This is an interesting book in the genre of "aliens trying to figure out how humans tick". In this case they've taken a sample of diverse humans from an isolated planet and placed them all in a city together, all for the purpose of figuring out how it's possible that we can be violent toward each other one moment but then pull out enough cohesion to hold our own against them in war.

The narrative mostly focuses on the humans who have entered the city, how they attempt to create alliances and navigate the new environment. They've been taken from two main cultures which have traditionally been hostile to each other, so now that they've been forced into close quarters violence is inevitable.

One of the major turning points of the book is when the aliens realise they may be able to convince some of the humans to ally with THEM against their own species, which is unthinkable in their own culture. And how strange it is for a human that has bonded with them to expect that they could go against their own fellows.

I sort of expected the conclusion to show that the very strength of humans lies in our diversity and flexibility, however it sort of panned out that among the hundreds who were brought into the experiment there were a small handful who were just kind of special and able to transcend petty squabbles for the sake of a higher purpose. That doesn't really seem like a strength when the aliens are ALL biologically/culturally hardwired to do the same.

It also seemed from the kind of cliff-hanger ending that there should be a sequel, but that doesn't seem to be the case. ( )

The premise of this book is that aliens, at war with humanity in space, find a lost colony of humans and study them to see what makes them tick. There are three groups of humans on this lost planet; survivors from the starship that brought them who flick in and out of stasis, a militaristic society, and a trader society. The latter two are almost constantly at war with one another. This is an interesting idea but probably beyond the ability of one novel to explore satisfactorily. There are gaps and unanswered questions. I would have liked more insights about the cultures, how they developed and why they are so antagonistic to one another. The ending also seems a bit abrupt. I won’t give that away though. This might have made a great series but one book wasn’t enough to handle the idea. ( )

Nancy Kress clearly loves classic SF and the opening chapters of this novel appeared to be a straightforward implementation of that classic plot where aliens can't figure out what makes humans so special and successful.

I hate that plot! But I loved this book because unlike the shallow pat on the back "aren't we special" offerings of other authors (all male that I recall), Kress uses the situation to explore in depth what it means to be alien on several very personal levels. The storyline shares a number of features with King's more recent Under the Dome: humans who shouldn't be on the same coast are placed in a closed environment, with declining health and a crumbling moral and social structure. As in Under the Dome, there's a lot of violence, especially against women, and fear here, but unlike King there's a lot more being said about identity, how socially-defined values can make true communication near impossible, and how often and how deeply societies embed the mistreatment of women.

The weakest aspect of the book are the aliens who are studying the humans. A critical aspect of the "aren't humans special" plot is that the aliens have to be very advanced, convincingly alien, and clueless. I've yet to see a writer bring that combination off. Kress does no worse than the rest I suppose. Had she managed that, this would be 4, maybe even 5 stars. Highly recommended even so. ( )

Kress became a favorite after I read her Beggars in Spain, which won both Nebula and Hugo awards. An Alien Light wasn't as strong as that book, but I thought hung together better than her other early novel, Brainrose. That one was set in the near future, and had dated quite badly--this one is set in our far future, and still works. In that future an alien race, the Ged, are at war with humanity. The aliens discover a planet where a human colony had reverted to a primitive state, divided into the warrior Jelites and the mercantile Delysians. The aliens set up a sort of social experiment, luring members of both groups into a settlement they create to study and understand humans. Mostly the story gets told through the Delysian artisan Ayrys, and three Jelites, a "sister-warrior" Jehane, a warrior-priest Dahar and the young prostitute SuSu. The title turns out to be apt in more than one sense as Kress uses the alien perspective to examine what it means to be human. It's an engrossing story, with aliens that feel--well, alien, and characters I cared about. ( )

I read this a long time ago. It was decent, but not great, unfortunately it put me off from reading anything else by her. ( )