Alldera, the protagonist of Walk to the End of the World, is one of the more memorable female characters in science fiction. Although intensely political, Charnas's book is very much a novel of character, and Alldera's development from downtrodden slave to increasingly self-confident woman, due, at least in part, to the pride she feels in her physical competence as a runner, is both believable and memorable. Alldera's growth parallels in an interesting fashion that of Celie in Alice Walker's The Color Purple (1982).