Emergence, by David R. Palmer

[rachelmanija]

This is an 80s sf novel about a super-intelligent girl who is the lone (or so it seems) survivor of an apocalypse. I read it when I was twelve or so, really enjoyed it for the female protagonist having post-apocalyptic adventures, and also registered that some parts seemed really skeevy. When I was twelve, I did not have a finely-honed skeeve-

Comments

okay

[axolotl9]

so I wasn't imagining Threshold. I did read it at some point. Not impressed.

Looking at Google Groups discussion re: Tracking, it seems Palmer's had trouble getting published - the last publisher he had a contract with went bankrupt before actually publishing any of his books.

Re: okay

[rachelmanija]

Gee, I wonder why...

[marfisa]

I'd forgotten all the stuff about catheters, speculums, and evil gynecologist Rollo having had sex with twelve-year-olds before. But wasn't there a bit where some adult male (presumably Rollo) was bragging about how his now-dead wife was fantastic in bed and the compulsively competitive Candy secretly vowed that when she got old enough to fulfill her alleged obligation to sleep with the guy (which I assumed at the time would take at least until she'd officially reached her teens), she'd somehow find a way to be even better? Since it's not as if she even found the guy attractive to begin with, that was repellent enough. Like you, I read this about the time the book first came out, so I guess it went right over my head how much of a full-blown pedophile the guy was.

Wasn't there also a bunch of stuff later in the book about how Candy has to fly somewhere in an ultra-light glider for some reason?

[rachelmanija]

Yes and yes! Though to be fair it's not because she's competitive, it's because he sadly says that if, after giving it a fair trial, she really really hates having sex with him he'll stop raping her because he can't enjoy it if she doesn't, she feels guilted into mentally vowing to pretend to enjoy it.

...I find that disturbingly plausible as the mindset of a pedophile/a groomed child.

[sartorias]

I remember seeing that cover on the revolving rack! But I never looked inside because it sounded like horror.

[bonibaru]

I mean, are we 100% sure this wasn't ghostwritten by Piers Anthony after all?

[delphipsmith]

The book has a gynecologist in it, and the girl's name is Candidia? That's...er...well... I think there's some subtext there lol

I will never, ever, ever read this book.

[marfisa]

If I remember correctly, her official first name is only used at the beginning of the book when she's spelling out her full name. (I believe the latter is actually Candidia-Maria Smith, so Palmer may have been making a feeble attempt to conceal the questionable gynecological reference he was unable to resist making by giving his heroine a double-barreled hyphenated first name). After that I think everyone pretty much just refers to her as Candy.