Emergence

Had not heard of this little gem before and am very glad to have experienced a difficult-to-get copy via ILL. Returned to library today. Sorry to see it go.

Pros:
- Fast-paced
- Very distinctive writing style
- Interesting protagonist
- Journal-based narrative allows limited head-hopping
- Plot takes unexpected turns resulting in expanded view of world, (moves from extremely limited environment to fully expanded viewpoints).

Cons, (not many but...):
- Aforementioned head-hopping. Handled reasonably well but remained mild irritant when deployed.
- Several semi-squicky scenes sexualizing 11-year old girl as relates to middle-aged men. Hard to tell if this is simple wish-fulfillment by author or sly poke at Heinlein, et al. Thankfully, scenes are short and not overtly dwelled upon.

Deducted half a star from my rating for the 'squicky' aspect as it was the one element that keeps this book from attaining a spot on my all-time-faves list. Likely I might buy a copy for my own library at some point if...

#1) Comes back into print or...
#2) Used-copy prices revert to reasonable levels.

If you can find this book, it's well worth reading as it deserves a wider audience. There is apparently a sequel but it is even more difficult to acquire since it was only released in serial form via Analog Magazine. Off to do some googling...