The Best of All Possible Worlds

Cygnus Beta

by Karen Lord

A proud and reserved alien society finds its homeland destroyed in an unprovoked act of aggression, and the survivors have no choice but to reach out to the indigenous humanoids of their adopted world, to whom they are distantly related. They wish to preserve their cherished way of life but come to discover that in order to preserve their culture, they may have to change it forever.

Now a man and a woman from these two clashing societies must work together to save this vanishing race—and end up uncovering ancient mysteries with far-reaching ramifications. As their mission hangs in the balance, this unlikely team—one cool and cerebral, the other fiery and impulsive—just may find in each other their own destinies . . . and a force that transcends all.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, Aliens, Science Fiction Fantasy, Speculative Fiction

308 pages, Hardcover

First published February 12, 2013

Reviews

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

So the big question is: Can you have a long, drawn out courtship between two level-headed middle-aged adults in a SF universe without much in the way of conflicts, misunderstandings, petty rivalries, jealousies, or much in the way of an overblown outside conflict bearing down upon them?

Why yes, yes you can, when it is called The Best of All Possible Worlds. I'm okay with pastoral romances, but usually there's a bit more plot and even if it's a mild comedy of errors or a comedy in the old romantic sense, there's usually enough intrigue to push everything along until the conflicted characters finally get together.

Here, we've got a woman who doesn't know her mind, or at least, doesn't want to admit her own mind, mildly, until the end.

And then we've got marriage.

Yup. That's it.

All right, maybe there's a slight bit more to it, but for the most part we're dealing with a lot of lack of conflict except for the fact the taSidiri homeworld got destroyed and there's a glut of men who are just like Vulcans except for the Pon Farr. Telepathy plays a big role through the novel, but nothing much happens except average every day pastoral concerns such as finding all these poor men wives and proving survivability for their cultural heritage.

That's not to say that things don't happen, because some things do happen. Kissing elephants, the Fairy Kingdom, uncovering a slavery ring, an expedition that goes awry... but honestly, they were never immediately powerful or full of serious long-term consequences. They happened. I can't really say if they progressed any type of real story except as a shared backdrop to The really early telegraphed insistence on a Marriage, which eventually happened.

It was a gentle boat ride of a novel that had a few mild and gentle confusions and resolutions, long-term planning, and logical and deliberate considerations.

Oh yeah, and it is SF. At least, it's set in an SF universe that had some standard tropes and even a little mysticism and what I can only consider angels.

It's okay. Ultimately kinda forgettable, but okay.

Congratulations on the marriage!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lovely, subtle piece of science fiction, of a sort I don't see enough of. It's reminiscent of The Left Hand of Darkness and Ammonite: anthropological and travelogue-ish in the best senses. Lord develops characters slowly, letting the reader discover them through their actions as they are placed in new and strange situations. The story begins with a large-scale tragedy, but starts the action some time later, so that the book is about long-term personal coping rather than the immediate aftermath.
I have a couple of minor issues with the book. Though it is very different from Lord's first book, Redemption in Indigo, she at times falls back on some similar narrative techniques. Addressing the reader works in a folktale, but pulls me out of the story here, making me wonder how the tale is being related to me and why in a way that I shouldn't be questioning.
The book is very episodic, and some of the episodes were more resonant than others. Some threads seem like they would come back again, but really don't make any return appearance.
I love seeing sexual minorities and ethnic minorities portrayed in SF, and for the most part Lord handles those topics well. There is a character of ambiguous gender in this novel who is written as a well-rounded member of the team, neither a curiosity past the initial mention nor a source of ridicule. I was therefore a little disappointed when at one point (very, very minor spoiler) someone wants to turn Lian's story into a romantic holo, but "Lian firmly redeclared as gender-neutral," which seems to negate that possibility. The latter shouldn't necessarily preclude the former in a society this open-minded.
In any case, I found myself reading only a chapter a night because the book was such a pleasure to read, I wanted to stretch it out as long as possible.

[DivaDiane SM · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars!

A love story like no other.

I loved this book.

For those that didn’t find a plot; hint: it’s a romance. Or the progression of a man who lost everything due to disaster destroying his planet and learning to come to terms with that, and forge a way forward for his people. And that included a new relationship which was slow to kindle and slow to develop but so satisfying in the end. Told from someone else’s POV.

This story also has a lot of cool SF elements, which I loved: psi-powers, mindships, time travel, and anthropology.

[Jenny (Reading Envy) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do not give out five stars lightly, but there are several reasons why I think Karen Lord's novel deserves it. This is pure science fiction, which was a surprise after reading her previous novel, Redemption in Indigo, which while enjoyable was a retold myth or fable. Since Karen Lord is one of three Caribbean authors writing in science fiction and fantasy, I have been looking forward to seeing what she would do next.

I have reamed novels set in space when they trade scientific description for unrealistic character portrayals. I would say that creating nuanced and interesting alien races is her strength. It isn't all science, as all the races have a slightly vague, mythological history. Are the Caretakers real? What is the connection between Terrans and the Sadiri?

The two main characters are Dllenahkh, who is in charge of Sadiri refugees, and Delarua, who accompanies him on a mission because of her scientific and language ability. Karen Lord was inspired by the statistics of how many more women than men were killed in the 2004 tsunami, and applies that idea to the disaster that makes the Sardiri into refugees. To further their culture, they have to go look for societies that may have ancient connections to their own, little pockets of taSadiri throughout the universe. Because of this, the author explores genetic mutation between alien races, and what remains of an original culture.

I felt the alien races were well-developed, and I liked the concepts of Sadiri communication, and the examples of people who have abused their natural abilities. There is a good balance of interpersonal conflict alongside broader issues. I feel like anyone who likes Melville's Embassytown because of the anthropological challenges but prefers their novels to be more readable, and anyone who enjoys the space novels of Ursula K. Le Guin, will connect with this novel.

Highly recommended. (But you'll have to wait until mid-February. I was lucky enough to snag a copy from NetGalley.)

[Charlie Anders · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book totally rocked my world and changed what I thought was possible in space opera as well as stories about alien cultures meeting. Karen Lord has a wonderfully warm and funny voice which manages to bridge the gap between the horrific act of genocide that starts this book and the gentle romantic comedy that it becomes. You can read my full review of this book here. I feel like this book deserved way more attention than it got. There's also a delightful sequel, The Galaxy Game.

[Brittany McCann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is the story good? Yes.
Is it narrated in a specific way for a reason? Yes.

But I just didn't really like it.

I spent the majority of the story so emotionally detached from the main characters that I wasn't really invested in what happened with them.

It was interesting, but more like flipping through a magazine and then stopping to read an article before moving on again.

3 Stars

[Liviu · Rating 5 out of 5]

very Ursula Le Guin like so far and a book i think I will greatly enjoy


Finished the book and it was surprisingly good - unusual in some ways, Vancian in some other ways with unusual cultures on a planet

The setup is very interesting - humanity exists throughout the Galaxy but in a few different flavors all having different levels/kinds of psionic powers and of which the cool intellectual telepaths Sadiri are at the peak in many ways as pilots of semi-sentient ftl ships, judges, Councillors etc; Terra is mostly in quarantine but on the Cygnus-Beta, described as a galactic hinterland for pioneers and refugees there is a mixture of human races, cultures etc with the planet having a special lore of higher beings called Caretakers as founders who brought humanity there even before ftl united it

An unexpected genocidal attack on the Sadiri home planet left the mostly male pilots (and everyone out planet) desperately scrambling to reconstitute the Sadiri culture but the sex imbalance means that on the planet New Sadira where the refugees settled the cool detachment of the species breaks down in fights over mates (usually the bonding being life-long due to telepathy, plus the Sadiri themselves being very long lived also as opposed to regular humans)

So missions are sent to all planets to find Sadiri blood humans and Cygnus Beta due to its very unusual founding/mixture is a prime target

The book is a mostly first person narration from Second Assistant Grace Delarua, a mid 30's woman of quite mixed race on Cygnus Beta (and with a personal history that is slowly teased out) who finds herself working well with the Sadiri expedition and especially their leader, Councillor Dllenakh, a high powered telepath almost at pilot-level but with a troubled (as Sadiri go) personal history of his own...

So Delarua (as even she refers to herself) gets seconded to the expedition and a trek on Cyguns Beta and its myriad strange cultures follow with a lot of adventures, strangeness (including the equivalent of the Seelie and Unseelie court, aristocratic slavers, not to speak of both Grace's and Dllenakh's history coming to life in various ways...) The expedition wih its mixture of Sadiri and more regular humans is quite fascinating as characters go beyond the main two leads

Things happen and while the main storyline goes where we kind of see clearly it will go the book is a real delight to read

a bit unexpectedly, I really really enjoyed this novel as it is quite original in some ways and i wish more sf today would be like it; a top 25 of 2013 and a full coherent review closer to publication date


FBC review:

http://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com...

[Repellent Boy · Rating 3 out of 5]

El mundo se ha extendido a lo largo de la galaxia y la personas han creado diferentes comunidades. Con esta separación, no solo el ritmo evolutivo ha sido diferente, si no que también las bases propias de cada sociedad. Cuando uno de estos planetas sea atacado por otro y casi exterminado, los pocos supervivientes buscarán auxilio en un planeta amigo. Se encontrarán con el evidente choque de culturas.

Este es un libro extremadamente curioso. Me ha parecido una distopía bastante atípica. El choque cultural entre diferentes planetas, entre personas con diferentes formas de comportarse, de sentir, de expresarse, con diferentes habilidades o "poderes", me ha parecido lo más interesante de la novela. Pero no es lo único. De fondo, inicialmente, vamos a ir intuyendo una relación que empieza fría y va voliéndose cálida poco a poco, hasta evolucionar pausadamente y de forma realista, en una mucho más profunda. Me gustó mucho como los dos personajes principales, empiezan a conocerse y a descubrir que, quizás, la mezcla les enriquezca más que los desuna. De esta novela me quedo con esa idea: el mestizaje da vida, no la quita. Genial.

La parte mala es que es algo rara en la forma y algo dispersa a la hora de narrar. Te cuesta cogerle el punto. Pero creo, que cuando se lo coges, no puedes parar. También le faltó definir algo mejor los personajes secundarios. A excepción de los dos protagonitas, el resto de personajes no queda muy bien dibujado.

[YouKneeK · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a standalone science fiction book about finding appropriate wives for a group of Vulc… I mean, a group of Sadiri, after their planet has been destroyed and most of their women killed.

Ok, it’s really about more than that, but that’s the main plot that drives the story from beginning to end. The book is set on a planet where refugees from many different human cultures over the centuries have come, living in small and mostly insular communities where they maintain their own culture. The Sadiri are the most recent arrivals. Most of the story is told from the first-person perspective of Grace, a scientist assigned to help the Sadiri sort out their procreation issues.

It was interesting, and it held my attention pretty strongly after a slow start. My problem was that it started to tell a lot of interesting stories but didn’t finish them because those weren’t the stories the author wanted to tell. We meet different cultures, see hints of problems and mysteries and interesting histories at different settlements, learn just enough to want to know more about what’s going on there, and then we leave them to their own problems and move on to the next settlement. The transition from the first settlement was so abrupt that I assumed events there would somehow play a larger role in the story later, but nope.

I sometimes felt like I was reading some sort of story sampler, where we were given bits and pieces of different stories but never a full story, or at least not any of the full stories I wanted to read. The book was more about relationships than plot, I think. Not just romantic relationships, although there is some of that, but friends, colleagues, family members, relating to different cultures, etc. The main romance worked pretty well for me. I buy into them more easily when they build very slowly over time, growing first into friendship and then into something stronger like this one did, as long as they’re written well. This romance was written pretty well, but I would have been more interested in some of the partial stories if they had been fully fleshed out.

This is a hard one to rate. I enjoyed it, but it also frustrated me several times. I’m going to give it 3.5 stars and round down to 3 on Goodreads.

[Bethany (Beautifully Bookish Bethany) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Vlog: https://youtu.be/MLxlIc-hQis

The Best of All Possible Worlds is a beautifully written, episodic piece of science fiction that is a bit reminiscent of Ursula K. Le Guin. Quiet, character and world driven with a super slow-burn central romance between a bureaucrat-scientist and the diplomatic leader of a refugee group escaping the destruction of their home planet. It wasn't what I expected, but I quite liked it. It includes some interesting sci-fi elements such as telepathy, emotional projection, and multiversal time travel. Definitely worth checking out!

[MB (What she read) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! That was a true pleasure! WHY can't I find more books like this?! The best I can describe the reading experience for me is that it was like one of those filmclips of a flower slowly blooming, as the story opened, unfolded and grew more intricate and lovely the further I read. Plus, I loved the characterization and the dialogue as the characters interacted. The humor was lovely.

Please don't let the misleading YAish appearance of the cover art keeping you from picking this up. This is not a YA book.

I loved this. I wish I could find more like it.

This combination of anthropological and sociological discovery between varying peoples, cultures and characters is one of my favorite themes. And Karen Lord handled it so well. I can't wait to read more from her!

9/8/14 Reread: I love this book so much!

[TheBookSmugglers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally reviewed on The Book Smugglers

REVIEW

Ana's Take:

I loved Karen Lord’s debut Redemption in Indigo and had been highly anticipating The Best of All Possible Worlds. The two books could not be more different but I was not disappointed in the least. In fact, I haven’t loved a book this much in a while.

Definitions are hard but one could definitely pinpoint The Best of All Possible Worlds as an Anthropological Science Fiction Romance.

It’s set at some point in the future and Cygnus Beta is a planet where different variants of human species have ended up, all somewhat related to the old Terran humans. As such, it is believed that some surviving genetic elements from the Sadiri – a highly developed lineage of proud, reserved and telepathic beings – still linger. Which is why Cygnus Beta sees the arrival of a small group of Sadiri settlers in search of a new home after their homeland – and most of their people - is wiped out in an unprovoked attack.

It’s about survival: the Sadiri settlers hope to preserve their way of life by replicating their genetic make-up by finding Sadiri-related wives amongst the population of Cygnus Beta. Led by a Sadiri councillor named Dllenahkh, the young male Sadiri stomp around Cygnus Beta at first, desperate to start new families, guided by the basic instinct to procreate and continue their species. Until the obvious truth becomes clear as day: that they are going about it the wrong way, that Cygnus Beta’s inhabitants have their own cultural/social practices. An initiative is started in which a group of government officials as well as and a number of the Sadiri are to travel Cygnus Beta’s settlements and get to know its people.

