Fifty pages into Cast in Shadow
by Michelle Sagara, I almost quit reading. I’m glad I didn’t as I did enjoy the book. The main character is human but she lives in a world of aliens in the style of C. J. Cherryh
. Like C. J. Cherryh’s books, the characters seem really alien and it takes a while to figure out their culture. (Which is part of the fun of reading.) Unlike C. J. Cherryh, the alien characters end up feeling human.
I’m not sure if it’s because she makes you feel their society so well, that they no longer feel alien or if it’s because she shows that even though they have a different culture, they aren’t so different from us. I think it’s the latter.