Novel: The Best Of All Possible Worlds

Novel: The Best Of All Possible Worlds
Author: Karen Lord
Rating: 1 of 5
Spoiler-free synopsis: A branch of humanity must consider what is most relevant to their culture after a disaster.

SPOILER filled review:
This book is not for me, and I'm struggling to put my finger on why.

This is the second time I tried to read it. The first time, I kept falling asleep. This also happened the second time, but it got better after 100 pages.

Quite a bit, but not enough. There was finally a little action: our protagonist encountered a domestic abuse situation, and we see the aftermath. then, it was back to geography and moving from one culture to another.

I've never liked books that move from place to place. Pratchett's worst novels are the Rincewind novels, and largely -- to me -- because he travels around. I don't want books about travel. I want books about people, and I want to care about the characters.

I never did. This was partially the names, which I found hard to wrap my brain around. This may be cultural, as these are largely non-western names. I didn't care about any of the characters.

Most of the way through, there is a problem that none of our characters can solve. So, they duex ex machina a solution involving time travel and future technology. It was pointed to earlier, but seemed unlikely.

Even the ending seemed flat; our protagonist finds out her beloved wants to marry her through bureaucracy. They get married. They live happily ever after.