(no subject)

[skygiants]

And, I mean, maybe it's just my disappointment with the Medair books talking, but I will say, And All The Stars is actually even more enjoyable on a second read. It's much less confusing! I am comfortably aware now that Emily and Millie are the same person! I could mostly follow the convoluted explanation of the alien cycles of regeneration! It's fun watching Fisher from the beginning once you know his Dark Secret! Even the epilogue is less annoying, although possibly that's just because it's only fractionally as gratuitous as the aptly-named Gratuitous Epilogue of the Touchstone books.

Comments

[rachelmanija]

I wonder if Millie is normally a nickname for Emily in Australia? I literally did not realize they were the same person until they started talking to each other in, like, the last chapter.

Please explain the alien regeneration. I read it three times in a row and I never understood it.

[skygiants]

OK, here is what I think happens:

Step 1: Aliens take over planet
Step 2: All the current generation of disembodied baby aliens take over blue people.
Step 3: While possessing blue people, the aliens breed and make a new generation of disembodied baby aliens -- somehow it's easier for them to do this and survive if they're possessing blue people.
Step 4: The aliens separate from their blue people and end the cycle. Most of them die in the process of separation (along with all the blue people), but a few of them are strong enough that they survive and rise in the alien ranks. So what's left at the end is a few of the absolute strongest members of the last generation who are ready to rise in the political ranks and a bunch of baby disembodied aliens who are ready to take over the next round of aliens when it's time for the cycle to start again.

Also, baby aliens are somehow genetically compelled to obey their progenitors so they have to do what the lord high king aliens say and take over people and then die after a couple years, even though this is obviously terrible for everyone concerned. Also there's something in there about how if they survive once they're more likely to survive again, and also if they don't reproduce they're more likely to survive, and once the aliens reach a certain rank they don't have to reproduce anymore and therefore just go on for cycle after cycle after cycle, so there's a literal 1% that live forever and everyone else gets to be a baby alien for a couple of years, then possess a blue person for a couple years and reproduce, and then die.

I THINK THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS. [Cue 'Circle of Life' here!]

[rachelmanija]

Huh. That... sort of makes sense. At least, I can follow how it works. (I did not AT ALL understand before that the blue people would die. Among other things.)

[skygiants]

For whatever reason it was SO MUCH easier this time. Blue people die from the trauma of separation unless they're shocked back into existence by another blue person! OK, GOT IT. AT LAST.