It’s a travelogue, most of it narrated in first person by a minor government biotechnician named Grace Delarua, whose account of the (roughly) two year period since the Sadiri arrived in Cygnus Beta is incredibly engaging, astute and funny. Delarua is an awesome character: smart, outspoken, resilient, compassionate, passionate. Her narrative voice is possibly one of the best things about The Best of All Possible Worlds and I loved her outlook: "Remember your ancestors, dream of your descendants, and work hard while you're living."

It’s not strictly a plot-driven or character-driven novel: it is rather, a collection of linked episodes, some of them relating to Delarua, some of them relating to the Sadiri. There is a huge scope here not only in terms of what this travelling about present the characters with (diverse, different societies) but also in terms of storytelling – in fact, to have a play of words with the title, the novel presents the best of all possible stories because it features everything, its tone altering accordingly: there is adventure and romance but also tragedy and corruption. It can be an incredibly fun book at times (TIME TRAVEL! FLYING MONKS! RANDOM SURPRISE FAIRIES! [1. But not like you think]) but one that never ever stops being thoughtful. I loved how its genre bending, how it depicts a variety of female characters always in positive ways, how it examines different types of bonding; the terrible circumstances of unthinkable tragedy and the myriad of ways that it can affect people; how it addresses slavery and wrongdoings.

And then there is the romance. Oh, MY. Here is where any semblance of coolness and level-headed review-writing goes out the door. Because this was so FREAKING good and I loved the slow progression of Delarua and Dllenahkh’s relationship. It included friendship, respect, admiration, bonding, understanding and navigating each other’s characteristics (one is impulsive, the other so restrained, etc) as well as sexy-times (who KNEW that mere HAND HOLDING would be so freaking hot? Also: neck biting. Wowza). And even though I’d personally have huge problems with the type of telepathic bonding the two were getting into, I loved how they discussed and analysed what it meant for them both and how it was about negotiated choice and consent.

All that said, I did wonder about a couple of things. First of all, there is a choice here to focus exclusively on the male Sadiri survivors and their need to bond with a female. I would have certainly welcomed the opportunity to not only see how female survivors would have fared in this scenario but to see at least one LGBT character in that situation too – the impression I got was that in the Sadiri society the bonding between couples was primarily (if not exclusively) male-female. Please note, I am not saying that the story is heteronormative, because I don’t think it is. In fact, it is very clear that the story welcomes diversity – one of the main characters identifies as asexual and gender-neutral; Delarua’s mother is about to embark on a bi polyamorous relationship with a couple – it’s only the Sadiri culture which seems to be solely heterosexual.

All things considered, I loved this book SO MUCH. It features a richly imagined diverse world where things don’t have right or easy answers, awesome characters and a great narrative. And reader, I won’t lie: the romance hit all the right spots for me. The Best of All Possible Worlds is definitely a Notable Read of 2013 and even though it’s early days, a serious contender for a top 10 spot.

Thea's Take:

The Best of All Possible Worlds is the first book I've read by Karen Lord, and certainly won't be the last. This is a... strange book. It is a book that really defies classification or convention, or even basic summation. It is a science fiction novel, but it's not really focused on a central conflict or forward-moving plot. In fact, it reads much more like a loosely connected string of episodes (as Ana says), or short stories, as polyglot/biotech geek and mid-level government employee Grace Delarua is partnered with Dllenahkh, a Sadiri councilor, as he embarks on an exploratory mission to find pockets of (female) inhabitants across Cygnus Beta, with genetic backgrounds that closely match/are linked to the Sadiri, so as to produce offspring that are as close as possible to Sadiri in blood and appearance. You see, the Saidiri have been the victims of genocide on an unimaginable scale - the remaining survivors (mostly men) are now searching Cygnus Beta for suitable female partners for procreation, and Delarua's empathetic (and linguistic) skills make her a perfect candidate for a years-long road trip around the planet.

What ensues, of course, is a string of adventures (some more exciting than others), and the blossoming of an unlikely - but let's all be serious, we see it coming from lightyears away - romance between the passionate Delarua and the controlled Dllenahkh.

I agree with almost everything Ana has already said; The Best of All Possible Worlds is an undeniably fun book, one of those books that during the reading you get a silly smile plastered on your face because it's sweet, and funny and a little bit gooey (in a good way). Although I usually like a little more plot in my science fiction, its absence in this book is actually completely fine because of the detail of the world - most importantly, the people - of Cygnus Beta. I loved the insight of these different cultures and customs, the complications of bloodlines and ancient struggles

And yes, the romance is really wonderfully done, too. Both Delarua and Dllenahkh are compelling, lovable creatures (albeit slightly familiar ones). Delarua's sense of humor is reminiscent of certain urban fantasy heroines, while Dllenahkh is kind of, well, Vulcan-esque (in a good way, again).

What I wanted to touch on a little more concerns the premise of the book - Ana mentions it in her part, and I agree with her: the driving force behind the book is the Sadiri's need to create a future - their population has been largely annihilated, and the survivors (mostly virile, long-lived men) must find female partners with whom they can procreate and continue their genetic line. Not only does the exclusively male-female aspect of this make me a little uncomfortable, but the genetic line part is also food for discussion. In this future science fictional world, our protagonists go to great lengths to find "suitable" females (with taSadiri origins) with which the Sadiri can pursue reproductive relationships - I quote one character:

I want a wife, and children, and a family of my blood. I want sons and daughters who will look like my brothers and sisters who are gone, who will speak Sadiri and learn of Sadira and practice the mental disciplines. I want to see them married and grow old enough to see my grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I am the last of my line, the sole survivor of my family, like so many others on the homesteadings.

I am of two minds. I understand the need to preserve a culture, a people, the remnants of home. I get the struggle that Dllenahkh and his people grapple with, and I respect that. However, on the other side of that coin is Delarua and her argument, that "purity" is not the goal with which the Sadiri should be concerning themselves. It's fodder for discussion anyways, and I think worth bringing up.[2. And, on a deeply personal level (possibly inappropriate but my own opinion), as someone that is of mixed race, that looks NOTHING like one side of my family, this stings and bothers me.]

All in all, The Best of All Possible Worlds is a fun book, and one I thoroughly enjoyed. Recommended.

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lovely, quiet love story amidst a tale of a race set adrift from all they know. This is slow-burn world building (it was killing me to not fully understand the relationship of these worlds to our own) but it all comes together. If you like the main characters, you'll enjoy this - it's all about them.

[Dikana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Para mí es difícil reseñar esta novela sin ponerme sentimental, porque me ha pegado muy fuerte, en el momento en el que más falta me hacía. Me ha emocionado, me ha enternecido y me ha hecho reír muchísimo, porque el sentido del humor estaba en perfecta sintonía con el mío. También me ha hecho llorar. Me he visto reflejada y representada en muchas cosas (en Dllenahkh, en Grace, en los sadiri en general…) y me ha hablado a muchos niveles.

