What We Are Seeking by Cameron Reed

When the Free Ship Edgar’s Folly abandons John on the alien world of Scythia, he needs to find a way to not only survive, but thrive. Chock-full of ideas, this was an interesting read that nevertheless failed to grab me like The Girl That My Mother Is Leaving Me For did. The world-building is good with Scythia feeling very cohesively and comprehensively alien. There is a diverse cast of characters, but I struggled to care about any of them. They felt distant, always seeming at a slight remove, and, whilst very different people, strangely homogenous. Much time is spent ruminating on various aspects of queerness and cultural norms. While interesting, at times, this veered towards the entirely too philosophical for my tastes. Generally, I’d have preferred more story and less contemplation. I found the ending abrupt, and was left unsatisfied by it. In short, Reed has written good sci-fi, just not my kind of sci-fi. ★★★☆☆