Review: Science fiction that feels real
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 29, 2011
Long years ago humans colonized a planet already occupied by Tofa. The parallels with Europe invading America are obvious and delightfully underplayed. The science fiction aspects of a brave new world, genetic engineering, and ordinary people pursuing ordinary lives under extraordinary circumstances are enjoyably low-key and convincing. With misunderstandings between human and Tofa abounding, scientists and politicians look for solutions, and in Karen A. Wyle's Twin Bred, bereaved twin Mara offers one that just might work.The idea, to engineer human-Tofa twin births with surrogate parents, may sound somewhat odd, but the author soon makes it make sense, using Mara's prenatal link with her twin as catalyst. The author details social, political and scientific aspects of Mara's experiment very logically with excellent pacing, interspersing a wealth of characters and motivations and letting those characters grow. Soon the twins are growing too, both human and Tofa. Misunderstandings continue to proliferate, and a sense of mystery builds alongside the reader's curiosity. How will these children develop? Will they be able to make a difference?The novel follows the closed society of twins, parents, human, Tofa and scientists as the project continues. Set-backs, deliberate and accidental, steps forward, threats and imaginative solutions propel the tale. The characters all seem very real, even to the alien-human twins and their familial bonds. Karen Wyle's Twin Bred is a fascinating sci-fi epic with enjoyably convincing science, sadly plausible politics, and all the social mis-cues such a mixed society might expect. It's a truly enjoyable and exciting read with lots of twists and turns, plots and sub-plots, ethical dilemmas, and an alien race worthy of Orson Scott Card. A truly enjoyably scientific science-fiction story.Disclosure: I received a free ecopy of this book from Bewitching Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.