This YA science fiction tale set in humanity's far future,
is heavy on the science as we follow our heroine Asako
through her education on a far flung planet or two. THE
SECRET OF THE URNS will remind readers a little of a famous
movie Avatar, in that human explorers and scientists are
established on a planet in another solar system, and miners
want to exploit some of the resources, to the dismay of the
native inhabitants. Forget flying and dragons though; the
life here is much more down to earth and sometimes quite
obnoxious.
If I have a complaint, it is that we are told too much of
humanity's spacefaring history, which sometimes is and
sometimes isn't relevant to the tale. This is similar
to how today's kids are told about Napoleon, Washington,
Pasteur, Elizabeth I; I can't think life would be so
different in the future that famous people would not be
discussed. Yet it does slow down the action. Some readers
want to get on with the story. This adventure is best for
teens who are well enough read in various sciences to grasp
terms used. For instance, we learn about the rotation of
this world, a large moon, around a gas giant planet, which
circles a star.
Asako loves exploring and playing with her friend Marcello
from the Fistian village, who looks something like a
centaur and gives her rides. As the planet has been named
Hard Fist, the people here first were dubbed Fistians. The
locals lead a simple life, mostly growing produce but
sometimes hunting or fishing. Just because they don't seem
to use high tech, though, doesn't mean they don't have any.
Asako is the only person who wants to study their culture,
and she decides to come back from college and prove whether
they are pre-technological or post-technological. When she
returns from years of study, tensions have erupted on the
backwater planet, and even she can't be sure of a welcome.
THE SECRET OF THE URNS is written by A.B. Carolan from
Ireland and is based on a short story by his collaborator
Steven M. Moore from America. The previous book in this YA
sci-fi
series is called THE SECRET LAB and features a mutant cat,
so I like it already. The books are called the ABC
Sci-Fi Mystery series
and this one is certainly entertaining and informative. It
also provides a good sidelight on environmental issues
today.
Set in the same sci-fi universe as A. B. Carolan’s The
Secret Lab, this new young-adult sci-fi mystery explores a
Jupiter-sized planet’s satellite in a faraway solar system
where human scientists are studying local flora and fauna
but behaving badly until a teen who wants to study the
satellite’s ETs comes along. She shows that cooperation is
better than xenophobia. In the process, she discovers that
the ETs’ beliefs go far beyond ancestor worship.
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