Pero quizá lo más importante es que he amado con locura el romance que describe. Como asexual, para mí ha sido una bendición y un descanso encontrar una historia de amor construida con tanto mimo a partir de una amistad, basada prácticamente por completo en la compatibilidad psicológica, sin cargantes referencias sexuales ni tensión sexual ni nada por el estilo. Pocas veces (creo que nunca, en realidad) he encontrado a alguien que describa tan bien este tipo de atracción en la que el sexo juega un papel puramente anecdótico, más como culmen de un proceso que como detonante. Y repito: para mí, eso es importantísimo. Importantísimo a un nivel que no podéis imaginar.

Tenéis mi reseña completa en La Nave Invisible, todo lo neutra y profesional que podría ser, aunque sigue habiendo muchas cosas que me he dejado en el tintero. Allí tenemos límite de palabras y no era cuestión de abrumar al personal, pero bien podría haber sobrepasado las cinco mil palabras analizando todos los pequeños detalles que tiene esta novela; sobre todo en el campo de las relaciones, tanto en el plano general (el Ministerio de Planificación y Mantenimiento Familiar de Cygnus Beta me ha parecido interesantísimo como método para mediar en el establecimiento de parejas, paliando el choque cultural y las situaciones abusivas a las que podría dar lugar) como en el personal. La aversión que siente Dllenahkh a tener un estatus superior al de Grace, el respeto hacia el trabajo y las habilidades de ella, el dejarle siempre su espacio, la forma en que conjugan la independencia y el trabajo en equipo, la paridad, la compenetración, los gestos de afecto… Quizá cuando relea la novela en inglés haga una versión extendida de la reseña en mi propio blog, porque es el tipo de texto sutil que me encanta estudiar.

¿Pero estoy conforme con todo? No. Hay cosas que me han hecho sentir incómoda y ciertos detalles que no me han terminado de convencer. Algunos se debían a errores de traducción (especialmente peligrosos en una obra como El mejor de los mundos posibles, donde los matices encierran mundos), pero otros siguen presentes en el texto original. Y los traslado aquí porque quiero hablar de ello, pero necesito hacerlo bajo "spoilers cut", ya que son cosas que aparecen al final de la novela. Leedlo bajo vuestra propia responsabilidad.

La primera vez que terminé de leer El mejor de los mundos posibles, deseé que el 70-80% de lo que sucede en el penúltimo capítulo no hubiese ocurrido nunca. Con lo mucho que estaba disfrutando y lo emocionada que estaba ante el desenlace, llegar a ese punto fue como recibir un puñetazo en la cara. Me pareció un drama innecesario para una pareja que ya venía siendo el paradigma de las relaciones sanas, introducido a la fuerza en el último momento y resuelto con demasiada ligereza. No me gustó ni un pelo. Pero admito que después, releyéndolo, dándole vueltas y reflexionando sobre ello, he logrado reconciliarme un poco con el tema, aunque aún me provoca sentimientos encontrados.

No es que lo de la exmujer de Dllenahkh salga de la nada, en realidad. Puede pillar por sorpresa en una primera lectura, pero lo cierto es que, cuando vuelves la vista atrás, ves pistas a lo largo de la novela: sus comentarios sobre que conocer una mente no implica comprenderla, que parezcan afectarle de forma personal las relaciones disfuncionales de los muchachos de la colonia, su visceral aversión a la violencia y a la posibilidad de perder el control, el trauma que tiene con los disturbios en Nueva Sadira, el mal humor que se gasta cuando van a ver esa obra de teatro y cómo se altera cuando Grace le dice que está leyendo a los actores… Una vez que sabes que él también ha pasado por su propia relación fallida, puedes ver todos esos detalles desde otra perspectiva.

También entiendo por qué está incluido esto. Entiendo que es una forma de señalar que los vínculos mentales no son ninguna panacea, y que las relaciones disfuncionales entre sadiri pueden dar lugar a un festival de toxicidad de proporciones épicas. Dado su grado de implicación mental, es lógico; ya vemos en más de una ocasión cómo reaccionan cuando pierden el control. En cierto modo, así se desmitifica un poco la romántica idea del vínculo mental, cosa que me parece bastante adecuada. Pero creo que el problema está en cómo están presentados algunos aspectos de este asunto.

Me gusta mucho lo del contrato matrimonial, porque, como dice el propio Dllenahkh, cualquier otra cosa habría resultado incoherente con el personaje. No es algo fácil de tragar, porque en un primer momento da la impresión de que ha anulado la capacidad de decidir de Grace y toda la terminología sobre "reservar esposa" es bastante fuerte. Pero él se registró en el Ministerio después de que ella le dijese a la cara que "no lo encontraba objetable" de ninguna forma, con el cortejo ya iniciado y sabiendo que ella le correspondía, aunque aún no lo hubiese admitido ante sí misma. Básicamente fue un sentarse a esperar hasta que Grace se sintiese preparada para registrarse en el Ministerio también. Como lectores, nos puede chocar también esa falta de dramatismo o emotividad a la que hace referencia Freyda, pero la declaración no habría funcionado de ninguna otra manera y ese último guiño al choque cultural entre sadiris y cygnianos me parece perfecto.

No me gusta, sin embargo, la impresión de que los problemas dentro de un vínculo vienen por parte de los hombres. Ya de por sí es muy difícil calibrar con propiedad estos aspectos de la sociedad sadiri, teniendo en cuenta el contexto de la novela, donde la mayoría de mujeres ha muerto, la mayoría de sadiris que conocemos son hombres y además está de fondo la búsqueda de esposas por la necesidad de procrear. Todo parece indicar que el binomio hombre-mujer es importantísimo, una especie de yin-yang, ¿pero significa eso que los vínculos matrimoniales solo funcionan entre hombres y mujeres? ¿Es la sociedad sadiri completamente heterosexual? ¿Existen los vínculos/matrimonios entre personas del mismo sexo o son tan funcionales que solo contemplan uniones con posibilidad de reproducirse naturalmente? Lo veo factible, puesto que tener una amplia descendencia es casi un rasgo de la "religión" sadiri. Pero, aun en el caso de que todos sean hetero, ¿es que las mujeres son más fuertes que los hombres, mentalmente hablando? ¿No tienen las mismas necesidades? ¿Por qué decir que un piloto de nave mental es casi inmortal, pero un hombre sin esposa está medio vivo, cuando esto del vínculo es algo que debería afectar a ambos sexos por igual? ¿No habría sido mejor optar por "un sadiri sin pareja está medio vivo"?

(Esto me recuerda que me encantaría saber qué papel tienen exactamente los pilotos en todo este sistema, y si vincularse a una nave es el equivalente a un voto de celibato o hay algo más ahí. En realidad, muchos aspectos de la sociedad sadiri me recuerdan a conceptos filosófico-religiosos y ese es otro filón que me gustaría analizar si tuviera más datos).

