Collision With Paradise

Genevieve Dubois is one of the best pilots Zeta Aeronautics has. Her current mission is to take her other 11 crewmembers to a beautiful planet called Eos. A planet that Earth hoped to contact in order to create a diplomatic relationship with.

Something goes terribly wrong as the ship is approaching the planet. It is torn apart and crashes in one of the planet’s forests. Badly injured and bleeding to death, Genevieve is found by one of Eos’ leaders, Azaes. Taking her back to his home, he spends the next month healing Genevieve from her injuries.

What she awakens to is a world where the people are in complete balance with the ecosystem they live in. The people go about their everyday lives completely naked, unashamed to be seen in their natural state. Seemingly unbothered by the sexual temptations that this same nudity brings about in the world that Genevieve knows back on Earth.

Unfortunately for Genevieve, while the people of Eos have come to terms with controlling sexual urges, she is greatly affected by the intoxicating smells and plants now surrounding her. Unbeknownst to her, she breaks a couple of long-standing traditions and beliefs of her hosts. Feeling guilty about her transgressions, Genevieve decides she should try to repair her ship and get back to Earth.

Once back in the forest, Genevieve finds out that not all her fellow crewmembers were dead, as she had first believed. Instead, they were actually a military group sent to acquire by force the technology that Eos had to offer and take it back to Earth. What they don’t know is that by doing this, they would be destroying the beautiful ecosystem balance on the planet, eventually destroying the civilization there. Genevieve goes out on a mission of her own. To save Eos and the man she has come to love – Azaes.

As straight science fiction goes, this story does not offer anything new. But as a love story, it was very refreshing, very different. In the beginning, all the eroticism and sexual desire Genevieve feels comes to her in a dream state. Thus leaving her with the opinion that her feelings for Azaes come only from a physical desire and could not be real. As for Azeas, he feels frustration. His desire for Genevieve conflicts with his life-long beliefs and traditions.

Also, this story not only touched my erotic side, but also my intellectual side. I was challenged to think about environmental issues. Genevieve comes to love a world that has become a partner with nature, which directly conflicts with the Earth she left; such as the Earth we live on today. Ms. Munteanu does not try to change the readers’ opinion, but instead presents ideas to be considered. I think any reader would find this an enjoyable read because it touches many levels.

Reviewed by: Kathy