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Bisection
Tria and Resa have shared the same body since they were born. Like everyone on their home planet of Kinaru, their mind and body are divided down the the logical right and the emotional left. Tria, the right, has a budding career as a biologist, while Resa dreams of more freedom than their home planet grants her.
When aliens land on Kinaru, Tria and Resa seize the opportunity to be the first of their people to travel to the stars. Karnath, the alien scientist assigned to study them, is convinced there is more to the Kinaru than meets the eye. But only days into the trip, crew members start turning up dead, and a mutiny redirects the ship toward a forbidden, war-torn planet—Earth.
To solve a conspiracy that threatens three planets, Tria must find out the truth of who her people really are, and Resa needs to finally tell Tria the dark secrets she's been hiding all their lives.
When aliens land on Kinaru, Tria and Resa seize the opportunity to be the first of their people to travel to the stars. Karnath, the alien scientist assigned to study them, is convinced there is more to the Kinaru than meets the eye. But only days into the trip, crew members start turning up dead, and a mutiny redirects the ship toward a forbidden, war-torn planet—Earth.
To solve a conspiracy that threatens three planets, Tria must find out the truth of who her people really are, and Resa needs to finally tell Tria the dark secrets she's been hiding all their lives.
- GenresScience Fiction
390 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 6, 2024
3 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 24, 2024
I really loved “Bisection.” It has a lot of action in it, and the story kept moving throughout the entire book. Tria and Resa are from another planet who take the form of a human. They share a body and can read each other’s thoughts. This is the part of the story which kept me interested the most. I have never read anything like it, and that is why this book worked for me. This book went into a lot of detail about aliens traveling in space, which I found to be really interesting. I could not put this book down at all. It was very well written, and I wanted to find out what was going to happen in this book the whole time. If you like books about space, then you should really read this one. You will not be disappointed.
April 4, 2025
I am one of the judges of team Space Girls for the SPSFC4 contest. This review is my personal opinion. Officially, it is still in the running for the contest, pending any official team announcements.
Status: Semifinalist
Read: 100%
The semifinals are here and with that, the contest axe sharpens even further as each judge reads 4 semifinalists from two judging teams. One of these books is the mysterious Bisection, whose colorful bifacial cover gave me hints there would be queer rep.
And yes, this is very much so, albeit in different ways than I expected at first. It is highly unusual to see books in English where two characters share one body. The only such case I have read so far is Twin Spirit by Matthew Thompson, starring two conjoined identical twins, one of which died at birth and whose ghost haunts her sibling's body.
This duality theme is explored much more often in Japanese manga. Birdy the Mighty is an obscure 90s OVA series where an injured female alien named Birdy attaches herself to an unsuspecting human male's body to stay alive. Eventually the man becomes aware he is posessed by an alien whose body changes gender whenever one of them takes the rein. That series involves both of them getting used to their unideal situation while Birdy hopes an alien tech becomes available to separate them.
Cinderella Boy stars two detectives again of opposite genders who become trapped in the same body through a strange sci fi experiment. At first they can't communicate with their alter ego, only realize they have amnesia of the 12 hours the opposite is awake and controlling their also gender switching body. The story progresses where one writes messages and leaves them in a pocket and the other character realizes they are sharing the same body at differing intervals. The fun of the series is to anticipate the hour when they will switch while leaving messages to their peer what they have been up to and return to normal.
Lastly, another example which is more similar to Bisection is Baron Ashura from Mazinger Z. A case where (once again) a male and female character share a body through a life saving procedure. The left side belongs to the man and the right the woman. In this case, both characters are fully aware about their situation and work together controlling the same body.
I never read the premise of Bisection to avoid any spoilers. In my opinion, this worked out great cuse it was really fun to wonder what was going to happen next. Our protagonist is Tria il Resa, a young woman who at first sight looks like an average human. In reality, she is two identical twin siblings that share one brain hemisphere. What makes this story stand apart from the other examples I gave was that instead of being a temporary life saving procedure or a scifi experiment gone wrong, is that everyone in their home planet Kinaru is born this way.
Kinarus boast an ideal society with low violent crime and high cooperation... but at what cost? While Tria is a just and good-hearted person, she is unaware of her higher societal privilege with greater control over the body. As expected, Tria overwhelms the more demure (and equally good natured) sibling Resa. It feels similar to how extraverts in western individualistic societies boast how great everything is... for extraverts. All the while introverts have little say about their wants and needs. We can constantly see this inner conflict during the book as Resa feels frustrated while Tria struggles to read her sibling's confusing emotional cues.
Things get more interesting because our protagonist(s) has voluntarily sneaked into the spaceship containing several feathery lizard aliens known as Shatakans. While Tria struggles to understand how truly unbalanced her idealized right-ist utopia is, we also learn about the complex intricacies of Shatakan pansexual families, casual sex, and normalized trisexuality. Yes, we have male, female and gender neutral lizardfolk! And the lizard tasked to keep an eye on our Kinaru heroine(s) is a socially awkward demisexual male named Karnath, who is equally fascinated with the twins as they are with his little quirks.