Lord especifica que tanto hombres como mujeres pueden ser pilotos (detalle que se merienda la versión en castellano, por cierto), pero los desequilibrios dentro de la pareja parecen asociarse solo a los hombres, que son los que se vuelven dependientes, posesivos y violentos si pierden el control ante infidelidades y rupturas. Sin embargo, la actitud de la exmujer de Dllenahkh, vengándose de él por su indiferencia conyugal, también me parece posesiva, tóxica y un poco fuera de control. En general, creo que un vínculo que no funciona, donde no hay verdadera afinidad, es nocivo para ambas partes y puede despertar lo peor de cada uno. Hubiese preferido que este tema, que es muy delicado e importante, se hubiese tratado de forma más global, en vez de ceñirse solo a la perspectiva masculina. Y, si de verdad es algo que solo afecta a los hombres, ¿por qué?

Con los detalles específicos de la historia de Dllenahkh, al menos, ya me siento un poco más cómoda. Entiendo que fue algo que ocurrió hace muchos años, cuando él era más joven e inexperto, y que ha trabajado casi obsesivamente desde entonces para asegurarse de no volver a perder el control (con toda la presión añadida que eso conlleva, de todas formas). Me fastidió que la narrativa del capítulo le pegase un hachazo al personaje por algo ocurrido hace tanto tiempo, porque no tenía nada que ver con la persona que es él ahora y chirriaba muchísimo; pero también he llegado a comprender el miedo de Grace a lo desconocido, del mismo modo que entiendo que él no tuviera valor para contárselo por el terror a la pérdida, algo que debe de haberse convertido en medio patológico tras la destrucción de Sadira. En un primer momento, me chocó la inseguridad que demuestra en esa escena, porque me pareció que debería tener más confianza en Grace y en sus sentimientos; pero la verdad es que el miedo a ser juzgado por un error del pasado, más aún teniendo ahí flotando el asunto de Ioan, encaja con la situación mejor de lo que creía.

He releído varias veces el diálogo en el que Dllenahkh le cuenta la historia y al final creo que todo se resuelve rápido porque en realidad había poco que resolver: su esposa lo puso contra las cuerdas y el vínculo lo hizo reventar. Posiblemente él también la puso a ella contra las cuerdas. Ninguno de los dos estaba satisfecho y se hicieron daño el uno al otro, consciente e inconscientemente. Debió ser como que te rompan el cerebro, vale, y me alegro de que Dllenahkh reconozca su culpa, aunque me hubiese gustado un poco más de énfasis en eso y un poco menos de énfasis en la jugarreta de la exmujer. Pero bueno… a pesar de que sigue sin gustarme todo lo que rodea a este punto de las explosiones de violencia sadiri, lo tolero, porque ninguna sociedad es perfecta y estos rasgos problemáticos también las hacen más auténticas y orgánicas. Me quedo con lo bueno: que Dllenahkh nunca presionó a Grace, siempre la esperó y respetó el ritmo que iba marcando, y que esa paciencia se equilibró con el voto de confianza definitivo que ella puso en él al final al aceptar el vínculo. No como un premio para Dllenahkh, sino para sí misma, después de haber pasado casi toda la novela luchando por recuperarse de las secuelas de su relación abusiva con Ioan. Superar el miedo a las relaciones y al compromiso, volver a confiar en alguien, ser capaz de decirse "de verdad quiero estar con esta persona y crear una vida juntos" y lanzarse a por ello es su victoria, de Grace. Nunca está de más hacer hincapié en ello.

En realidad, creo que bastantes de las cosas que podrían resultar más problemáticas se equilibran de una forma u otra. Por muy monógama y hetero que sea la sociedad sadiri, en Cygnus Beta están normalizados el poliamor y la bisexualidad. El fuerte binarismo sadiri se compensa colocando a Lian, personaje agénero y probablemente asexual, en un puesto prominente del equipo (enamorando a Joral de paso, aunque no lleguen a nada). La búsqueda de esposas y la obsesión por la descendencia se suaviza con el romance principal cocinado a fuego lento a lo largo de dos años, y con ese momento precioso en el que Dllenahkh le dice a Grace (a pesar de la situación en la que está su pueblo) que solo tendrán hijos si ella quiere y que no se imagina encajando mejor con ninguna otra persona (aunque ella no sea tasadiri ni tenga "ventajas genéticas"). Es como una especie de baile que reparte una de cal y otra de arena y, como ya dije en la reseña oficial, al menos no cae en la trampa de poner a un sistema por encima del otro. Si los sadiri son los jefazos de la galaxia es por sus habilidades psiónicas, no por sus prácticas maritales, que en realidad pueden percibirse más como una debilidad que como una ventaja. Al menos, esa es mi impresión. Y Grace lo confirma más de una vez recordándole a Dllenahkh que, en este mundo, nadie es más que nadie.

Hala, a las tres mil palabras en La Nave se suman las dos mil de aquí, ¿veis cómo de cinco mil no bajaba? He divagado mucho bajo el cut, pero me he quedado a gusto, que era lo que necesitaba. Por suerte, nada de lo que me podría incomodar ensombrece la novela en su conjunto y sigo disfrutándola como una enana cada vez que la retomo. Es una de esas historias que no me canso de leer. Y la recomiendo, la recomiendo muchísimo, de corazón. Si necesitáis algo que os haga disfrutar y os devuelva el ánimo, esta es vuestra novela.

[Ruxandra Grrr [in a slump :(((((] · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a strange book.

At its core, it's basically a marriage plot - one could say it's a love story, but there's also a huge marriage plot. It's about a planet, Sadira, where an almost total femicide happened, and now the surviving males are on a sort of diplomatic mission to find wives and rebuild the culture (this also means, of course, that it's also super duper heterosexual, because the point of the following marriages would be reproductive).

It doesn't help that the characters involved in the love story are performing current gender roles on crack: the Sadiri men and particularly Dllenahkh are hyper-rational academics into logic and not showing emotion (speaking like Vulcans), and our narrator, Grace Delarua, comes from a hominid species called Ntshune, who tend to be hyper-emotional. Grace has a lot of insecurities about that when it comes to interacting with the Sadiri. Perhaps I'm being unfair, because there is at least one hyper-rational woman, Nasiha, who I rather loved.

So yeah, not a lot of queerness here, because it's all about mating, wanting to mate, genetics and reproduction. There is one non-binary and maybe asexual person mentioned at some point, and an older woman who might be bisexual, maybe?, and then there's apparently a lot of polyamory on the planet they're on, Cygnus, but the focus is strictly monogamous, super annoying. The queerness and non-normative aspects feel perfunctory in how they're introduced.

I'm trying to figure out how I feel about this book while writing the review. Because I absolutely loved it at points. There's a lot here on emotions and how they work and how they're triggered in the lymbic system, and stuff on telepathy, projecting emotion and such that I found fascinating. But the book itself is almost episodic in nature, with jarring leaps of tone from episode to episode and from utter silliness (a sort of shopping montage) to utter darkness (the shopping montage is preceded by a violent attack on a woman, with a knife). The darkness always feels extremely abrupt, taking me out of the narrative - a lot of heavy gaslighting and emotional abuse done through telepathy and also weird consent issues.

The episodic nature of this year-long diplomatic mission means that we're in a fae court story at one point, then in a slavery / oppression one, then a survival story and so on. And I could not follow it emotionally after a while. And it just got weird, but not in a good way?! The most jarring was the final chapter and the backstory elements introduced there made me bump the rating down from 3.5 to 2?!?! We found out that Dllenahkh had a wife who cheated on him and he broke the jaw of the lover and the evil wife had orchestrated that?! And also that Sadiri consider that a crime of passion and don't punish it?!?!?! And this Grace finds out when she is considering marriage to him and then she sees him stop a violent attacker with violence and she decides to marry this guy?!?!?!?!?!?! That was just mad and I don't even know what to do with that.

