by Fiona Lehn (2011)
(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)
This book was a freebie I picked up on a table either and World Fantasy Con in Niagara Falls or Philcon near Philadelphia. I'm thinking it was the former. It's part of a series of books (Conversation Pieces) by different authors. This was the 31st listing in the series with no mention of anything coming after that (either "coming soon" or because this was a reprinted edition). I was surprised that this book was so old given the condition it was in. Also, it was more than likely that I saw a pile of them and took one rather than taking this book in particular from a random collection of books.
This book is a "conversation piece" in that the book is a letter from one scientist to another. She's writing the letter as she is dying, and she's recounting what happened in the time that they'd spent together on the island of SG-7 (which has nothing to do with the Stargate franchise, a notion I quickly put out of my head whenever it popped up). Peta is called to the island because of a problem in the forest of webworms who are eating the leaves of the forest and stringing up webs. The forest is out of balance and it's her assignment to bring it back into balance. The situation isn't helped by the "solutions" that the islanders have already tried and what they demand that she should try, which are things that likely would cause more harm than good. In particular, these webworms seem to be mutated from the usual form that are seen.
Worse, the population is starting to grow fearful and superstititous about them to the point that Peta has to pull rank and enlist local law enforcement to institute curfews and arrest people.
While she is there, she meets another scientist, Helmut, who is there studying geese guano on the idea. He has a secret agenda that involves a species of toad, which is why he accepted this assignment (or why he choose this island for his geese assignment, actually). The two meet, help each other, and form a connection. Unfortunately, both of them are married (in loveless marriages) and Helmut even has a daughter. But they can't deny the attraction for each other.
As the book progresses, the worms don't ask as expected, which makes dealing with the crisis more difficult until Peta finds something unexpected which was causing the imbalance. Her part in this assignment comes to an end and we find out what happened with their lives after this and why Peta is dying.
It's a pretty long letter, but not a long book. I found it enjoyable. It was a "pool book" for me, so I likely started it last August and didn't get very far into it. I picked it up without a bookmark in it but found roughly the place I'd left off. I finished it in a few days. (I actually finished it on a train because of the iffy weather ahead and I didn't know when I'd get more pool time.)
Generally, I read old science fiction/fantasy magazines in the pool that I find at conventions in case I drop it while sitting in a tube (or it just gets wet while I'm trying to get out) but I've read other books that are either old or that won't bother me too much if they got wet.
From the description, I'm not likely to search out any more of these Conversation Pieces, but I'll check them out if I spot them anywhere at other convnetions.
This one will be going into a Little Free Library in the neighborhood.
If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. A fantastical foursome of flash fiction and short stories.