What was supposed to be a simple story of bringing the fascinating twin alien to the lizard planet derails into a save the planet plot! I don't wish to spoil much else and hope readers give the book a shot. Heck, in every sense of the word, this is also a Sci-fi-Romance book! With so much risk of sharing spoilers, I don't wish to divulge much more.
Just grab a copy and give it a shot. Even if pansexual societies might not be the cup of tea for some readers, the book offers plenty of other fascinating themes about inequality and how characters team up to solve their differences.
A pleasantly fun book indeed!
Status: Semifinalist
Read: 100%
The semifinals are here and with that, the contest axe sharpens even further as each judge reads 4 semifinalists from two judging teams. One of these books is the mysterious Bisection, whose colorful bifacial cover gave me hints there would be queer rep.
And yes, this is very much so, albeit in different ways than I expected at first. It is highly unusual to see books in English where two characters share one body. The only such case I have read so far is Twin Spirit by Matthew Thompson, starring two conjoined identical twins, one of which died at birth and whose ghost haunts her sibling's body.
This duality theme is explored much more often in Japanese manga. Birdy the Mighty is an obscure 90s OVA series where an injured female alien named Birdy attaches herself to an unsuspecting human male's body to stay alive. Eventually the man becomes aware he is posessed by an alien whose body changes gender whenever one of them takes the rein. That series involves both of them getting used to their unideal situation while Birdy hopes an alien tech becomes available to separate them.
Cinderella Boy stars two detectives again of opposite genders who become trapped in the same body through a strange sci fi experiment. At first they can't communicate with their alter ego, only realize they have amnesia of the 12 hours the opposite is awake and controlling their also gender switching body. The story progresses where one writes messages and leaves them in a pocket and the other character realizes they are sharing the same body at differing intervals. The fun of the series is to anticipate the hour when they will switch while leaving messages to their peer what they have been up to and return to normal.
Lastly, another example which is more similar to Bisection is Baron Ashura from Mazinger Z. A case where (once again) a male and female character share a body through a life saving procedure. The left side belongs to the man and the right the woman. In this case, both characters are fully aware about their situation and work together controlling the same body.
I never read the premise of Bisection to avoid any spoilers. In my opinion, this worked out great cuse it was really fun to wonder what was going to happen next. Our protagonist is Tria il Resa, a young woman who at first sight looks like an average human. In reality, she is two identical twin siblings that share one brain hemisphere. What makes this story stand apart from the other examples I gave was that instead of being a temporary life saving procedure or a scifi experiment gone wrong, is that everyone in their home planet Kinaru is born this way.
Kinarus boast an ideal society with low violent crime and high cooperation... but at what cost? While Tria is a just and good-hearted person, she is unaware of her higher societal privilege with greater control over the body. As expected, Tria overwhelms the more demure (and equally good natured) sibling Resa. It feels similar to how extraverts in western individualistic societies boast how great everything is... for extraverts. All the while introverts have little say about their wants and needs. We can constantly see this inner conflict during the book as Resa feels frustrated while Tria struggles to read her sibling's confusing emotional cues.
Things get more interesting because our protagonist(s) has voluntarily sneaked into the spaceship containing several feathery lizard aliens known as Shatakans. While Tria struggles to understand how truly unbalanced her idealized right-ist utopia is, we also learn about the complex intricacies of Shatakan pansexual families, casual sex, and normalized trisexuality. Yes, we have male, female and gender neutral lizardfolk! And the lizard tasked to keep an eye on our Kinaru heroine(s) is a socially awkward demisexual male named Karnath, who is equally fascinated with the twins as they are with his little quirks.
What was supposed to be a simple story of bringing the fascinating twin alien to the lizard planet derails into a save the planet plot! I don't wish to spoil much else and hope readers give the book a shot. Heck, in every sense of the word, this is also a Sci-fi-Romance book! With so much risk of sharing spoilers, I don't wish to divulge much more.
Just grab a copy and give it a shot. Even if pansexual societies might not be the cup of tea for some readers, the book offers plenty of other fascinating themes about inequality and how characters team up to solve their differences.
A pleasantly fun book indeed!
May 22, 2025
I received this from the SPSFC4 where I’m a judge. It’s a very worthy semi-finalist.
I absolutely loved this book. For people like me who love to nerd-out on alien cultures, this book is an absolute delight.
This book seemed to have been written for me. It checks off almost every single box of what I love in my sci-fi: a unique idea (in this case, the bisection idea), detailed alien species (and not only that, but reptile aliens!), aliens experiencing earth for the first time, a dive into a real issue (in this case oppression), and a bit of romance.
An xeno-anthropologist’s dream, this book delves deep into the culture of not only the Shatakazan (the reptile aliens) but Tria and Resa’s people. Sometimes alien cultures are added to stories as almost set dressing, but in this case, it feels like an episode of Star Trek because the story would not exist without the cultural/biological aspects. And how amazing are they. I’m not going to spoil anything, but Tria and Resa’s bisected personalities are fascinating, and the Shatakazan strike that balance of different enough but not too weird so that certain things that happen later on would be impossible.
