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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN num: 9781591024446
ISBN number: 1591024447
Label: Pyr
Manufacturer: Pyr
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 399
Printing Date: May 02, 2006
Publishing house: Pyr
Sale Popularity Level: 922664
Studio: Pyr
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Paragaea: A Planetary Romance is the story of Akilina 'Leena' Chirikov, who shortly after launching from Star Town in the Soviet Union, finds herself thrown into another dimension, a world of strange science and ancient mystery. There she meets another time-lost person from Earth, Lieutenant Hieronymus Bonaventure of the Royal Navy—who left home to fight the forces of Napoleon and never returned—and his companion, Balam—outlaw prince of the jaguar men. Bonaventure is interested only in adventure and amusement, while Balam only wants distraction until the day he can reclaim his throne. Having little better to do, they agree to help Chirikov find a way home.
In the tradition of the planetary romances of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Leigh Brackett, Paragaea is in fact a 'hard' science fiction adventure, grounded in the latest thinking in the fields of theoretical physics, artificial intelligence, genetics, and more. There is a rigorously rational explanation behind all of the unearthly elements, with most of the 'magic' the protagonist encounters being the products of a forgotten, transhuman, post-singularity culture that has long since disappeared. Chirikov, a strictly rational Soviet cosmonaut, interprets these as best she can, using the framework of early 1960s science. Being a dutiful Soviet, she wants only to return home to Earth, to inform her superiors about what she has discovered. But she soon finds herself developing ties to her companion Bonaventure that make her wonder whether she really wants to go home at all.
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Rated by buyers -
Chris Roberson pays homage to the planetary romance subgenre of SF and does a fine job. His female protagonist, Russian cosmonaut Leena Chirikova, is an intelligent, capable, and believable character. As she is swept through a gateway to the weird and perilous world of Paragaea and joins with companions Hieronymus "Hero" Bonaventure and Balam, prince of the jaguar men, we are treated to a thrilling quest that leads us across the new world. Ultimately, I found the world of Paragaea itself to be the most interesting character, with its traditional blend of unusual races and its exotic, fantastical cultures and places, like the Roaming Empire, a nomadic city.
Why 4 stars and not more? Paragaea is solid and well-done, a lot of fun. Admittedly, it did little to extend the subgenre beyond its usual conventions, but it is well-paced and delightfully entertaining, and I found the character interaction here to be more entertaining than other books of its type. It's been too long since I've read science fiction that was so well-spiced with adventure, romance, and mystery, and all touched with a sense of tragic humanity. Ultimately, though, the most memorable aspect of this story was that it reawakened in me a sense of wonder and childlike joy that I hadn't felt in far too long, not since I very first read the adventures of John Carter, Flash Gordon, and Conan (planetary romance being a precursor to the perhaps better-known sword and sorcery subgenre of fantasy). For this reawakening, Roberson deserves my sincere gratitude.
Rated by buyers -
A Russian Cosmonaut from the 1960's finds herself on an alternate Earth quite different from the one on which she lived. This story has a little bit of John Carter of Mars in it: swashbuckling fun, sword fights, and weird creatures running around. When you're in the mood to indulge in the guilty pleasure of a space opera, Paragaea will satisfy your craving.
Rated by buyers 
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I greatly enjoyed Chris Roberson's X-men novel, The Return. I've had this one on my shelf for a while, and I'm not sure why... it's really a sweet perfect SciFi adventure. Very good all around, and hard to put down. Nice balance of action, world building, characters and plot.
Rated by buyers -
During a mission into space, Cosmonaut Leena Chirikov stumbles upon a gateway to another world. As soon as Leena lands on Paragaea, she meets companions Hieronymus Bonaventure (from Set the Seas on Fire), and Balam, exiled prince of the jaguar men. Hieronymus (Hero) only seeks adventure and excitement, and Balam accompanies him until he can regain his throne. So when Leena insists that she find a way home to Earth, Hero and Balam agree to assist her.
Hero, himself, is from Earth of the Napoleonic era. Whereas, Leena came from Russia, in the 1960's. But the natives of Paragaea believe that Earth is just a myth. The gateways between worlds seem random and difficult to find. Pagaraea is a world reminiscent of a fantasy story, with strange Metamen, which have bodies resembling humans but the faces of animals. But this is actually a science fiction adventure, complete with advanced technology and genetics. As the trio's adventure progresses, they come across other unique and interesting characters, each with their own story.
Paragaea is a wonderful story with the feel of a fantasy, but the heart of a science fiction novel. Though it isn't necessary to read Set the Seas on Fire, I found it helpful to already have a background on the character of Hero. I found myself loving Paragaea , the story and world, even more. With more swash-buckling action and stronger characters, Roberson is a truly gifted storyteller.
Rated by buyers 
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With "Paragaea" Chris Roberson is working in a venerable SF subgenre, the planetary romance, a form pioneered by the great Edgar Rice Burroughs and practiced by such luminaries as Jack Vance and Leigh Brackett. I love a good planetary romance, but "Paragaea" is a drag, and I only read 130 pages before giving up.
Roberson throws a host of SF cliches together (cat people, dinosaurs, swordfights, airships, time travel) and doesn't do much of anything with them. For example, an essential part of the traditional planetary romance is violence, particularly hand to hand combat with swordsmen and monsters, and there is quite a bit of that in the very first 130 pages of "Paragaea," but the fights are diffidently described, and, rather than a means of creating tension or suspense, the author sees them as an occasion to make feeble jokes. Roberson isn't any better at portraying alien cultures, or alien animals, or alien cities and landscapes, just giving us the most vague sketches, or just plopping into his book something we've seen a hundred times already in other books and movies, like a giant scorpion or a Tyrannosaurus.
Does he have anything to add to this stew of old tropes? Well, his protaganist is from the 1960s Soviet Union, so I thought he might use the novel as a vehicle to critique socialism and/or capitalism, but he doesn't do any of that in the very first 130 pages of the novel. The protagonist is also a woman, so we get some uncontroversial and banal feminism, and a scene in which she goes to a store to buy some tampons. (I'm not kidding, see page 71 of the hardcover.) These slight elements don't really add anything to the traditional formula.
Roberson also has some irritating tics, like using the words "insensate" and "gore" too often. He says a crossbow was "loaded and primed;" isn't "primed" a word that should be reserved for firearms?
I'm willing to believe that Roberson loves planetary romances as much as (or more than) I do, and wanted to do something in that vein, but he doesn't use the traditional devices very well, and he doesn't bring anything new to the table, so "Paragaea" is a waste of time.
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