To Each This World
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4.2 • 13 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
From an Aurora Award-winning author, a new sci-fi novel follows three intrepid humans caught up in a conflict that stretches across time and space.
Biologist Julie E. Czerneda's new standalone science fiction novel, To Each This World follows a desperate mission to reconnect with long lost sleeper ships, sent centuries earlier from Earth to settle distant worlds.
A trio of Humans must work with their mysterious alien allies to rescue any descendants they can find on those worlds. Something is out there, determined to claim the cosmos for itself, and only on Earth will Humans be safe.
Or will they?
The challenge isn’t just to communicate with your own kind after generations have passed. It’s to understand what isn’t your kind at all.
And how far will trust take you, when the truth depends on what you are?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.
Customer Reviews
New Standalone Novel of Alien and Human Exploration
“To Each This World” is a new novel by Julie E. Czerneda, and represents a new setting for her. It begins with us learning of New Earth, which was colonized by a sleeper ship from Old Earth, which we are to presume is our world. These humans built a civilization, and then sent out a wave of sleeper ships themselves. Then they met the Kmet.
These strange aliens have formed an agreement with the humans called a Duality. They have provided them with advanced polymorphic technology. But most import is they have a form of faster than light travel in the form of the Portals. These space-platforms can transit instantaneously to other locations, then act as gateways for other ships to pass through. By agreement each has a human pilot and a Kmet pilot. The Kmet have been taking humans to lifeless worlds in other star systems for mining. Everything seems to be symbiotic between humans and Kmet.
It is at this point that New Earth receives a message from one of its wave of colony ships. It had made it successfully to its location and established a colony. It was reporting in via probe with its coordinates as planned. This news is related to the Kmet who immediately are alarmed. They state that these humans are in great danger, and action must be taken immediately. The Arbiter for Humans sets off with the Kmet and a Human pilot on a mission to the colony world. This begins a journey in both space and understanding (or lack thereof). As humans struggle to understand the alien Kmet, they begin to suspect that there is much they did not understand.
Goodreads says this is a standalone novel, and it certainly appears to be. It’s a complete story in itself. I only mention this as Ms. Czerneda’s work tends to series of novels. It is an entirely new setting for her work, but like her other novels, there is an emphasis on biology. This probably isn’t surprising as Ms. Czerneda is herself a Biologist. There’s plenty of alien worlds on display in this new novel, and some surprising twists and turns. It’s a major work, and I certainly recommend it.