Contact with an alien race has altered human pheromones, with the result that everything from sexual cycles to xenophobia is transformed. The book takes a wrong turn toward the end, but in the interim a lot of assumptions about gender and society are questioned. The book begins in an interesting fashion-examining the biological roots of human behavior. But starting from there, the story went in a direction that reinforces our cultures biases in what I consider to be a totally wrong- headed fashion. According to my reading of Canon's Orb , the biological role of women is to control from behind the scenes by flattering and bolstering the ego of the man they have chosen as the alpha male.
Women gain their power by supporting men.
It sent chills up my spine-and I mean the wrong kind of chills. Because I had such a visceral reaction to the book, it did force me to examine my beliefs related to gender. A scientific thriller par excellence. But when it gets to the central narrative, about the fall of Troy and its impact on the lives of Amazons and other women, the book is powerful and convincing. One of the most interesting touches is that the Amazons are never actually there-they're either anticipated, in the mythic sections, or sought, in the more naturalistic narrative.