time space travel to temporal quantum space travel and back again. In fact, the complete TQ saga is part traditional love story, part epic adventure tale richly seasoned with mythic and religious overtones, as well as copious references to literary classics (each chapter is introduced by a literary epigraph). That said, it is not incidental that Taylor's epic is set in the thirtieth century (2969--2971). Hardcore Sci-fi aficionados will appreciate that Taylor's literary recipe includes science so convincingly researched and/or fabricated as to concoct a perfectly plausible and believable future." -- JackAUrquhart
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