SCIENCE FICTION NOVELS BY SHEILA FINCH

THE GARDEN OF THE SHAPED (The Shaper Exile, Vol.I), 1987, 
Bantam pb, 217pp. 

Banished because of their renegade experimentation with 
human genetics, a handful of scientists from the infamous 
Venn Labs settle on the uninhabited planet of Ilia. What 
their enemies do not know is that the first subject of their 
experiments is the group itself: they have vastly extended 
their lifetimes. On Ilia, they are free to pursue their 
research, molding two races to possess talents unknown to 
mankind, and -- since the scientists have time on their 
hands to watch results -- giving them widely different 
social structures and theologies as well. The Lianis are 
hedonistic shapeshifters, matriarchal, beloved children 
(they have been given to believe) of their holy spirit, the 
Great Shaper. They inhabit a gentle, fruitful area of the 
planet, and their heart is the beautiful old city of Tia-ta-
pel. The Rhodarus, who have been set down in harsh, desert 
country to the north, are fierce, warlike clans with 
exaggerated strength and skill. Their God, He-Who-Rules, is 
fierce and cruel to those who break his rules. Between these 
two races lives the third race, the Ganus, who were supposed 
to be standard human-stock controls. They are industrious 
farmers and artisans, family-oriented, and since they 
weren't given a deity they never found the need to invent 
one.

This is the story of a young Liani princess, Sivell, 
ascending the throne in a time of an unprecedented Ganu 
uprising. Since her people value shapeshifting more than 
anything, and she is oddly awkward for one so royally bred, 
she feels inadequate to the task. But she does possess an 
uncommon curiosity and wisdom. Sivell stumbles on the 
horrifying secret of her people's creation, and as a result 
must deal with the social upheaval of war, discredited myths 
and her people's lost hope all at once. She has the chance 
to defy the powerful Venn scientists and forge a union among 
the races that the creators never dreamed possible.

SHAPER'S LEGACY (The Shaper Exile, Vol II), 1989, Bantam pb, 
279pp. 

Sivell's twin grandchildren, Col and Beryt, have grown up in 
a time of peace and prosperity between Ganu and Liani. There 
is one race now, instead of two, and they call themselves 
Ilian. Given access to the riches of the south, the Ganu 
craftsmen have inaugurated a period of high technical 
invention and comfort. Headstrong Beryt, who will one day be 
queen under the old Liani law, actually prefers to spend her 
time in the Ganu capital, hunting with her uncle in the 
dense forests that form Ilia's northern border. One day, 
separated from her uncle's hunters, she meets a fugitive 
Rhodaru chieftain. Opposites attract, they say, and Beryt 
and ReAth are alternately lovers and enemies, for their 
union can never be accepted by either nation. Their 
relationship plays out against the growing threat of Rhodaru 
invasion of Ilia, and the desperate attempts of Col and 
other wiser heads to defend the old Liani capital of Tia- 
ta-pel against the overwhelming power of the invaders.

The Venn scientists, in the meantime, who discovered guilt 
in Sivell's time for their experiments, are now learning the 
limits of their longevity. One by one, they are dying out. 
But not before one of them manages to further complicate the 
lives and affairs of their former creations. 

SHAPING THE DAWN (The Shaper Exile, Book III), 1989, Bantam 
pb, 309pp. 

The Rhodarus rule all of Ilia, and the former Ganus and 
Lianis are subject races. But none of this matters to Rivi, 
a young orphaned Rhodaru girl of rather mixed parentage. 
Forced to leave her poor village, she makes her way to a 
settlement of free Ilians in the hills. But her new-found 
friends cannot protect her from the strange desire of the 
High Priest to hunt her down. She flees again, this time to 
the capital city of Kerratash where she becomes involved in 
clan intrigues and hostilities that she understands little 
of. The invalid and ineffectual Crown Prince helps her 
escape into the fabled country of Ilia to the south. Along 
the stages of this journey through a landscape torn by war 
and rebellion, she learns the secrets of her heritage; a 
visit to an old Liani queen, living in self-imposed exile, 
reveals Rivi's role in the destinies of the Ilian and 
Rhodaru peoples. She alone has the chance to unite all the 
races on Ilia -- if she is wise enough to find her way 
through the thickets of intrigue and danger and betrayal.

Against this violent backdrop, the last of the Venn 
scientists, Kory Venn -- a child when the group first landed 
on Ilia -- learns of the coming of an unusual starship, and 
finds that his destiny is to answer for the deeds of the 
Shapers, and to face justice at the hands of their 
creations.

 For further information, please send SASE or email to: 

        Sheila Finch
        Humanities Division
        El Camino College 
        16007 Crenshaw Blvd
        Torrance CA 90506

        GEnie: S.FINCH4