Which is such a shame, because I enjoyed the warm, fun narrative voice from the beginning and then my attachment to the characters and the world just dwindled until it was pummelled by that same last chapter. I am still a bit shocked by it, to be honest. So yeah, the book just felt like a mish-mash of way too many elements and the politics of it felt more than iffy to me. I am curious to read the next one in this world, see what happens without the marriage plot aspects, but I don't know.

Also, one last critique: way too many Ray Bradbury references for me to feel ok with it.

[Ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This knocked my socks off! I’ll admit that I was a little buzzed the night I read the bulk of it, but my repeated cries of, “This book is so great!” to B in the kitchen had nothing to do with whiskey & everything to do with the excellence of this book. There’s a lot of science-y stuff that was a little over my head, to be sure (please don’t ever ask me to explain how Lian & Joral were freed from that cave-in; although I’d like to blame the booze I think that one is all my own ignorance), but my oh my, the relationship between Grace Delarua & Dllenahkh is amazing. It is so well-written it astounds me. Perhaps a woman & a man with a friendship that is close & affectionate & natural & more important than a sexual relationship to both of them shouldn’t seem so revolutionary to me, but it does. There’s all this thrilling attraction & flirting between the two of them, but several times they explicitly state that being friends is more important than being lovers. They do end up together at the end of the book, but their marriage seems to be made stronger by the alliance that preceded it.

How does this hold up for ComicCon? Exceptionally well. It passes the Bechdel test. Grace is really smart, funny, & playful. Seriously, the level of adorable frivolity that Grace is capable of is something that I’d expect would've had me rolling my eyes, but she’s so endearing she had me smiling instead. Best of all as far as I’m concerned, Grace flat out says exactly what I tell people if I’m ever asked to explain “why feminism” (although mine of course does not include the whole Zhinuvian mesmeric influence thing): “Barring the unethical use of a Zhinuvian-strength mesmeric influence, I am not responsible for any foolishness that a man might care to perpetrate on my behalf.” Amen. I’m thrilled to get to discuss this one, because it means I get to jump up & down & geek out on how much I loved it (because in addition to this great relationship, there's also some cool world building, psionic abilities, a lot of really sweet secondary characters & all this other good stuff). I'm not quite sure what's up with the white people on the cover, though.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It didn't really have a plot and was more of a string of stories about what had happened in the MC's life. Because of this I was occasionally at sea, just waiting to know what the reason for the story was. Also, the transitions sometimes confused me but I was unclear if this was the text or the narration. But the story itself was really very cool. Most of it follows a woman over the course of a period of time and the life she leads is quite interesting. With the way that it didn't have a plot or storyline, it actually allowed for a lot more strange situations to happen. There were exciting things, intriguing, fascinating, curious, and holy-shit-did-they-really-just-do-that moments. It was really enjoyable and the romantic sub-plot (Can it be sub if there wasn't a main plot?) was charming and awkward and really enjoyable.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Best of All Possible Worlds starts off grimly, with Dllenach of Sadiri receiving word of the genocide of his planet while he is off-world at a meditation retreat.

It may start grimly, but it sure doesn't stay that way! Things get really loopy from here on.

After the initial chapter, the majority of the story is told from the first-person point of view of Grace Delarua, a civil servant whose usual job is to help various settlements on Cygnus Beta with agriculture. She is called upon as a cultural aide to a group of diasporic Sadiri, including Dllenach, who intend to settle on Cygnus Beta. Their mission is to travel the world to seek out suitable brides, because women were the majority of the victims in the attack on Sadira. (The Sadiri need women!)

The novel is largely told in short episodes of a chapter or so apiece, as Grace, Dllenach, and an accompanying small group of Cygneans and Sadiri visit various places on Cygnus Beta, sometimes just observing the local customs and events, and sometimes getting into peril. Few to none of these episodes have any kind of resolution. It's never too long before we're off in the auto-piloted car to another part of the world.

I found this book hard to take, at first. Grace is enthusiastic, and kind of shout-y, just the kind of person that I'd have a hard time adjusting to in real life. She's a sweetheart, but also overwhelming. The seemingly haphazard, unfinished storytelling was disorienting and a little annoying. There's elephants, and telepathy, and a near-drowning, and a murder, etc., etc... Also, the huge emphasis on selective breeding at the beginning of the book was off-putting. It took a couple of tries before I really appreciated this book's vibe.

I ended up liking the sketches of the various settlements, once I got used to nothing being tied up neatly. I never had time to get bored with any particular place, that's for sure (it's a theme park of a book, just don't expect to return to your favorite ride), and the societies were presented both minimally and convincingly. And there's a lot of warmth and heart to it. I liked some of Grace's friends a lot, like Frieda. Grace and Dllenach are endearing characters, and they balance each other out well: one emotionally out-there, the other reserved. Their relationship builds slowly during their various adventures, and they communicate earnestly and honestly with each other--each in their own way--as they move from co-workers to another kind of partnership.

This is a charming book, and it was enjoyable to read it a chapter or so at a time in audio. Robin Miles' narration, especially her portrayal of Grace, adds a star.

[Veronique · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5* (even better on a re-read)


How to describe this novel? An ‘anthropological science fiction tale' where we see survivors of an alien race (some similarities with Vulcans, mainly mentally/psychologically) trying to rebuild their society after their homeland is destroyed. They find refuge on a world peopled with a variety of humanoids and have to decide whether to preserve their way of life, and if so, how.

The result was compelling. I loved finding out about all these different societies, all characterised by fascinating variances. This was even more enjoyable since we witness all from the point of view of our narrator, Delarua, who is beyond likeable. Then, yes, there is a very, very, very slow, romance, that only hints at itself and leaves you guessing for most the book.

Unsurprisingly, I am now wanting to read everything Caribbean author, Karen Lord, has penned. The sequel, The Galaxy Game, is already on my shelf, and I’m keeping an eye for when her latest novel becomes available.

[John Carter McKnight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, this is Abrams-verse Trek fic, no way around it. But it's wonderful on many levels. It's terrific sociological SF, wonderful character development and relationship building, excellent pacing. This was the first time in a very long time I couldn't put a book down, but read it straight through.

Lord's endnotes are especially interesting, and the book might've been better served had they been at the beginning: she links to several news articles of an event that underlies the basic scenario: an all-male settlement of refugees, trying to integrate into a quite different, and diverse, culture.

If you like CJ Cherryh's Foreigner series, or strong explorations of cultural differences in your SF, this is a must-read. It's warm, compelling, intriguing.

And yes, it's got some very close analogs of some familiar races and personalities - but that doesn't detract at all. There's a scene where the survey mission goes to a local play, about infidelity and murder, and argues in the lobby over what culture's work from what era underlies the story. Some tropes just become timeless.

