Twin-Bred by Karen A Wyle

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This is a complex book with quite a long cast of characters. It was just a little too complex for me, didn’t enthral me as much as I hoped and is probably a novel for true aficionados of the (sci-fi) genre. 

The story is about humans cohabiting with the Tofa on their planet, Tofarn. The Tofa are quite an enigma, and neither race fully understands each other. Mara is a scientist who proposes a selection of host mothers carry twins: one human, one Tofa. Her theory is that the natural bond between twins will help both races learn more about each other and lead to a more integrated—and peaceful—existence between the races. Mara herself is a twin, but her brother died before birth. However, he is alive and well in her imagination and becomes her mentor and counsellor. The project has a promising future: on paper, it seems a feasible and sound plan, but of course, it’s never wise to underestimate obstinacy, narrow-mindedness, selfishness or controlling opposition… 

For me personally, however, the story lacked action. I found it very hard to get close to any of the human characters (I don’t think one was expected to feel much for the featureless, four-armed Tofa), and my head spun with new characters who just kept on appearing: but thank you, Karen, for alerting us to the handy cast list at the end of the book. 

There were things I did like about this book: first I was extremely impressed by Karen’s writing. It’s articulate, fluent and quite distinct. The concept of the story is imaginative and ‘well packaged’: five gold stars for its editing—every single aspect. How refreshing to find not one comma out of place or omitted. I didn’t emit one single ‘tut-tut’! The complexity of the plot is from a very intelligent and organised mind and for that reason, whilst this novel didn’t quite hit the spot, I'm certainly looking forward to reading more by this author.