I bought this book because it was the only volume of science fiction in the entire Canadian section of my favourite neighbourhood book store, and I had never before read a Canadian novel that was deliberately labeled as SF. The reviews plastered all over it (from publications as diverse as Analog and Quill & Quire, though strangely no indication of what the book was actually about) were from sources I respected and more than piqued my interest. It turns out Phyllis Gotlieb is fairly well-known in SF circles, but I am an interested outsider at best. Everything I’ve read about Gotlieb’s work, and about this novel in particular, suggests that it is violent and highly sexual, though not necessarily erotic, and I found those statements to be true. It took me a good thirty or forty pages to get the hang of the book, but after that it took me over and I was hooked.
As best I can tell, because Gotlieb does very little background exposition, Flesh and Gold takes place in a distant future in which humanity has colonized a number of planets and solar systems, subsequently dividing into a number of unusual species, all still defined as part of “humanity”. This distant future looks a lot like ancient Rome, with sanctioned brothels and gladiatorial arenas, though slavery is illegal. And slavery is at the centre of this book. A judge, three gladiators, a doctor, and a former detective all work, mostly oblivious to each other’s actions, to expose a large corporation’s creation and enslavement of entire species. Violence is a big part of Gotlieb’s novel, but it never seems light or unremarkable; it’s always weighted and terrifying and there are always consequences. Often times in science fiction and fantasy works (Fionavar Tapestry, I’m looking at you) violence can seem commonplace and harmless, and I think it hurts the narrative to neuter it in that way. Gotlieb never flinches.
I won’t tell you how it ends, but I was a little surprised that it ended as cleanly as it did, though not disappointed. Flesh and Gold was alien, exciting, uncompromising, and made me believe that science fiction might truly escape many of the national boundaries that continue to artificially divide readers.
Flesh and Gold was my twelfth selection for The Canadian Book Challenge. Next up is Roxane Ward’s Fits Like A Rubber Dress.
