Review: Unique and Thought Provoking Science Fiction
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 21, 2011
TWIN BRED is the fantastic debut novel by Karen A. Wyle, about the human colony on Tofarn as it struggles to interact with the native Tofa.  The two species can barely communicate, and fundamentally do not understand each other.  But Mara has a solution.Mara is a scientist who lost her twin brother, Levi, in utero.  She always knew about him, and over the years, kept his memory by imagining him as he would have been.  As a result of this connection, Mara believes that communications between the species can be improved by implanting one human and one Tofa embryo into host mothers of both species, creating `twins' designed to act as liaisons between communities.  It works.The story follows Mara and the children as they grow and mature, facing challenges that none had anticipated.  Deep-seated prejudice on both sides threatens the project and the twin-bred's lives.Characters: *** 3 StarsThere were simply too many points of view in this novel.  Mara and Levi were great characters, both well-developed with distinct voices, and the two primary host mothers and their children are fantastic additions to the story, but at times I got lost in all of the voices and it could be difficult to remember all of the relationships involved.Plot: *** 4 StarsI loved the concept of TWIN BRED.  The plot was both imaginative and well-designed.  My only complaint really goes back to the characters, because I would have liked to have had longer sections from the main points of view, and could have done without some of the lesser points of view.  In addition, the beginning background could have been a little better interwoven with the overall story.Setting: **** 3 StarsI wanted more description.  The Tofa were described in detail, and certain of the surroundings were beautifully rendered, but overall I felt the setting wasn't built into the story with enough frequency.  I kept imagining Earth, and would get shocked in a scene when things suddenly didn't match up to my vision.Relationships: *** 4 StarsThere wasn't any romance built into the story, at least not in the traditional sense, so for this review I'm looking at the relationships between characters.  In particular, I thought the depth of emotion and familial love was fantastic between the twins and their families.  Mara and Levi were prominent in this, of course, but so were many of the twin-bred, particularly Judy and La-ren, and Jimmy and Peer-tek.Genre - Science Fiction: **** 4 StarsThis was a great novel for a debut science fiction.  Karen A. Wyle thought outside the box and developed a fantastic story with fun characters.  I can't wait to read the sequel!