Shore of Women

This unusual romance novel takes a fresh look at a familiar science fiction setting. In a post-nuclear future, women live in walled cities, controlling all technology. Men, considered incapable of complex intellectual functions, worship females as divine beings. Roaming the countryside in primitive bands, men approach cities only when summoned for purposes of procreation. At the story's center is a young woman, Birana, who is wrongly convicted of a crime and banished from her city. Birana's judges assume that her lack of strength and outdoor skills will condemn her to a quick death. She survives, however, and during her struggles meets a hunter, Arvil. Over time, Birana realizes Arvil is not a savage, and he discovers she is not a goddess. They fall in love, and together search for refuge from the all-powerful women, who fear the day when men no longer hold them in awe. Some science fiction purists may be surprised by the decidedly erotic nature of this story, but, with her luminous prose and vivid characters, Sargent (Venus of Dreams has written a compelling and emotionally involving novel. (November 19)