Sunburst

Melanie Marttila is a Sudbury-based freelance writer and writing
consultant.

Phyllis Gotlieb is the acknowledged “mother of Canadian science
fiction.” Her first novel, Sunburst, was first published in 1964 and
now shares its name with a prestigious science fiction award.

In Gotlieb’s tale of genetic mutation resulting from nuclear
disaster, young mutants, or dumplings (so named for the place in which
they live), manifest psychic powers. Each dumpling is an individual and
well developed. Shandy, the novel’s protagonist, is an Imperv, or
anti-psi. Her power is that no one else can use their powers to read her
mind or harm her. Shandy is a mutant among mutants, and Gotlieb often
surprises the reader with Shandy’s words or actions. Her navigation of
Gotlieb’s post-nuclear world is something the reader wants to follow.

Not only is Sunburst a landmark science fiction novel, but it’s a
good read as well. Younger readers might not catch some of the cultural
references in the book, but the story stands up both despite and because
of that. Sunburst is a must for any Canadian science fiction collection,
and should also be considered for collections of young-adult novels, and
some collections of Canadian women writers.