“Karen Lord won the Frank
Collymore Literary Award for 2008 with the manuscript of the fantasy novel Redemption
in Indigo and again for 2009 with the science fiction manuscript The
Best of All Possible Worlds. She was nominated for the John W. Campbell
Award for Best New Writer (2012).”
The quote is from her
Goodreads page and here is the Goodreads Summary of The Best of All Possible
Worlds.
"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.
“This fascinating and thoughtful science fiction novel breaks out of the typical conflict-centered narrative paradigm to examine adaptation, social change, and human relationships. I’ve not read anything quite like it, which it makes that rare beast: a true original.”—Kate Elliot, author of the Crown of Stars series and the Spiritwalker Trilogy."
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.
“This fascinating and thoughtful science fiction novel breaks out of the typical conflict-centered narrative paradigm to examine adaptation, social change, and human relationships. I’ve not read anything quite like it, which it makes that rare beast: a true original.”—Kate Elliot, author of the Crown of Stars series and the Spiritwalker Trilogy."
I have not read Redemption in Indigo so I cannot compare the
two books. I can say that I really
enjoyed The Best of All Possible Worlds.
This is a very different Science Fiction.
Worldbuilding:
The story is set on Cygnus Beta, a world where various pioneers and
refugees settle. There are several
branches of the human race. Earth
is only one of the several. People
from the various human branches who are displaced from their homes often end up
on Cygnus Beta. Each branch has
certain unique abilities. All of
this information is worked into the story line and provides a great framework for the story.
Characters:
This is a very character driven story. Dllenahkh is one of the Sadiri who have come to Cygnus Beta
after their home world was destroyed.
He is logical like other Sadiri’s. in fact is logical to a fault. Delarlua is his contact on Cygnus. She is much more intuitive and much
less structured. Their developing
relationship and how each has to change is at the heart of the story. There are some well developed side characters that add much to the story.
Plot: This is
hard to define. The story develops
around a trip to see other settlements. When the Sadiri’s arrived it was an all male settlement. They want to find wives but wives who
will accept their way of like. The
trip helps define the difficulties between cultures and to see ways to bridge
those differences. During the trip you see each character grow and change.
Writing: All I
can say is that it is very well written.
Although the story is very low key the story flow kept my attention. There were surprise elements as well as
expected events. All in all this
is a wonderful and entertaining story that deals with some very complex issues.
I received an ARC of The Best of All Possible Worlds from
Edelweiss. This will not be released until February of 2013. Go ahead and put it on you wish list or
even better pre-order.
Del Rey will publish The Best of All Possible Worlds by
Karen Lord in 2013.
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