The Ophelia Prophecy
Asha is an archivist from Sanctuary—the last human city—and when she wakes on the reservoir beach, she has no idea how she got there. Or who the man she sees almost immediately is. It turns out, in short order, that he’s one of the Manti, and his sister Iris is onboard their ship, the Banshee. The Manti are the reason there’s only this one last human settlement: they’re genetically engineered, and they rebelled against their human creators; Asha has been cataloging and studying what little the humans know of the Manti. Pax insists on taking Asha with them, to find out what she knows; then he realizes that he is overwhelmingly attracted to her and orders the ship to keep him from doing something foolish. This turns out to be useful. When they find another Manti ship downed in a bog, they land to help it and find another human settlement, which shakes Asha’s knowledge of the world and sets in motion a string of events that will shake the very fabric of their societies. The setting is excellent, the social politics compelling; the romance, though built on predictable tropes, is ultimately sweet. --Regina Schroeder