2022 SF, first of a loose series. Dr Alexi Sur enlists with the Pax
Galactica Corps, the first-contact arm of Universal Society that got
in touch with Earth ten years ago but has been largely ignored. But it
turns out they don't just want a trauma surgeon, they want a reality
TV star.
Well, this is the first Schwartz I've read in which the heroine
doesn't have superpowers. Indeed, Alexi is something of an emotional
mess as she comes to terms with the idea (a recurrent Schwartz theme)
that if she helps her family as they demand they'll just keep taking
until there's nothing left. But more importantly, while Earth was
contacted because it had put a small outpost on Mars, its status in
Universal Society is very much to be decided, and Earth's leaders
aren't making a good showing of it so far… thus the reality show, as a
sympathetic alien tries to get wider society to engage emotionally
with these ugly humans by showing one acting under stress.
That's the basic idea. (And there's a gorgeous man, of course.) Alexi
didn't want to be on reality TV, but she also doesn't want humanity to
be a permanent second-class species. There are bigger problems in
Universal Society too, and one of the things I like about the book is
that Alexi doesn't solve everything; some of the bad stuff may take
generations to change. But she can at least make a start.
Really interesting world building; lightly-drawn characters; frankly
perfunctory romance.
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