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Mission Child
Mission Child
Author: Maureen F. McHugh
A stunning and provocative spiritual odyssey reminiscent of the best work of Margaret Atwood and Ursula K. Le Guin, Mission Child is a powerful fable, a stirring adventure, and a profoundly moving portrait of a lost woman in search of an identity as she walks the narrow fault line dividing female and male, child and adult, dark reality an...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780380791224
ISBN-10: 0380791226
Publication Date: 11/1999
Pages: 370
Rating:
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 13

3.7 stars, based on 13 ratings
Publisher: Eos (HarperCollins)
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review
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Top Member Book Reviews

  • Currently 5/5 Stars.
reviewed Mission Child on + 774 more book reviews
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Stayed up way later than I should have finishing this!

It's not so much "what happened" - actually, the book is fairly low on "plot" - rather, it follows the (rather traumatic and itinerant) life of a woman from a primitive society on a colony planet, from the brink of womanhood to middle age, along the way dealing with issues of gender and sexuality, "appropriate technology," and finding a place to call home.
But the writing is just so good that it feels like a thriller!

I highly recommend it.
  • Currently 3/5 Stars.
reviewed Mission Child on + 134 more book reviews
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
I bought this book as it was one of the novels nominated for the 2000 Nebula awards.

Essentially, this is the story of a woman's journey from roughly teen age to late adulthood, exploring the definitions of self and home.

Unfortunately, this isn't the kind of story that gets me interested. Disaster after disaster strikes the main character, and then, right at the end, she has a bit of personal growth. Bah. Not my cup of tea.

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  • Currently 2/5 Stars.
reviewed Mission Child on
I thought it was kind of boring, and definitely not as "post-apocalyptic" as I had thought from reading the other reviews. Plus, I felt the author used bad language / cursing for shock value in some places, while in other places her descriptive language was practically nonexistent. In short, I thought it was a bit choppy, a bit plodding, and not nearly as well-written as I had expected from this author.
  • Currently 0/5 Stars.
reviewed Mission Child on + 133 more book reviews
Pretty good book. Recommended to me as having a transgender main character, which is kinda true but not. Jan is not TG in the sense we have commonly - it's not really a choice. Can't say much more without giving the plot away!
  • Currently 0/5 Stars.
reviewed Mission Child on + 24 more book reviews
A powerful fable, a stirring adventure, and a profoundly moving portrait of a lost woman in search of an identity as she walks the narrow fault line dividing female and male, child and adult, dark realty and illuminated dream.


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