Welcome to Litsy!

Those pronouns and their rapid changes give me whiplash. And the two women are about to go to a party and need to tread that pronoun-minefield extra carefully.

Earlier in the book: 'sie' and 'hie' and 'hes'

"Pronouns are 'e' and 'em' and 'eir,'.... 'Tha,' 'thon,' 'thos'..."

Later on " 'hoi,' 'hom,' and 'hos' " are added.

In this near-future first contact story, the organizational realism of Contact meets the gender & interspecies sexuality of Becky Chambers meets the social change & eco-philosophy of Emergent Strategy 🤯 This book was a little more of a challenge than a pleasure to read for me but personally I would never count that against ambitious solarpunk with decentralized decision-making, climate remediation, polyamory, and matriarchal dual-species aliens.

This book has a lot about first contact politics, near-future ways to cope with climatic change, and mothers changing the world for the better while carrying their babies around in slings and changing diapers too. The aliens are also extremely well fleshed out. It was original and different. I like when the first contact situation with its politics and conflicts is so well fleshed out.

It's so lovely!!! I need more books like this!

A first-contact story set in a near-future world where megacorporations have been exiled to man-made islands, nation states are in decline, and a network of communities devoted to restoring and maintaining the world's watersheds do their best to work toward a sustainable future. A hopeful contrast to my usual steady diet of dystopias, this novel focuses on the connections that make us stronger, and the work it takes to forge them.