Brightness Falls from the Air by James Tiptree, Jr.

First published in 1985

Writing as James Tiptree Jr., Alice Sheldon composed some of the most creative stories in science fiction. Any collection of Tiptree stories is worth a reader’s time; Tales of the Quintana Roo is a good place to start.

Brightness Falls from the Air was Tiptree’s last (and only her second) novel. It tells an interesting story, but Tiptree’s short fiction is what made her special.

Brightness Falls from the Air takes place on the planet Damiem. It is a beautiful planet, although the novel’s end explains why the perception of beauty, like life, might be fleeting. The native population are winged creatures, also of extraordinary beauty. The Dameii are timid and afraid of humans. Their fear is grounded in abuse inflicted by humans who discovered that, when the Dameii are tortured, they produce secretions that have a powerful analgesic effect. Torturing Dameii to create an in-demand drug was profitable until the Federation banned the practice, set up Guardians on the planet to protect the Dameii from further exploitation, and negotiated reparations.

The current guardians are Cory Estreel-Korso, Kip Korso-Estreel, and Bram Baramji. Bram is a xenophysician who tends to the Dameii’s medical needs. On the Federation’s behalf, Cory and Kip permit a certain degree of tourism while assuring that the tourists do not disturb the Dameii. The current tourist group has come to see the light show that will be produced when the second wave of an exploding star passes by Damiem. The explosion killed an entire race of aliens, apart from the few who were off planet when their sun was destroyed. The reason for that star’s explosion becomes a central plot driver.

Among the tourists are four performers and the director/cameraman of a touring group of theatrical/film performers, although their work is more soft porn than theater. A preteen prince, heir to the royal throne of Pavo, has come to enjoy the lights, as have a retired professor of cybernetics, a light sculptor, twin sisters (one of them paralyzed) of noble birth, two students of water worlds (one of whom has been adapted to breathe through gills), and the logistics officer on the ship that brought them.

The novel’s first half establishes the characters and sets up the dawning realization that one or more characters intend to cause harm. Whether the targets are the guardians or the Dameii or both remains a mystery until the second half. Even then, the reader must spend some time pondering which of the characters are bad guys and which are not. To an extent, Brightness Falls from the Air reads like a crime novel set on an alien world with otherworldly motivations for the various crimes that characters commit.

Tiptree builds a fair amount of action into the story without turning it into a comic book plot. At the same time, this is also a novel of philosophy and choice. One of the guardians must make a hard choice between duty (protecting the Demeii) or protecting a person he loves. Another guardian must learn to accept fate because denying reality won’t make life better for anyone. A character who seeks retribution eventually wonders whether vengeance is any more just than the crime that is avenged. Toss in a story of blossoming love and another of enduring love and Brightness Falls from the Air becomes a story in full.

While the story moves quickly, it gets its flesh from Tiptree’s evocative descriptions of Damiem and the Demeii. Her careful attention to detail, both in the setting and in her development of human and alien characters, is the novel’s strength. Characters have colorful personalities. A young teen porn star is grounded and centered because none of her choices have been forced. The twin sister who isn’t paralyzed is a bit batty; her cybernet connection to the paralyzed twin makes the other characters wonder whether the paralyzed twin would like to get her sister out of her head. Original touches like those are evidence that the reader is immersed in a Tiptree story.

The novel’s ending is both happy and sad. Some characters take advantage of traumatic circumstances to make changes in their lives. Other characters suffer because suffering is a part of life. While Tiptree’s prose and inventiveness does not reach the heights of her bast short stories, the novel is one that science fiction fans shouldn’t overlook.

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