The Best of All Possible Worlds

(Paperback)

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Description

'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

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 * Financial Times *
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 *
An episodic quest with a Caribbean-flavoured mix of societies * Sunday Telegraph *
A rewarding, touching and often funny exploration of the forms and functions of human culture. Plus, it has flying monks - a universally improving ingredient! * SFX *
The author is clearly a class apart, and doubly so in terms of her prose . . . Utterly astonishing * Tor.com *
A real delight to read * Fantasy Book Critic *
A sweet and gentle and sorrowful novel, written with warmth and wit and wonder . . . sumptuous * Speculative Scotsman *
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 * Best Fantasy Stories *
The imagination behind her galaxy and its variation of the human race cannot be faulted * Sci-Fi Now magazine *
An intelligent, slow-burning, love story with rewards along the way * Starburst *
Reads like smooth jazz comfort food, deceptively familiar and easy going down, but subtly subversive * Nalo Hopkinson, Los Angeles Review of Books *
A fantastic read with very unique, memorable characters * Bibliosanctum *
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 * Tom Shippey, Wall Street Journal *
The sheer scale of this novel is impressive . . . this book gives new meaning to the phrase that still waters run deep * Speculating on Speculative Fiction *
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!' * Mala Bhattacharjee, Romantic Times *
If you like sweet friends-to-lovers romances, this is a wonderful and rewarding example * Heroes and Heartbreakers *
A fascinating and thoughtful science fiction novel that examines adaptation, social change and human relationships . . . that rare beast: a true original * Kate Elliott, author of the Crown of Stars series and The Spiritwalker Trilogy *

Science fiction doing something new and fascinating

* io9 *
Rewarding science fiction for emotional grown-ups * Mysterious Galaxy *

Author Bio

Karen Lord was born in Barbados. She has been a physics teacher, a diplomat, a part-time soldier and an academic at various times and in various countries, before returning to Barbados, where she is now a writer and research consultant. Her debut novel, Redemption in Indigo, won a slew of awards, including the Frank Collymore Literary Award, the William L. Crawford Award, the Kitschies Golden Tentacle Award for Best Debut Novel and the Mythopoeic Award, and was shortlisted for the World Fantasy Award. Redemption in Indigo, The Best of All Possible Worlds and its sequel, The Galaxy Game, are published by Jo Fletcher Books.