[Kristin B. Bodreau · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am… confused… I think something happened at the publishing house and someone switched the last half of this serious SciFi with a Hallmark Romance Movie of the week. I don’t know how it happened, but I think someone should be held accountable. I’ll admit to not being particularly invested at the beginning. The character development wasn’t great, and the world building was interesting, but pretty slapdash and incongruous. But, I was starting to warm up to it. And then Elves showed up. And then we moved into sappy romance territory. But like, not even a well done romance. How do we start with a near genocide and by the end the A-plot is a cheesy love story? I … I’m … Wha…*sigh* That’s all I got.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Video Review (Spoiler Free): https://youtu.be/8tCvyNFa_LI

Currently my favorite read of the year. Its a very quiet, reflective sci-fi story that completely stole my heart. I loved exploring these cultures and watching this team get closer and work through various troubles. It was the perfect length for the story being told and I cannot wait to re-read it one day.

[Phoenixfalls · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel is simultaneously deeply subversive and disappointingly conventional.

It obviously owes its premise and much of the feel of its world to Star Trek. It's set in a universe where the speed of light is no barrier, where there are quite a few practically-human species capable of star flight, whose planets interact the way countries here on Earth do (meaning there's immigration to and from, they form alliances and declare war, and there's trade) and all of them can interbreed. The Sadiri, the victims of the genocide, are definitely Vulcan-like; though they have not rejected emotion in favor of logic, they have epitomized restraint and morality to the rest of the galaxy, and they attribute their superiority in those fields to the way they have developed their telepathy through meditation and mental exercises.

Interestingly, though not particularly relevant to the story, this is a galaxy without Earth and humans-as-such; Earth is apparently under an interdiction, and the rest of the humanoid species have no contact with it other than the occasional snapping-up of doomed groups to be brought into the galactic fold for their useful genetic diversity.

The first sign that this is much more than just Star Trek-influenced cross-cultural-contact SF is the information, right off the bat at the start of chapter two, that Cygnians and Sadiri (who make up nearly the entirety of the cast of characters) possess "eyes, hair, and skin all somewhere on the spectrum of brown." There is one character, late in the book, that I would identify as white; he's so minor that I've forgotten his name, and what role he played.

The second sign is the nature of Cygnus Beta, the planet almost all of the action takes place on, and the home world of the protagonist. It is a planet of refugees, one of which the protagonist says "There isn't a group on Cygnus Beta who can't trace their family back to some world-shattering event. Landless, kinless, unwanted. . ." It is a poor planet, and one that the rest of the galaxy views as superstitious and backward. But it is not the violent, gang-ridden techno-poverty of the sort that is so often fetishized in cyberpunk, and it's not the picturesquely feudal and martial poverty of, for example, Lois McMaster Bujold's Barrayar; it's just the poverty of being a people whom circumstance and hostile action have rendered relatively resourceless.

The third sign is the breezy, confiding tone of Grace's narration. Lord's first novel, Redemption in Indigo, took that same tone; there, it was the obvious choice, a folktale fantasy narrated as it would be around a fire on a winter's night. But that tone, when transposed to a distinctly science fictional setting, becomes in itself somewhat revolutionary. Much of science fiction, particularly science fiction with pretensions at seriousness, adopts an objective tone, a distant faux-historical viewpoint that is meant to give it gravitas. That tone often hides as much as it highlights, encouraging the reader to look away from all the things that are missing (brown people, poor people, oppressed people). Grace's voice, warm and occasionally exasperated and always distinctly personal, makes this book feel real, aliens and telepaths notwithstanding.

That level of personal-ness is ultimately what I found so exciting about this novel. It is 100% science fiction, and the sort of science fiction I always find more satisfying, where the world is messy -- multiple types of telepaths, lots of different cultures and subcultures, the sense that the characters in the novel all have existences extending far into the past and the future, rather than existing purely for the sake of the plot. But it is also incredibly domestic -- ultimately, what the Sadiri need is to find a whole bunch of brides, because in the aftermath of the almost-genocide they were left with an incredibly male-skewed gender balance, and so the plot of the novel is taken up with a quest through Cygnus Beta looking for communities that have higher percentages of Sadiri bloodlines, so that the remaining Sadiri males can look for mates.

And that is where the novel becomes unfortunately conventional. Lord makes a point of how progressive Cygnus Beta is: there is a character of whom Grace says "Lian has chosen to live without reference to gender. This may or may not mean that Lian is asexual, though many of those who are registered as gender-neutral are indeed so. However, it doesn’t matter, because this has no bearing on our mission and is thus none of our business”; various comments indicate that bi/pansexuality is the norm; Grace jokes with her mother that the woman her mother is trying to seduce away from her husband actually wants Grace's mother to join in a triadic polyamorous relationship with the both of them. But there is absolutely none of that diversity of sexual and gender identity represented in the Sadiri and their plight: the Sadiri survivors are (almost) all men, and they are all going to be forced to enter into heterosexual monogamous relationships that are expected to be reproductively fruitful. And no one blinks an eye at that. It is a strange bit of cognitive dissonance, that Grace is so fully enmeshed in a non-heteronormative, non-monogamous society and yet is falling in love with a man from a society so much more rigid without even once questioning how willing his people are to abridge their right to self-determination.

(It is particularly galling, given that this is a science fictional setting, that Lord never addresses any potential technological fixes to the problem of a small, male-dominated survival group: no mention of genetic engineering, cloning, uterine replicators, anything beyond "get boy and girl to have sex, make babies".)

Still, aside from that conventional core, this novel is a delight. Grace's narration makes it a fast, enjoyable read. The quest plot takes the reader through quite a few very distinct subcultures on Cygnus Beta, the same way Isaac Asimov's Prelude to Foundation explores the various sectors of Trantor. There are several call-backs to Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, the Sadiri coming to Cygnus Beta intending to reshape it for their needs but ending up becoming rather more Cygnian than Sadiri in the process. There was also a significant reference to Jane Eyre, which seemed out of place. But most of all, I spent the novel thinking that Lord was doing much the same thing science fictionally as Lois McMaster Bujold was doing fantastically in her Sharing Knife quadrilogy -- they set up rigorous SFF worlds, and then they put those worlds at stake, positioned their cultures on the brink of extinction due to both external and internal forces; then they resolved the stories by having their characters settle down and make babies. This is, of course, an entirely fair resolution; if your culture is in danger of extinction, pretty much the only solution is to have children to carry it on. But it's a solution that sits oddly in the SFF canon.

A note on the cover: When I first saw this cover, my thoughts were pretty much "Hey! The person on the cover is non-white! Yay! But what's with the elephant?" I got to the end of the book and kind of wanted to *headdesk*. The elephant, surprisingly, was entirely relevant, was one of two symbols used heavily throughout (the other was a hummingbird, which made its way onto the British edition cover). But the woman on the cover, who I assume is Grace, has very definitely been white-washed.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely wonderful - the first adult science fiction novel in years that I've really, truly loved. The Best of All Possible Worlds has an intense sense of wonder, and the kind of fascinating anthropological feel of an Ursula K. LeGuin novel, but with an absolutely delicious sense of humor and fun (not to mention a fabulous narrative voice) - and oh, do I love the romance subplot! The whole book is so smart and so much *fun* - I absolutely ate it up, and when I was finished, I actually went straight back to the beginning and started to read it all over again! I just couldn't think of anything that would be as much fun as re-reading it straight away.

