A distant planet covered in water, a political struggle for its future, and a mysterious corpse form the framework of the science fiction novel Blueheart, by Calgary medical student Alison Sinclair. It would, however, be unfair to classify this second novel strictly as SF. Like the best science fiction novels, Blueheart is not merely a story about strange new worlds; rather, SF is the canvas on which the story is told. Inside this framework, several other types of novels exist, including an involving medical mystery and a philosophical tale of one man’s quest for truth. Of all the various aspects in this novel, the most interesting are the religious, racial, and political conflicts that plague the waterworld on which the story is set. Stripped of its SF guise, much of this novel could have occurred in any one of today’s troubled nations struggling for identity. That the reader can relate to the characters and the situations in which they are placed is a major reason this novel’s plot works.

From the seemingly insignificant initial discovery of a corpse, Blueheart moves slowly and steadily toward a conclusion of planet-wide significance. It is, however, this constant slow and steady pace (in addition to some confusing prose problems) that causes the novel to falter. While the novel is interesting throughout, it is only at the end when the pacing picks up that it truly becomes gripping. The twists and turns of the plot are handled very well though, as they are inventive enough to be surprising, but not so unpredictable as to be, in retrospect, wholly unforeseeable. SF fans will like the intriguing concept behind Blueheart, and even those who don’t usually read science fiction will, in spite of some confusing sections, find something to enjoy.