Chlorine's Reviews > Elder Race

The chapters alternate between the POV of two characters, one who is the fourth princess in a somewhat medieval society on a planet that is not Earth, and the other being an anthropologist coming from the much more technologically advanced Earth to study this planet which was colonised in rough conditions and lost contact with Earth, which explains why it is medieval. The problem of the anthropologist is that contact with Earth has been lost again and he is marooned on this planet, skipping through the years by hibernating and trying to act in his role of anthropologist in case anyone from Earth comes to find him, which seems more and more unlikely each time he wakes up.

The story of these two characters who don't understand each other nor the issues the other is facing is really good. Tchaikovsky made his charcters really believable and endearing, and he brings other aspects to the story that really amazed me. It is hard IMO to make a story so original, after so many years of existence of the field of speculative fiction. The best part was that this originality was not for originality's sake but really allowed him to build interesting characters with interesting relationships.

I was a bit disappointed with the ending. I felt the main device of the plot resolution was unbelievable and came out of nowhere, but as the main point of this book is the characters, that did not disappoint me _too_ much.