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Here's a place for final thoughts overall. This is a good place to post if you would rather put all of your thoughts in one place, rather than dividing it up along the sections.

How did you like the book overall?

In your mind, what was the book about?

How did all the interactions amongst the crew and those outside it make you think about diversity in our own world?

What else would you like to say about the book?

I loved the book overall, and I’m so glad it was suggested for this group, because I might not have otherwise run across it.

In my mind, the book was about people - how there are so many different types of relationships, and how those relationships evolve over time. Every character had their own arc, but they all intersected somehow.

The interactions in this book were so well written that it really highlighted how much bad writing there is about diverse groups of “realistic� humans - the characters are who they are, and you see the diversity in the ways they respond to one another and to the situations in the plot without the author having to specifically draw attention to the diversity.

Thank you again, Sheri, for putting up all of these discussion questions - I’m looking forward to reading everyone else’s perspective!

I really enjoyed the book. It reminded me of Star Trek (in a good way) about all the challenges of interacting with multiple species as they went along their journey. I prefer science fiction books with interesting characters that don't have excessive descriptions of alien worlds or an abundance of made-up words to keep track of, so this fit my preferences pretty well.

I particularly liked how it was noted that the polite thing to do when meeting someone from a different species is to use a neutral pronoun until you know otherwise. Corbin was pretty relevant regarding issues people may have with appropriate language use.

The parallel I thought of for Ohan is someone who grew up deaf or with a vision impairment, and was treated so they could hear or see, but then had trouble adjusting because they had been used to living in a world without hearing or seeing. I was horrified when Corbin treated Ohan against their will, as I think adults should be able to decide on their own medical treatment. But as I was writing this I wondered if could be construed as an extreme version of requiring vaccines to protect society, or everybody having unpleasant scans to protect the health of the whole crew.

I was guessing the job wasn't going to turn out well partly because the title indicated they were traveling to an angry planet.

Thank you Sheri for leading our discussion and our group here.

So I read this a couple years ago, and I know I'm commenting late, but I saw someone mention they're still working on it so I thought I'd pop in.

I really liked this book. I don't read much sci-fi (like practically none), but I like the original series of Star Trek, and I agree with Kathy that this felt very similar. Both focus on a small ensemble cast of characters kind of stuck with each other for the (literal) long haul, navigating their relationships with each other while simultaneously dealing with external encounters. I also think there are some similarities in the universes. The problems currently facing humanity (racism, sexism, wars, etc) have largely been resolved, but many of them have reappeared as inter- rather than intra-species issues. There are also new problems that have arisen as a result of scientific and technological advancement (the personhood of AIs, the ethics of genetic modification). One difference that I appreciate is that the book focuses on civilians. Like many fans, I like to imagine what my role would be in the Star Trek universe, but if I'm honest with myself, I have to admit that I probably wouldn't join Starfleet. I like imagining a universe that has Boring Office Jobs, Except Space!

I agree that the Ohan situation was icky, and I don't remember it being treated much in the text beyond, "Ohan-the-solitary seems to be OK with it now, so I guess it's fine." It felt strange after the previous nuanced takes on other issues, like maybe the author just ran out of book. Thinking about it now, it reminds me of dilemmas around mental illnesses that may be treatable but cause people to resist treatment. For example, some people with schizophrenia might lead more stable lives with medication, but refuse to take it because of the effects of the schizophrenia itself. How do we balance autonomy against harm to the self? What is the self, anyway? Which Ohan are/is the real Ohan: the "infected" or the "cured"?

That weird bit aside, I thought the book presented an optimistic but realistic future, in which humanity continues to learn and progress, even if it is often a "two steps forward, one step back" scenario.

Also, I just have to say that I LOVE DR CHEF SO MUCH!!! Like, I have never wanted so badly to give a fictional character a hug. A squishy, many-armed hug.

You make a good point, Rebecca, that we all seem much more concerned about the broader implications of Ohan's situation than anyone in the actual book did! I haven't read the sequel, but I wonder if he or his species turns back up later, since I agree with your assessment of "running out of book"!

I don't think it's too much of a spoiler for future books to say that they don't. But maybe she's still writing more in the universe, so in the future possibly.

The only thing I can think of is maybe she left it as is because there IS no easy/good answer? Ohan was dying, Corbon did what he thought was right. Cured Ohan seemed to be ok with the result, so everyone else had to go along with it, regardless of what other thoughts they might have. Cobon even said that he knew he couldn't face many consequences because he couldn't be gotten rid of without taking Sisix with him. And if Ohan is uninterested in pursuing any kind of justice, does Ashby have a place insisting on it?

I guess it could kind of be viewed as interrupting a suicide attempt. The person attempting might be furious at the time, the rescuer knows it but thinks it's acceptable to be possibly hated forever, if it allows the other to live, and get help for their mental state. By Corbon's human standards, Ohan wasn't in their right mind enough to make a proper decision, so Corbon made it for them. I don't know if there's really a way to declare something right or wrong in the situation when you're dealing with two entirely different species worth of cultures, and also an organism that affects the host's brain.

The comparison to a suicide attempt is also how I viewed it, Sheri - I was just surprised to see so many folks both here and elsewhere on line who seemed almost offended by the intervention, in a way that seemed to me to be disproportionate to the amount of emphasis the story puts on it. So that's why I was wondering if something happens later that they might have all already read and affected their feelings about it.

I can definitely see a grey area when it comes to respecting someone’s life choices, bodily autonomy, etc. I think for me, the fact that ohan seems ok with it after the fact implies that the organism was the one protesting. That organism would want their host to die, because if it gets out they are just parasites, they lose their ready stream of willing host bodies. So to me, Ohan was purified of a parasite. But I could see how someone being forced into a medical procedure against their will could be very upsetting for some.

Maybe religious refusal of certain medical procedures (like blood transfusion) would be another analogy, as infection is a ritual of Sianat culture, and the pairs regard the solitary as heretics. I think that does add more complication than an individual suicide attempt, since societal norms are at play. Doctors do currently allow patients to refuse treatment, even if the results will be fatal; this is limited to competent adults, so again there's a wrinkle in this case, but we would have to argue that the majority of the species are not in their right minds. That probably contributed to the feeling among the rest of the crew that it would be unethical to cure Ohan against their will.

I agree that there is no good answer, which is why I was a little surprised at the pat ending. For the crew, there isn't really anything to do but accept the current situation. As a reader, though, I wasn't quite ready to jump straight to, "Aww, he wants to eat food now!"

I do appreciate this book, and science fiction in general, for providing new perspectives on ethical issues like this. I think that's one of the best aspects of the genre: allowing us to think not just about what is or should be, but what could be.

Me, too, Rebecca - I think I mentioned previously that I found the interactions between characters to be more natural in this book than in many non-SciFi books - and the way these issues were dealt with was part of that.