Well, a revelation! I discovered that I just sold a copy of "Monster Is in the Eye of the Beholder" on amazon.ca, so I thought, maybe I ought to check out the Canadian site for new reviews. And what I discovered was a wonderful 5-star review of v.2 of The Termite Queen that I didn't know existed! It's by Tim Myles, the entomologist whose writings taught me most of what I know about termites. He lives in Canada, but his review of v.1 is on the American site, and I never checked the Canadian! Can you believe it's been there since July of 2012? I must go through every Amazon website and check things out!
I honestly think Tim Myles understood this book better than anyone else who has read it. I particularly appreciated his remark: "A story that brainy girls may especially enjoy" because I've always thought the novel should appeal to women, but very few women have read it. I also love the fact that he found it to be a page-turner. Some people have found it long and tedious. And it's refreshing to at last find someone intrigued by the troubled mind of Griffen Gwidian.
Here is the review:
A tragic love story set a 1000 years in the future
The Termite Queen is a novel unlike any other. Bio-science fiction at its best! A story that brainy girls may especially enjoy. It involves a tragic romance set 1,000 years in the future between a young female associate professor linguist and a senior expedition leader, who is a xeno-entomologist, one who studies alien insects. Aboard the outbound flight our love struck couple tie the knot amid a ship of mixed alien commarades. Having reached the target planet, a new intelligent life form, analogous to earth's termites, is discovered and its language is cracked by the brilliant young linguist. We are talking social science and biology here, a refreshing switch from physics and technology-based scifi. We are taken into the social world of strange creatures and embroiled in their political intrigues. But on the brink of the homeward departure the nefarious plotting of the alien termites brings tragedy to the love struck couple. Dark questions are raised about consciousness and morality. Even more disturbing questions have been raised about our protagonist entomologist. Every psychological thread is following in detective fashion to reconstruct the troubled mind of a lost lover. Mind blowing and heart wrenching. A gripping and thought provoking story that will keep you rapidly flipping the pages to the end.