In terms of the story, the first third might feel a little slow to some readers, as a lot of it was the characters comparing social and biological differences. But did I find it slow? No! It was my favourite part of the novel. It was so well thought out with fun details, like gestures for yes or no, how Tria sees the colour green (which we see as nature or health but she sees as acidic or a warning signal), and the social set-up for the Shatakazan.
The rest of story is fun, with a murder mystery, conspiracy, a bit of going on the run, and a twist/trope that while we have seen this many time before , it fit with the plot and didn’t feel shoehorned in. Besides, we already had a unique concept in the book that is the heart of it - bisection - so to have a really complex twist at the end would have competed for attention.
The characters were great. Tria and Resa had the most focus, as the story is first person and their dynamic required a great deal of extrapolation, but how she managed to create distinct narrative voices between two beings existing in the same body was really well done. The side characters were fun too - the Shatakazan sort of blended together, but the three who were really important were easy to separate from the rest.
One of the great aspects of the novel that elevated it in my mind was the very nuanced and thorough dive into the nature of benevolent oppression - how people can think that laws that are in place to “protect” others are helping them, when, in fact, they are doing the opposite. It forced a character to really look into their privilege, and while they weren’t cruel to those who were oppressed, they had to realize their complacency was making it even harder. This has so much relevance to our society in myriad ways, so the fact that it was included took this book from a fun alien adventure story to a rather important story.
The only critique I had was there were some typos here and there (a few tense issues) but they were very minor. I probably only noticed them because I was devouring every word on the page with such focus.
The writing overall flowed nicely with a few passages here and there that were lovely, like, “Here there was music, and love, and art, and none of it was for me,” and I was never confused about what was going on.
Overall, if you couldn’t tell, I loved this book. I thought it was absolutely fantastic and it is my favourite book I read in June.
I absolutely loved this book. For people like me who love to nerd-out on alien cultures, this book is an absolute delight.
This book seemed to have been written for me. It checks off almost every single box of what I love in my sci-fi: a unique idea (in this case, the bisection idea), detailed alien species (and not only that, but reptile aliens!), aliens experiencing earth for the first time, a dive into a real issue (in this case oppression), and a bit of romance.
An xeno-anthropologist’s dream, this book delves deep into the culture of not only the Shatakazan (the reptile aliens) but Tria and Resa’s people. Sometimes alien cultures are added to stories as almost set dressing, but in this case, it feels like an episode of Star Trek because the story would not exist without the cultural/biological aspects. And how amazing are they. I’m not going to spoil anything, but Tria and Resa’s bisected personalities are fascinating, and the Shatakazan strike that balance of different enough but not too weird so that certain things that happen later on would be impossible.
In terms of the story, the first third might feel a little slow to some readers, as a lot of it was the characters comparing social and biological differences. But did I find it slow? No! It was my favourite part of the novel. It was so well thought out with fun details, like gestures for yes or no, how Tria sees the colour green (which we see as nature or health but she sees as acidic or a warning signal), and the social set-up for the Shatakazan.
The rest of story is fun, with a murder mystery, conspiracy, a bit of going on the run, and a twist/trope that while we have seen this many time before , it fit with the plot and didn’t feel shoehorned in. Besides, we already had a unique concept in the book that is the heart of it - bisection - so to have a really complex twist at the end would have competed for attention.
The characters were great. Tria and Resa had the most focus, as the story is first person and their dynamic required a great deal of extrapolation, but how she managed to create distinct narrative voices between two beings existing in the same body was really well done. The side characters were fun too - the Shatakazan sort of blended together, but the three who were really important were easy to separate from the rest.
One of the great aspects of the novel that elevated it in my mind was the very nuanced and thorough dive into the nature of benevolent oppression - how people can think that laws that are in place to “protect” others are helping them, when, in fact, they are doing the opposite. It forced a character to really look into their privilege, and while they weren’t cruel to those who were oppressed, they had to realize their complacency was making it even harder. This has so much relevance to our society in myriad ways, so the fact that it was included took this book from a fun alien adventure story to a rather important story.
The only critique I had was there were some typos here and there (a few tense issues) but they were very minor. I probably only noticed them because I was devouring every word on the page with such focus.
The writing overall flowed nicely with a few passages here and there that were lovely, like, “Here there was music, and love, and art, and none of it was for me,” and I was never confused about what was going on.
Overall, if you couldn’t tell, I loved this book. I thought it was absolutely fantastic and it is my favourite book I read in June.
May 29, 2025
[This review can also be found on my BLOG]
**I read this book as a judge for the fourth annual Self Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC), this review is solely my own and does not reflect the opinions of the whole team**
CW: drug use, murder, death, death of parent (off page), mention of suicide, grief, confinement
--
Bisection follows Tria il Resa, who are part of an alien race called the Kinaru that are humanoid in appearance but are actually two individuals in one body, essentially one being a left brain thinker and the other being a right brain thinker with the former being the dominant persona in society. Upon discovering a group of aliens studying their planet, Tria and Resa sneak onto their ship and the lizard like species called the Shatakazan on board allow them to stay if they agree to be studied in order for the Shatakazan to continue their research. However, when some of the members of the crew start dying what began as a journey in the name of science and adventure, finds Tria and Resa caught in the middle of a mutiny and heading towards Earth where a surprising truth about the origin of their species awaits them.
