Week 13 Review: Amid the Crowd of Stars

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From Goodreads:

This innovative sci-fi novel explores the potential impact of alien infection on humankind as they traverse the stars and find themselves stranded on new and strange planets.

Amid the Crowd of Stars is a grand scale science fiction novel examining the ethical implications of interstellar travel, a topic rarely addressed in science fiction novels. What responsibilities do we have to isolate ourselves from the bacteria, viruses, and other life of another world, and to prevent any of that alien biome from being brought back to Earth?

What happens when a group of humans are stranded for centuries on another world with no choice but to expose themselves to that world? After such long exposure, are they still Homo sapiens or have they become another species entirely?

These questions are at the heart of this intriguing novel, explored through the complicated lives and the viewpoints of the people who have come to rescue the stranded colony, the members of that colony, and the sentient alien life that dwells on the planet. Difficult life and death choices will be made by all involved.

My Review:
This was such a great read! It was such a stellar sci fi book, about what it means to colonize a planet-and what happens when the security protocols aren't enough, and humanity gets mixed with this different planet's biome. Such a cool concept! 

In this book, we had 2 main perspectives-one of Ichiko, who is a scientist from Earth, investigating this planet that was colonized by humans, but due to circumstances, left the people and the planet alone for centuries. And now they're back and seeing just how different the decedents are, after living on this planet for so long.

And the other perspective was Saoirse, who was one of those descendents, who lives on a island with her group, away from the others. And I really enjoyed learning about the secrets that she was keeping, and what they added to the story! Though sometimes I didn't like the way that Saorise went about things.

The science in this book was just so interesting, and with the alien intelligence, I just loved where this story went! There were consequences of their actions, and it all came together really well! That ending was pretty amazing! 

Really enjoyed reading this book, and I'll be interested in reading hat Stephen Leigh writes next! 

Author: Stephen Leigh
Read: March 18th, 2021
Source: NetGalley
Reason Why: It sounded really great, and it's a SAC 2021 Book!
Publisher: DAW
Published: February 9th 2021

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars