I was anxious at first, almost afraid. Afraid of the unfamiliar. Afraid that I wouldn't be pleased, that I wouldn't like it and never want more of it. Indeed, I was treading new ground. It felt different, new, but really really interesting.
My first science-fiction experience proved to be anything but disappointing. I read Worlds Apart by Joe Haldeman and, thank God, I don't regret picking it up. Although it's part of a trilogy, I read it out of convenience (it's the only copy available at home...from back when my dad was in university) and I didn't feel like I was missing anything, so everything went fine. Like I said...I was a little hesitant to start science-fiction because, like with everything new, I was afraid I wouldn't like it...I was afraid that I pick up a bad book that would put me off the whole genre...
But Worlds Apart proved quite the opposite; it was easy to read, more or less a page-turner, and I must say, quite interesting...so I will hopefully be reading some more sci-fi in the future.
The novel picks up where its predecessor left off: after World War IV during which a bioweapon has killed all adults over the age of 20 on Earth. It follows two story-lines, first that of the heroine Marianne O'Hara, citizen of New New York, one of the last remaining artificial worlds orbiting Earth, who finds herself included in several missions back to Earth to help the juvenile savages that have become the entire population. Also, we follow the story of Jeff Hawkings, O'Hara's Earth-bound lover, who travels across Florida posing as the Healer, trading with the now feral children, providing medicine in return for power supplies that would help him contact New New York, which he isn't sure still exists.
Again, it was really interesting to get an insight of what someone thinks the future might hold. Overall, fantastic stuff! First, but definately not last.