Admittedly, the opening chapters of the book weren’t my favourite as the way that the story gets going without giving much page time to be properly introduced to the protagonists or to set the scene was a little too abrupt. However, what follows are some interesting exchanges between two alien species as they work to better understand each other and this fresh take on the usual first-contact scenario as well as the dynamic between the two protagonists were what drew me in.
The Kinaru are a really fascinating species conceptually and through Tria and Resa’s interactions with the Shatakzan crew, predominantly their biologist Karnath, we learn about their biological and cultural differences which lead to certain reveals that tie into the conspiracy aspects of the wider narrative.
I was intrigued by the whole murder mystery side of things however, when we got to Earth the ease with which the characters were able to get out of the situations they were landing in and the outright clumsiness of the adversaries effected the credibility of the supposed high stakes for me.
What I was much more invested in throughout were Tria and Resa’s personal arcs. I loved how the dual perspective meant we got to experience both Tria’s logic based mentality and Resa’s emotional sentiments as they adjusted to life outside of the controlled societal norms they have always known. Jenné has done a great job at capturing their individual voices on page and I really enjoyed seeing how she explored the themes of autonomy, indirect discrimination and subjective vs objective thinking/reasoning through the relationship they had with one another as well as those around them. They’re protagonists that you really come to care for by the end.
Overall, if you’re willing to look past some of the less convincing plot details then this is a fun read and one I’d definitely recommend checking out for the character work and themes.
**I read this book as a judge for the fourth annual Self Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC), this review is solely my own and does not reflect the opinions of the whole team**
CW: drug use, murder, death, death of parent (off page), mention of suicide, grief, confinement
--
Bisection follows Tria il Resa, who are part of an alien race called the Kinaru that are humanoid in appearance but are actually two individuals in one body, essentially one being a left brain thinker and the other being a right brain thinker with the former being the dominant persona in society. Upon discovering a group of aliens studying their planet, Tria and Resa sneak onto their ship and the lizard like species called the Shatakazan on board allow them to stay if they agree to be studied in order for the Shatakazan to continue their research. However, when some of the members of the crew start dying what began as a journey in the name of science and adventure, finds Tria and Resa caught in the middle of a mutiny and heading towards Earth where a surprising truth about the origin of their species awaits them.
Admittedly, the opening chapters of the book weren’t my favourite as the way that the story gets going without giving much page time to be properly introduced to the protagonists or to set the scene was a little too abrupt. However, what follows are some interesting exchanges between two alien species as they work to better understand each other and this fresh take on the usual first-contact scenario as well as the dynamic between the two protagonists were what drew me in.
The Kinaru are a really fascinating species conceptually and through Tria and Resa’s interactions with the Shatakzan crew, predominantly their biologist Karnath, we learn about their biological and cultural differences which lead to certain reveals that tie into the conspiracy aspects of the wider narrative.
I was intrigued by the whole murder mystery side of things however, when we got to Earth the ease with which the characters were able to get out of the situations they were landing in and the outright clumsiness of the adversaries effected the credibility of the supposed high stakes for me.
What I was much more invested in throughout were Tria and Resa’s personal arcs. I loved how the dual perspective meant we got to experience both Tria’s logic based mentality and Resa’s emotional sentiments as they adjusted to life outside of the controlled societal norms they have always known. Jenné has done a great job at capturing their individual voices on page and I really enjoyed seeing how she explored the themes of autonomy, indirect discrimination and subjective vs objective thinking/reasoning through the relationship they had with one another as well as those around them. They’re protagonists that you really come to care for by the end.
Overall, if you’re willing to look past some of the less convincing plot details then this is a fun read and one I’d definitely recommend checking out for the character work and themes.
March 21, 2025
I loved this book! Beautiful writing, fascinating story, a pulsing plot, some reasonably original aliens, and excellent characterization. The concept of a divided brain is quite relatable and feels like a beautiful metaphor for the relationships we develop with ourselves. This was a striking example of the implications of treating parts of ourselves with control vs trust and respect. I absolutely adore that theme, as well as the care and compassion the author approached it with. My only note is that I would have liked more time with the main characters outside of the context of preventing potential disasters, although this is not to say the plot lost my interest at all. Quite the opposite. I just think the stark and vulnerable tone of the writing would really lend itself to that sort of exploratory plot. I would definitely read a sequel that focused on Tria il Resa's next adventures navigating cross-cultural dynamics, getting accustomed to their many new circumstances, and maybe even creating social change!
And the last few lines honestly made me tear up. These days, I reserve five stars for books that move and resonate deeply with me. Moments like that really made it for me.
And the last few lines honestly made me tear up. These days, I reserve five stars for books that move and resonate deeply with me. Moments like that really made it for me.
June 6, 2025
I read Bisection as part of a judging team in the fourth annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC4), where it is a finalist.
