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The Best of All Possible Worlds
‘An engrossing picaresque quest, a love story, and a moving character study of two very different people coming to understand themselves . . . Lord is on a par with Ursula K Le Guin’ – Guardian
‘Equal parts tragedy and romance, psychic fantasy and soulful SF . . . The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms meets a disarmingly charming 2312‘ -Tor.com
This is a story of hope. Grace Delarua, a civil servant with the government of Cygnus Beta, remembers when the Sadiri arrived on their planet, a galactic hinterland for pioneers and refugees.
This is a story of survival. Dllenahkh, leader of the small group of Sadiri settlers on Cygnus Beta, remembers the cool strong blues and gentle sunlight of his home world. He also remembers the moment he was told his planet was destroyed.
This is a story of love. Now they must work together to rebuild his decimated population by searching for the last surviving members of his race.
This is a story about finding the best of all possible worlds.
‘Refined, meditative and life-affirming . . . [It] confirms Lord as the natural heiress to Octavia Butler and Ursula Le Guin’ – Financial Times
‘Equal parts tragedy and romance, psychic fantasy and soulful SF . . . The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms meets a disarmingly charming 2312‘ -Tor.com
This is a story of hope. Grace Delarua, a civil servant with the government of Cygnus Beta, remembers when the Sadiri arrived on their planet, a galactic hinterland for pioneers and refugees.
This is a story of survival. Dllenahkh, leader of the small group of Sadiri settlers on Cygnus Beta, remembers the cool strong blues and gentle sunlight of his home world. He also remembers the moment he was told his planet was destroyed.
This is a story of love. Now they must work together to rebuild his decimated population by searching for the last surviving members of his race.
This is a story about finding the best of all possible worlds.
‘Refined, meditative and life-affirming . . . [It] confirms Lord as the natural heiress to Octavia Butler and Ursula Le Guin’ – Financial Times
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Reviews
Karen Lord's second novel carries deliberate echoes of Ray Bradbury's classic Mars colonisation stories. It's refined, meditative and life-affirming, and its exploration of gender politics and ethnology confirms Lord as the natural heiress to Octavia Butler and Ursula Le Guin
A rewarding, touching and often funny exploration of the forms and functions of human culture. Plus, it has flying monks - a universally improving ingredient!
The author is clearly a class apart, and doubly so in terms of her prose . . . Utterly astonishing
A real delight to read
A sweet and gentle and sorrowful novel, written with warmth and wit and wonder . . . sumptuous
The kind of novel that truly illustrates what science fiction is capable of doing. Lush and yet not overwhelming, it is a love story firmly rooted in a story of humanity told with alien cultures
An engrossing picaresque quest, a love story, and a moving character study of two very different people coming to understand themselves . . . Lord is on a par with Ursula K Le Guin
The imagination behind her galaxy and its variation of the human race cannot be faulted
An intelligent, slow-burning, love story with rewards along the way
An episodic quest with a Caribbean-flavoured mix of societies
Reads like smooth jazz comfort food, deceptively familiar and easy going down, but subtly subversive
A fantastic read with very unique, memorable characters
Lord is perhaps aiming to take over the mantle of Ursula Le Guin as the mythmaker of sci-fi. Ms. Lord's thoughtful and engaging novel is a gentle fable that concentrates on human relations
The sheer scale of this novel is impressive . . . this book gives new meaning to the phrase that still waters run deep
Deft storytelling, a stellar (or would that be 'interstellar'?) cast of root-worthy multiracial characters and a riveting slow-burn love story. A must-read!'
If you like sweet friends-to-lovers romances, this is a wonderful and rewarding example
A fascinating and thoughtful science fiction novel that examines adaptation, social change and human relationships . . . that rare beast: a true original
Science fiction doing something new and fascinating
Rewarding science fiction for emotional grown-ups