Recommended Thing of the Month: Restoree, by Anne McCaffrey
A walk through Central Park goes horribly wrong when an overwhelming stench of dead fish and a huge shadow blocks out the sun. After suffering through an almost endless nightmare, Sara awakens to find herself not only in a new body, but acting as nurse to an apparently insane man! Can she get to the bottom of what happened to her? And can she save the ruler of her new home from suffering the same fate as her patient?
I really connect with Sara - not just because of our very similar names, but I know what it's like to feel like I'm in an alien world. I may look like everyone else on the outside but inside I am very different.
I can't help wondering if the writers of Star Wars are fans of McCaffrey, as the planet's name on which this book is set is Lothar, which is very similar to Lothal, upon which much of Star Wars Rebels occurs. In another series by McCaffrey, the Crystal Singer Trilogy, there is a character called Tukolom who speaks in the same way as Yoda. So maybe they drew inspiration from each other!
The only real problem I have with McCaffrey's works is that she didn't allow fanfiction of her stories, and yet her worlds are left very open, and there is so much that a fan writer could do with them! I would love to see people's interpretations of how Earth's first contact with the Lotharians went; do they welcome the offered help against the Mil, Sara's abducters, or do they shoot first and ask questions later? Does she ever meet up with her family again and if so what were their reactions to her new, perfect body? All this potential gone to waste! Which, of course, makes me incredibly thankful for people like JK Rowling, who actually encourage fanworks.
(Sorry for the lateness, Saturday was a very long day!)