Bisection starts on a cold, dry planet populated by people whose brain hemispheres are so thoroughly separated as to create two separate people sharing single bodies, with hyper-rational lefts handling school, work, and big decisions while the emotional rights distract themselves with leisure. But the discovery of an alien expedition sends the two leads—a scientist and her tagalong right—on an adventure far beyond their home planet, one that sees them fighting for the lives of new friends while also examining the cracks in their own society.
Obviously, brains are complicated, and I assume without further research that separating into a rational and an emotional side is an oversimplification. But it’s a sufficiently interesting premise that I was happy to suspend my disbelief on this and a few other classic sci-fi shortcuts like automatic translators and disease-fighting bracelets.
And once disbelief is suspended, Bisection is an easy book to sink into. Both leads are endearing, and though it’s easy to see the ways in which their stereotypes will ultimately be challenged, it’s still an enjoyable journey that brings them to a point that’s profound to the characters involved and satisfying for the reader. The aliens bring in enough danger to keep the tension high and prevent the plot from sagging in the middle stages, and the questions about the origin of the leads’ species provides a fascinating subplot that’s wonderfully paced and that ultimately dovetails nicely with the main plot.
But as someone who loves first contact, I realized pretty early that the aliens wouldn’t be the selling point here. For all that they eat bugs and require warm, humid environments, their perspective feels quite human in most respects. That’s not so much a deal-breaker as just an area the novel chooses not to fully explore, but it’s a place where readers should set their expectations in advance: aliens are vital to the plot, but this isn’t a weird aliens book.
A bit more of a negative is the tendency of the villains to make elementary mistakes. Several times during the course of the story, it feels like they have everything they need to prevail, but there’s always some sort of basic oversight that gets the protagonists back in play. It makes some of the mid-book plot developments feel a bit perfunctory and robs the narrative of some tension. While the smooth writing style prevents the book from dragging, and it pulls back together for a quality ending, it’s a missed opportunity to ratchet up the intensity.
Overall, Bisection offers a fascinating premise, endearing leads, and an entertaining plot. It may not be hard to see exactly which societal assumptions will be questioned, but it’s still a lot of fun watching the characters’ eyes begin to open. The danger doesn’t always feel quite as heightened as it probably should, and it’s not a book that’s interested in digging too deeply into truly alien psychology, but it’s a good read that’s clearly earned its place in the semifinals.
Recommended if you like: space opera, multiple characters in one head, hidden backstories, breaking down social barriers.
7/10
Bisection starts on a cold, dry planet populated by people whose brain hemispheres are so thoroughly separated as to create two separate people sharing single bodies, with hyper-rational lefts handling school, work, and big decisions while the emotional rights distract themselves with leisure. But the discovery of an alien expedition sends the two leads—a scientist and her tagalong right—on an adventure far beyond their home planet, one that sees them fighting for the lives of new friends while also examining the cracks in their own society.
Obviously, brains are complicated, and I assume without further research that separating into a rational and an emotional side is an oversimplification. But it’s a sufficiently interesting premise that I was happy to suspend my disbelief on this and a few other classic sci-fi shortcuts like automatic translators and disease-fighting bracelets.
And once disbelief is suspended, Bisection is an easy book to sink into. Both leads are endearing, and though it’s easy to see the ways in which their stereotypes will ultimately be challenged, it’s still an enjoyable journey that brings them to a point that’s profound to the characters involved and satisfying for the reader. The aliens bring in enough danger to keep the tension high and prevent the plot from sagging in the middle stages, and the questions about the origin of the leads’ species provides a fascinating subplot that’s wonderfully paced and that ultimately dovetails nicely with the main plot.
But as someone who loves first contact, I realized pretty early that the aliens wouldn’t be the selling point here. For all that they eat bugs and require warm, humid environments, their perspective feels quite human in most respects. That’s not so much a deal-breaker as just an area the novel chooses not to fully explore, but it’s a place where readers should set their expectations in advance: aliens are vital to the plot, but this isn’t a weird aliens book.
A bit more of a negative is the tendency of the villains to make elementary mistakes. Several times during the course of the story, it feels like they have everything they need to prevail, but there’s always some sort of basic oversight that gets the protagonists back in play. It makes some of the mid-book plot developments feel a bit perfunctory and robs the narrative of some tension. While the smooth writing style prevents the book from dragging, and it pulls back together for a quality ending, it’s a missed opportunity to ratchet up the intensity.
Overall, Bisection offers a fascinating premise, endearing leads, and an entertaining plot. It may not be hard to see exactly which societal assumptions will be questioned, but it’s still a lot of fun watching the characters’ eyes begin to open. The danger doesn’t always feel quite as heightened as it probably should, and it’s not a book that’s interested in digging too deeply into truly alien psychology, but it’s a good read that’s clearly earned its place in the semifinals.
Recommended if you like: space opera, multiple characters in one head, hidden backstories, breaking down social barriers.
7/10
March 10, 2025
I very much enjoyed this high-concept science fiction story. The pacing was great, the prose was flawless, and the characters were interesting and likable.
We meet three different sentient species - Humans, Shatakazans, and Kinaru. The main character, Tria il Resa, is Kinaru. The Kinaru look a lot like humans, but each body is home to two individual people. The POV alternates between Tria and Resa, who share a body, but their relationship is not quite equal. Tria makes all the decisions, and Resa feels all the emotions. The Kinaru are brought up to oppress the emotional part, the creative part, which is not considered capable of decision making, and their wishes and abilities are not thought to be relevant. Rather the "lefts" are a group of people (half the population) that simply have to be managed by the "rights."
The Shatakazan are a space-faring people. They are technologically very advanced, and when Tria il Resa meets them, they are doing research on Kinaru. They weren't supposed to be discovered. Shatak has a rule that primitive civilizations must be left alone (rather like Starfleet). This is also the reason they have left Earth alone. They know about Earth, and although the humans might have relatively advanced technology, the social structure on Earth is very primitive.
Tria il Resa ends up on the Shatakazan ship, and studying her DNA, the Shatakazan discover a mysterious link between Humans and Kinaru. This makes for an enticing mystery plot line that is seamlessly weaved into the wider story of political tension on Shatak. The social structure on Shatak involves a number of sects, and one of these sects breaks the rule about making contact with the primitive earthlings. I'm trying not to give anything away, but as anyone can probably guess, this causes trouble - and Tria il Resa is in the thick of it.
I love how the author explores the theme of humanity, the relationship between reason and emotion, both interpersonally and within an individual. Bisection highlights the unfair ways in which we treat ourselves and each other, and at the same time it conveys an optimism about human nature and leaves me with hope that maybe we can be more, if we but open our eyes to the inconvenient truths and allow the compassion we suppress within ourselves.
We meet three different sentient species - Humans, Shatakazans, and Kinaru. The main character, Tria il Resa, is Kinaru. The Kinaru look a lot like humans, but each body is home to two individual people. The POV alternates between Tria and Resa, who share a body, but their relationship is not quite equal. Tria makes all the decisions, and Resa feels all the emotions. The Kinaru are brought up to oppress the emotional part, the creative part, which is not considered capable of decision making, and their wishes and abilities are not thought to be relevant. Rather the "lefts" are a group of people (half the population) that simply have to be managed by the "rights."
"We were living the same life, why did we see such different things?"~Bisection, p. 266
The Shatakazan are a space-faring people. They are technologically very advanced, and when Tria il Resa meets them, they are doing research on Kinaru. They weren't supposed to be discovered. Shatak has a rule that primitive civilizations must be left alone (rather like Starfleet). This is also the reason they have left Earth alone. They know about Earth, and although the humans might have relatively advanced technology, the social structure on Earth is very primitive.
Tria il Resa ends up on the Shatakazan ship, and studying her DNA, the Shatakazan discover a mysterious link between Humans and Kinaru. This makes for an enticing mystery plot line that is seamlessly weaved into the wider story of political tension on Shatak. The social structure on Shatak involves a number of sects, and one of these sects breaks the rule about making contact with the primitive earthlings. I'm trying not to give anything away, but as anyone can probably guess, this causes trouble - and Tria il Resa is in the thick of it.
I love how the author explores the theme of humanity, the relationship between reason and emotion, both interpersonally and within an individual. Bisection highlights the unfair ways in which we treat ourselves and each other, and at the same time it conveys an optimism about human nature and leaves me with hope that maybe we can be more, if we but open our eyes to the inconvenient truths and allow the compassion we suppress within ourselves.
"[...]we need both thinkers of thoughts and dreamers of dreams."~Bisection, p. 238
September 4, 2025
This book was actually a pretty hard one to rate for me. On the one hand, there's an endearing naivety to its cozy first contact tale. On the other, it's just a bit too cozy, if you know what I mean. The stakes are high, but things come relatively easily to our curious cast.
I won't lie; the beginning confused me. A group of adult scientists accidentally discover an alien encampment on their planet, and they all agree it's a great idea for Tria il Resa - our dual POV protagonist- to stow away on their escaping ship, perhaps never to return home again? That was the biggest hurdle to overcome for me in terms of suspending disbelief.
I kept reading (and am glad I did!) because I was curious as to how Tria/Resa would be portrayed. It's not everyday you get a human-like alien race with literal split personalities governing emotion and reason. It is an interesting concept, and well explored as we learn more about her Kinaru culture and how "lefts" and "rights" are treated differently despite being in the same body. It's a little nod to how our Western cultures can value certain professions over others.
The aliens she stows away with are cozy Star Trek humanoid lizard-folk with super advanced technology. Despite their looks, they are very human-like in terms of emotions and actions. Don't expect gritty or very "alien" aliens; they act much like you'd expect characters from a YA novel to. Her friend and guide Karnath is a very empathetic character, and the things they discover about her race and his politics start off a crazy (cozy) race across the stars, all the way to the forbidden planet of Earth. The pacing felt slow, but it needed to be in order to really appreciate all the concepts of the characters and their backgrounds, not to mention work on character relationships.
I really enjoyed the plot when it got going, and loved the progress of both Tria and Resa in coming to understand each other despite technically having lived the same life together. I'd assumed this must be a YA novel, though some content towards the end made me question that I don't know, maybe it didn't fit the tone for me.
If you're looking for some interesting conceptual sci-fi that's a nice light YA-ish read full of imagination, exploration, gloating villains and high stakes yet cozy vibes, I'd certainly recommend this book.
I won't lie; the beginning confused me. A group of adult scientists accidentally discover an alien encampment on their planet, and they all agree it's a great idea for Tria il Resa - our dual POV protagonist- to stow away on their escaping ship, perhaps never to return home again? That was the biggest hurdle to overcome for me in terms of suspending disbelief.
I kept reading (and am glad I did!) because I was curious as to how Tria/Resa would be portrayed. It's not everyday you get a human-like alien race with literal split personalities governing emotion and reason. It is an interesting concept, and well explored as we learn more about her Kinaru culture and how "lefts" and "rights" are treated differently despite being in the same body. It's a little nod to how our Western cultures can value certain professions over others.
The aliens she stows away with are cozy Star Trek humanoid lizard-folk with super advanced technology. Despite their looks, they are very human-like in terms of emotions and actions. Don't expect gritty or very "alien" aliens; they act much like you'd expect characters from a YA novel to. Her friend and guide Karnath is a very empathetic character, and the things they discover about her race and his politics start off a crazy (cozy) race across the stars, all the way to the forbidden planet of Earth. The pacing felt slow, but it needed to be in order to really appreciate all the concepts of the characters and their backgrounds, not to mention work on character relationships.
I really enjoyed the plot when it got going, and loved the progress of both Tria and Resa in coming to understand each other despite technically having lived the same life together. I'd assumed this must be a YA novel, though some content towards the end made me question that I don't know, maybe it didn't fit the tone for me.
If you're looking for some interesting conceptual sci-fi that's a nice light YA-ish read full of imagination, exploration, gloating villains and high stakes yet cozy vibes, I'd certainly recommend this book.
June 24, 2025
DISCLAIMER - I received a free copy of this book to review for the 2024/25 Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC).
There are a number of things to enjoy in this book; interesting characters, different worlds and races, suspense and intrigue, a look at what goes into making up a personality, and quite a bit about the “logical mind” verses the “emotional mind.”
Human brains are divided into two halves, referred to as the right and left Hemisheres. While the two halves of the brain are connected and work as a whole, they function a bit differently. An oversimplified way of looking at the functions is that the left hemisphere (which controls the right side of the body) is more logic oriented while the right hemisphere (which controls the left side of the body) is more emotional. You don’t use only one side of your brain at a time as they work together integrating these different abilities.
Sheila Jenné uses this concept, although switching left and right, and creates an alien race where there are two distinct individuals and personalities in the same body. Tria is the logical one while Resa is emotional. Each controls half of the body and each has an entirely different identity. Their society places little value on emotion so the logical person, in this case Tria, runs the body most of the time. Throughout the book, Jenné uses this paradox to shine a light on how humans value these same traits and how they are integrated into one personality.
Tria and Resa, known as Tria il Resa and who somehow look very much like earthlings, are the main characters in this intergalactic tale. Sneaking aboard an alien vessel, they are off to explore the universe. All is going well until they get involved in a planet spanning conspiracy.
As with so many of these books, the science is secondary to the storyline and often defies known physics. That said, I appreciated that Jenné used the concept of folds in space, rather than FTL travel, to allow for all of this planet hopping. For me, the storyline got a bit convoluted and I found myself much more interested in the dual personality concept than anything else.
There are a number of things to enjoy in this book; interesting characters, different worlds and races, suspense and intrigue, a look at what goes into making up a personality, and quite a bit about the “logical mind” verses the “emotional mind.”
Human brains are divided into two halves, referred to as the right and left Hemisheres. While the two halves of the brain are connected and work as a whole, they function a bit differently. An oversimplified way of looking at the functions is that the left hemisphere (which controls the right side of the body) is more logic oriented while the right hemisphere (which controls the left side of the body) is more emotional. You don’t use only one side of your brain at a time as they work together integrating these different abilities.
Sheila Jenné uses this concept, although switching left and right, and creates an alien race where there are two distinct individuals and personalities in the same body. Tria is the logical one while Resa is emotional. Each controls half of the body and each has an entirely different identity. Their society places little value on emotion so the logical person, in this case Tria, runs the body most of the time. Throughout the book, Jenné uses this paradox to shine a light on how humans value these same traits and how they are integrated into one personality.
Tria and Resa, known as Tria il Resa and who somehow look very much like earthlings, are the main characters in this intergalactic tale. Sneaking aboard an alien vessel, they are off to explore the universe. All is going well until they get involved in a planet spanning conspiracy.
As with so many of these books, the science is secondary to the storyline and often defies known physics. That said, I appreciated that Jenné used the concept of folds in space, rather than FTL travel, to allow for all of this planet hopping. For me, the storyline got a bit convoluted and I found myself much more interested in the dual personality concept than anything else.
