To each this world

Czerneda (The Gossamer Mage) takes readers into a stark, visceral far-future world where the citizens of New Earth peacefully coexist with the affable but enigmatic slug-like alien Kmet. Then human Arbiter Henry Nowak receives a message from one of the six sleeper ships New Earth sent out to colonize other planets two centuries prior to the start of the book--and learns that the entire shipload of colonists were recently killed. The Kmet warn that another alien race, the Dividers, are intent on wiping out humanity, so Henry frantically gathers a crew to search out the other five sleeper ships and the planets they colonized to evacuate all survivors to New Earth before this mysterious foe can find them. Czerneda uses this exciting setup to examine concepts of community, culture clash, trust, and loyalty as the New Earth crew, decked out with their Kmet technology, meet their less advanced descendants who evolved societies along different paths. There's also the problem of potentially millions of new humans populating New Earth, which may strain the delicate balance required to share the planet with the Kmet. Dense with bizarre aliens and imaginative technology, the intricate worldbuilding sets this apart. Readers seeking substantial science fiction should check this out. Agent: Sara Megibow, KT Literary. (Nov.)

New Earth has been safe for centuries in the protective embrace of their alien allies, the Kmet, who insist that all humans must remain on their planet. When they receive a message from a sleeper ship that was sent out before the Kmet came to "protect" them, the Kmet spring into frenetic action to make sure that all humans are still on New Earth. But their methods make the humans question whether the safety the Kmet have provided doesn't have a more sinister motive and whether they still have both the courage and the capacity to figure out the aliens' agenda. A political story wrapped in a gigantic puzzle about communication, biological imperatives, and the dangers of ascribing similar motivations to very disparate species, this novel places three singular, unconventionally thinking individuals at the center of a vast and literally earth-shattering story. It explores the search for hope in spite of pragmatism and against all odds and is centered on a willingness to sacrifice self for the possibility of any future at all. VERDICT This stand-alone from Aurora Award-winning Czerneda (Spectrum) is highly recommended for SF readers looking for hopepunk in the midst of both alien and human conspiracies.--Marlene Harris