I hope Karen Lord keeps writing science fiction forever and ever. I am definitely a fan!

[Mareike · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

I enjoyed this book, but it never gripped or moved me as much as I wanted it to. It was also a little too meandering for my taste.

[AH · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Best of All Possible Worlds started off slowly for me. There were a lot of descriptions, and I felt that the author set up the world rather effectively. However, I did have a sense that I had seen some of these ideas in other books. Essentially, The Best of All Possible Worlds is the story of a race called the Sadiri who were almost wiped out of existence in a genocide and their quest to replenish their population with people of similar genetic backgrounds.

But this book is not only that – it is kind of a travel documentary of the planet Cygnus Beta. This is kind of neat because like our Earth, each region has its own populations, customs, and other interesting flora and fauna. The book focuses on Grace Delura, a chief bio technician who accompanies the Sadiri mission on their quest to find suitable mates. The team travels from region to region, meeting and testing populations for compatibility. There is a little bit of excitement here and there, but mostly the story focuses on the mission at hand.

The Sadiris reminded me a little of Star Trek’s Vulcans. It was difficult to relate to these characters – they seemed to lack emotions and functioned almost like robots. The leader of the Sadiri mission Dllenahkh was interesting, although at times I thought that he was a little oblivious. It’s kind of funny how my impressions of him did prove wrong by the end of the book. I did enjoy the interactions between Grace and Dllenahkh.

Towards the end of the book, another aspect is introduced. What started off as an OK science fiction story now had the addition of fae elements. It kind of ruined the flow for me.

A little note I do have one pet peeve about science fiction/fantasy books and it is the use of names with way too many consonants and not enough vowels. The main character’s name is Dllenanhkh. I had no idea how to pronounce his name, so I just called him D. This is just a personal pet peeve and it does not reflect in my overall rating of this book.

I think that this book will appeal to people who enjoy science fiction with a touch of romance. The romance aspect is slowly built and is not the complete focus of the novel. There is a lot of political intrigue in this book, so if that is your cup of tea, you may enjoy it too.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House books for a review copy of this book.

[Oscar · Rating 2 out of 5]

La historia relatada en ‘El mejor de los mundos posibles’ transcurre en el planeta Cygnus Beta, en un futuro lejano en el que diferentes ramas de la humanidad han evolucionado de manera distinta y diversificada, llegando algunos de ellos a desarrollar aptitudes psíquicas. Una de estas ramas son los sadiri, que al empezar la novela sabemos que su planeta ha sido atacado de forma genocida. Los pocos supervivientes, la gran mayoría hombres, han sido acogidos por la colonia de Cygnus Beta. Los sadiri tienen la necesidad imperiosa de volver a expandirse, pero eso sí, mezclándose de manera que las costumbres y las características tan particulares de su genética (la más importante de ellas el poder pilotar sus naves mentalmente) sean preservadas. Y en esto consiste prácticamente toda la novela, en el viaje de un año que se establece para buscar y examinar las distintas culturas del planeta para mantener dichos rasgos genéticos.

El peso de la narración recae en los dos protagonistas. Por una parte, está Grace Delarua, oficial biotécnica, guía y traductora, que sirve de enlace entre Cygnus Beta y los sadiri, cuyos pasajes están narrados en primera persona. Y por otra parte, está el oficial Dllenahkh, que como buen sadiri es cerebral y reservado, cuyos breves pasajes están narrados en tercera persona. A lo largo de este viaje, el equipo de investigación tendrá que hacer frente a los diversos problemas ocasionados del enfrentamiento cultural. Pero más que nada, esta es la historia de un romance, que surge de manera tranquila, fruto de la amistad, el compañerismo y el día a día.

‘El mejor de los mundos posibles’ es una novela de ciencia ficción humanista, que recuerda a Ursula K. Le Guin y a Sheri S. Tepper, pero que ni de lejos llega a su nivel. No está mal escrita, pero no me parece que esté bien estructurada. Es una historia tranquila, algo nada criticable, pero que no abunda lo suficiente en la parte sociológica y humanista del argumento. Interesante, pero al fin y al cabo, decepcionante.

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Best of All Possible Worlds is not a perfect book. I can sympathise with various of the lower-star reviews out there. It's a quiet book, contemplative, and ultimately despite the backdrop it's basically a romance against a sci-fi, post-disaster backdrop. It's not quite Ursula Le Guin, but I quite liked the slow progression. It had the feel of something unfolding, rather than a roller-coaster ride, and that's just fine by me.

I think some potentially problematic things are brought up by the plot and dealt with varying degrees of success. The domestic abuse by telepathy ties in with the plot in a couple of ways, so I don't understand people saying that doesn't fit. I'm very tired of the whole "you included this [minority] character just to get brownie points" idea. Maybe there are some people out there who do that, but I don't see why a character has to be fully explored with all characteristics plot-relevant to be included. Finding a big long explanation for a gender neutral, essentially asexual character isn't necessary, if that's the way the character works. And Lian worked fine in that sense, for me -- and I think that aspect of their identity was relevant, in some ways.

I mean, you don't include other stripes of queer characters and then look at them with a magnifying glass to justify their inclusion. Some people are just queer, why can't characters just be queer? And why oh why do you need to know what's going on downstairs for trans* people?

All in all, I didn't love this the way I enjoyed Redemption in Indigo, but I'm glad I got round to reading it. (Finally.)

[Elliot · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two and a half stars

If classic Star Trek fanfic sounds appealing to you then I have good news - this book reads like a Vulcan/Human love story. Lord has managed to write a regency romance masquerading as a sci-fi, and that has its own pros and cons. The structure is episodic as you follow the team on what read like away missions, each chapter taking the form of a vignette. It's a gentle read with very little action or peril, more like a day to day examination of these people and their lives. I don't mind character driven stories, but unfortunately I found most of the cast fairly one-dimensional. I didn't really manage to latch onto these people, which in turn meant I never fully engaged with the book. I will say I quite liked Lian, and was very glad the author didn't fall into any of the pitfalls I've come to dread when authors introduce gender neutral characters.

All in all this book failed to spark much emotion in me. I didn't hate it like the bulk of my book club, but I didn't really enjoy it either. I felt like there were a lot of interesting ideas thrown in, but none of them really get explored (that isn't really the focus of the book, which I get). The romance aspect never really sparked for me, but I know there are people who found it satisfying. All in all if you want a light regency-esque romance set in a sci-fi setting this might delight you. I was left somewhat cold. Your mileage may vary.


Book club 1/18

[Stefan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Best of All Possible Worlds is Karen Lord’s second published novel, after her 2010 award-winning debut Redemption in Indigo. I haven’t had the chance to read that first novel yet, but it’s definitely on my list after reading her second effort. The Best of All Possible Worlds is a thought-provoking novel that hides a surprising amount of depth under a deceptively cheerful narrative. It’s not perfect, but it’s so brimming with interesting concepts that it practically begs for in-depth discussion.

The novel starts off with a shock: while on an off-planet retreat, a Sadiri man is informed that the entire population of his home planet has been killed in a horrific attack. We leave the scene right after he hears the news, when he understandably enters into a numbing state of shock.

Read the entire review on my site Far Beyond Reality!