Title: Seed
Author: P.B. Cannon
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: November 2o, 2012
Genres: Science Fiction, Romance, Historical
Length: About 137 pages.
Source: I received a free copy from the author.
Rating: 4 Stars
Blurb:
Abandoned on an alien planet, Second must learn to co-exist with a group of primitives in order to survive. A tale of the acceptance of differences and of unconditional love.
Content Warning: Polyamory, sex scenes, pregnancy, birth, and bullying for physical disabilities and differences.
Review:
Love comes in many different forms.
I enjoyed seeing how much trust the author put into assuming readers would figure out some things on our own. Not every aspect of these characters’ lives was spelled out plainly, and a few of them could only be uncovered by taking note of subtle clues that fit together in specific ways once one was well into Second’s adventures. There’s something to be said for believing that one’s audience is intelligent and patient enough to do such things, and it’s one of the reasons why I keep returning to Ms. Cannon’s work over and over again.
While physiological differences between Second and the people they met on the alien planet they visited were described in detail, I would have liked to see a little more attention paid to the world building as well, particularly as it related to culture and religion. Second had grown up with certain assumptions about how society worked that weren’t always well fleshed out but that did have a heavy impact on how they interacted with nomadic people they met on their travels. This could have easily been a five-star reading for me if more time had been spent on such things.
The romances were handled nicely and I thought they contributed a lot of character development to this novella. This is something I’m saying as a reader who only occasionally dips my toes into this genre and is not easily impressed, but the author put in all of the work that was required in order to make these subplots flow smoothly with the main storyline. They were ultimately well done.
This is a prequel to a series, but it also can be read as a standalone work.
Seed was heartwarming.