The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord

The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord

My rating: 4 of 5 stars




Jacket Blurb:  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.

November's scifi book group selection.

I'm not entirely sure what I want to say about this book.  I found it engaging.  It incorporated some interesting social commentary.  The empathy and telepathy of different humans was interesting.  The time travel was a nice touch.  But at the end of the day, this was first and foremost, a romance, set in a science fiction world.

I feel a bit betrayed. I should know better than to trust jacket blurbs.

But!  It was a very well written romance, incorporating societal differences, galactic upheaval, dogged determination, and two people who were equals even though they came from different places.   This was not a case of damsel in distress.  Our heroine had to navigate her job responsibilities and the ramifications of her decisions, her duties as a liaison and linguistics officer for the government, and what her growing feelings were toward her employer and friend. 

The above was deftly written by the author, the world building and plot gently tugged the reader along - I wanted to find out what happened next, what settlement the team was going to visit, the group dynamics of the team itself.

But at the end of the day, it was a romance.  Set in a scifi world. 

Overall, recommended.  Because it is well written.



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