The Blue, Beautiful World

by Karen Lord

This near-future sci-fi novel from an award-winning Barbadian author imagines a post-climate disaster Earth suffused by VR tech.

On a post-apocalyptic Earth devastated by climate change, the Global Government Project has begun to train a group of young diplomatic representatives in a simulation for First Contact between Earth and extraterrestrials. When the simulation turns true and the concept becomes no longer a hypothetical, but an impending reality, it will change life as they know it.
 
Kanoa, a representative from the Pacific, must ponder the manner of his father’s death, and whether there might also be non-human intelligence in the depths of Earth’s oceans. Meanwhile, Owen, a rock star who once toured the world for his concerts, has a near-superhuman ability to sway both crowds and individuals. Though global stardom has taken a toll on him, he has used his influence to invest in projects that prime him to be one of the foremost figures in this new world.
 
As the idea of a new galactic civilization sets in, these two and many others must consider how they will navigate this new and strange existence, and what it will mean for the future of the Earth.
 

• ISBN10: 0756415225
• ISBN13: 9780756415228
• Publish Date: 2 January 2079 (first published 29 August 2023)
• Publish Status: Cancelled
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: DAW
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 304
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780756415228

Reviews

[chymerra]

First contact has always been something that the people of Earth regarded as a myth. But, to a small, select group, the truth is known. Aliens have been on Earth for a while, gathering intel on the people. With the climate crisis reaching its pinnacle, the aliens have decided to make themselves known. Their emissary is a pop megastar, Owen, who is an alien. Owen has abilities that can unite Earth after first contact. But, there is a dark side to Owen, and it calls to him. Can Owen keep his dark side suppressed to help the people of Earth? Or will that dark side take over and have him become Earth’s dictator?

When I read the blurb for The Blue, Beautiful World, I was intrigued. I like reading science fiction, and seeing that the author would integrate VR technology into the plotline, I wanted to read it. While the book was great in some areas, it was lacking in others, which killed the book for me.

The Blue, Beautiful World is the third book in the Cygnus Beta Series. Readers cannot read this book as a standalone. You must read the first two books to know what is happening in this one. This was a significant issue for me because I read book three first.

I will be blunt: I was not too fond of this book. I found it very hard to follow at the beginning. But, towards the middle of the book, it got better to follow. Not by much, but I wasn’t as lost as in the book’s first half.

I did like the science fiction angle and loved that the author had VR as a significant part of the plotline. It made for exciting reading, even if it did get dry and repetitive at points. I wish the different civilizations (aliens) were introduced at the book’s beginning. There was a brief rundown (around when the Lyraen spies were caught). But nothing was mentioned about any of the races (and there are a bunch of them).

The characters were meh to me. The only one I connected to and liked was Kanoa. All the others (Owen, Noriko, Berenice) either I didn’t like or weren’t as fleshed out as they should be. I also needed clarification on the different names that the same characters went by. It drove me up the wall to discover that what I thought was a singular main character was exactly two (for example, Tareq is two separate people: Kirat and Siha).

The end of The Blue, Beautiful World was different. I had to reread it twice to understand what was going on. And even then, there is going to be a book 2? I needed clarification on that.

I recommend The Blue, Beautiful World to anyone over 21. There is violence and mild language, but no sexual situations.

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Del Rey, NetGalley, and Karen Lord for allowing me to read and review The Blue, Beautiful World.