April 12, 2025
This book was like reading a modernized Asimov novel. At least for me, in that very specific way how in many of the Robot or Foundation books there isn't a lot of Plot or Action per se, but some large-scale, important events or thoughts still come about in the framework of a smaller, quieter story. It's something similar here, although there's some action, but those weren't the parts I really enjoyed.
After a somewhat quick start, there are two important sides (haha) to this story: one is Tria il Resa's personal journey as she realizes things about her own existence and way of life, and the other is a sort of conspiracy plots with the Shatakazan, the aliens she finds herself tangling with. I did like Tria/Resa's internal story better which, for me, stood somewhat separate from the chaos of the plot plot, however, the two also connect in some unexpected, interesting ways. In the end, both threads resolved satisfyingly. I couldn't help but wish we got more of Tria and Resa's interactions, arguments, heart-to-hearts, the deepening of their characters instead of the political machinations, though, (plus I wanted to see more of Kinaru!) but obviously both were needed to round out the story. In any case, the whole thing was a very interesting thought experiment. There's also a love story which is somewhat whirlwind due to All That Is Going On, but I was into it.
And the appearance of was very Star Trek. I appreciated that.
After a somewhat quick start, there are two important sides (haha) to this story: one is Tria il Resa's personal journey as she realizes things about her own existence and way of life, and the other is a sort of conspiracy plots with the Shatakazan, the aliens she finds herself tangling with. I did like Tria/Resa's internal story better which, for me, stood somewhat separate from the chaos of the plot plot, however, the two also connect in some unexpected, interesting ways. In the end, both threads resolved satisfyingly. I couldn't help but wish we got more of Tria and Resa's interactions, arguments, heart-to-hearts, the deepening of their characters instead of the political machinations, though, (plus I wanted to see more of Kinaru!) but obviously both were needed to round out the story. In any case, the whole thing was a very interesting thought experiment. There's also a love story which is somewhat whirlwind due to All That Is Going On, but I was into it.
And the appearance of was very Star Trek. I appreciated that.
December 29, 2024
I read a copy of this book as a judge for the Self Published Sci Fi Competition - these are my personal thoughts rather than an indication of the book's overall performance in the competition.
I really, really enjoyed this book! The characters were intriguing and even the minor characters have their chance to shine, though Tria and Resa are the stars of the show. Their journey was both interesting and emotional, and I really liked what Jenné did throughout with them.
This book has a lot of heart, and took a different approach than I'm used to thinking about when it comes to first contact stories - something that initially focuses on two non-human species. It was clearly extensively thought out and there was so much going on, I was immediately drawn in and the book managed to hold my attention really consistently throughout with a well-paced plot.
I'll admit I was a little disappointed about one of the plot directions it took, but it resolved that direction well and the logic within the story made sense so it's not exactly a complaint, just a preference.
Overall, I think this is a really good book and definitely worth reading if you're looking for a super interesting and queer-inclusive take on a first contact story.
I really, really enjoyed this book! The characters were intriguing and even the minor characters have their chance to shine, though Tria and Resa are the stars of the show. Their journey was both interesting and emotional, and I really liked what Jenné did throughout with them.
This book has a lot of heart, and took a different approach than I'm used to thinking about when it comes to first contact stories - something that initially focuses on two non-human species. It was clearly extensively thought out and there was so much going on, I was immediately drawn in and the book managed to hold my attention really consistently throughout with a well-paced plot.
I'll admit I was a little disappointed about one of the plot directions it took, but it resolved that direction well and the logic within the story made sense so it's not exactly a complaint, just a preference.
Overall, I think this is a really good book and definitely worth reading if you're looking for a super interesting and queer-inclusive take on a first contact story.
February 21, 2024
This book is exactly what science fiction should be. A unique concept, compelling plot, but also puts up a mirror to humanity
March 20, 2024
I loved the alternating voices. Two minds in one body--one right brain, one left. One logic. One emotion. What would a world of people like that be like?
Something Jenné does fabulously is think her world building through: meticulous and precisely and always, always logically.
Make it make sense is like my pet peeve in speculative fiction. I truly believe anything *can* work, but you have to do the work to make it so. Jenné always does.
But no sooner so we meet this alien world than we're whisked into another one when your dual-minded protagonist stows away aboard an alien ship. We then have a first contact experience and learn about another culture, get embroiled in their politics, and end up on Earth and on the run.
I'm in awe of how much detail and world building goes into all of this! I think anyone who loves Star Trek or Mass Effect will enjoy this book.
Something Jenné does fabulously is think her world building through: meticulous and precisely and always, always logically.
Make it make sense is like my pet peeve in speculative fiction. I truly believe anything *can* work, but you have to do the work to make it so. Jenné always does.
But no sooner so we meet this alien world than we're whisked into another one when your dual-minded protagonist stows away aboard an alien ship. We then have a first contact experience and learn about another culture, get embroiled in their politics, and end up on Earth and on the run.
I'm in awe of how much detail and world building goes into all of this! I think anyone who loves Star Trek or Mass Effect will enjoy this book.
September 6, 2025
What if instead of having a rational side of our brain and a creative emotional side, we were actually two different people in one body? What is that was normal for us? This interesting question is mixed in with a first-contact situation and a brewing civil war.
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