The Seas of Distant Stars

by Francesca G. Varela

Agapanthus was kidnapped when she was only two years old, but she doesn’t remember it. In fact, she doesn’t remember her home planet at all. All she knows is Deeyae, the land of two suns; the land of great, red waters. Her foster-family cares for her, and at first that’s enough. But, as she grows older, Agapanthus is bothered by the differences between them. As an Exchanger, she’s frail and tall, not short and strong. And, even though she was raised Deeyan, she certainly isn’t treated like one. One day, an Exchanger boy completes the Deeyan rite-of-passage, and Agapanthus is inspired to try the same. But, when she teams up with him, her quest to become Deeyan transforms into her quest to find the truth―of who she is, and of which star she belongs to.

Genres: Science Fiction

231 pages, Paperback

First published August 7, 2018

About the author

Francesca G. Varela was raised in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. In 2015 she graduated from the University of Oregon with degrees in Environmental Studies and Creative Writing, and in 2018 she received her master’s degree in Environmental Humanities from the University of Utah.

Francesca’s dream of becoming an author began in third grade, and her writing career had an early start; she wrote her award-winning first novel, Call of the Sun Child, when she was only 18 years old, and she wrote her second novel, Listen, when she was only 20.

When not writing or reading, Francesca enjoys playing piano, figure skating, hiking, identifying wild birds, plants, and constellations, and travelling to warm, sunny places whenever she can.

Reviews

[K.S. Marsden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aga is an alien adopted by a Deeyan family. She is different, and that is all she has ever known.

I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was... not what I was expecting.
Yes, it's set on another world, but I don't think I'd call it sci-fi. Despite the fact that it revolves around young children being abducted from Earth, there's very little science involved. This race of Deeyans are living very simple, hunter-gatherer lives.
The synopsis says that this story follows Aga's quest to find out who she is - and it's absolutely right, just not in the way I expected. I thought it would be a big conspiracy, hidden secrets, overthrowing the powers that be... but instead it's the simple, and very human, growing up and finding out who she is; and who she wants to be.

This story is a slow-building contemporary piece that looks at a girl and her foster family, and the way the other foster kids are labelled as "different".
It follows Aga as she gets older, and tries to find her place in Deeyan, which is hard when it's clear she has no future with them. She's not allowed to marry into the Deeyan, and her family forbid her from taking part in the Deeyan rite of passage, so she's not considered an adult in their society.
All the while, there's the threat of her stay on Deeyae coming to an end, and being sent back to an Earth she doesn't remember. So, despite really liking her foster family, poor Aga feels like she can't put down roots, or get close to anyone.

I really liked how it ended. This isn't a fairytale, and Aga has to make some serious choices, because real life doesn't end with a Happily Ever After, where everything works out perfectly. People (and Deeyans) are flawed.
Aga learns to be happy with her situation, and accepts that there things she can't change.

The not-so-good.
For a reasonably short book, I found it a long and slow read.
Aga is a very thorough narrator and, even as a young child, she describes everything she sees, hears and smells, and expresses every memory these senses stir up. I felt like I knew Deeyae intimately - which is not a bad thing - but it wasn't a book I could devour in one go.

There are teases about this where this story could possibly go, with the mysterious Contact (a Deeyan that Aga admits she finds attractive, despite the fact he's the "voice of the gods" and has caused the death of other Deeyans); and the other Exchangers (kids stolen from Earth) and the potential of a huge secret and revolution, to finally make them equals on Deeyae. But then, Varela reigns it back in, keeping the story a firm, coming-of-age tale.
I know, as kids/teens, we've all thought the world was against us, and thought there must be some conspiracy to keep us down. I just found myself disappointed that it wasn't investigated by Aga and her friends.

Finally, even though the world that Aga knows is gone over with a fine toothcomb, I felt that everything else was a blur.
Apart from it being "the will of the gods", it's never explained why these children are taken, and why they are experimented on, or what even happens in the experiments. Aga has an annual check-up, and various tests run, but she isn't conscious for the procedure, so we have no idea what goes on.
As I mentioned before, the Deeyans live very simple lives. Yes, they have evolved to thrive on Deeyae, but I wouldn't call them advanced. With the exception of the water portation device (something that is accepted as part of daily life, but never explained - like I don't have to explain boilers - I don't know how they work, but it's part of life.), and audiobooks, there is no technology. No mention of how the children are taken from Earth, how they're transported; and no further use of that unspoken technology. No shuttles, or transport that's used beyond boats and swimming...

Overall, I enjoyed this unexpected Contemporary story, and would recommend checking it out. This was a 3.5 out of 5, for me.

[Lilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is interesting to say the least. I was not expecting a sci-fi, but a coming of age story and it fits right in. Agapanthus knows she is different and has never been completely accepted by her new people. Part of an exchange program, she is now on Deeyae , the only place she knows as home. We follow ger from a young age, as she experiences life as being different, desire to be accepted and fit in, but also trying to find out who she really is and where she comes from.

I cannot say I disliked it, on the contrary. Just keep in mind that it’s slow to build and for the most part, is more about analyzing the character and her attempts at a better life. The plot is surprising, since in my mind I was envisioning a love story like no other (because I am mostly a romance reader and I cannot escape the custom), but with all the things happening in Agapanthus’ life, we have some unexpected turn of events.

This aspect of being different is very well treated in the story. We have two types of “different”: the girl trying to be accepted by her adoptive family and her wish to be one of them and later on we see her back with her real family. Here we have the adjustment to something that should feel normal. It’s very interesting and has a strong physiological aspect.

All in all, this is a book that will surprise you at every turn. For me it was not an easy read, but challenging. It was a good story to push me out of my comfort zone. Loved it – 4 stars!

[R.K. Emery · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, that blurb completely drew me in. I was pleasantly surprised by the way Varela was able to keep me on my toes.



An intriguing storyline. I think that the way Varela has written the story really allows readers to become sucked into the characters lives and ultimate outcome. It was very well written and I enjoyed the mix of action and science fiction.

This novel was very vivid in the descriptions, the writing really jumped off the pages and into my head.

[Samantha Turley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel is unlike anything I have read. I think that it is a great testament to the imagination of a writer that I can say that. This novel really kept me on my toes as far as expecting the unexpected.
There is a lot going on and a lot to understand since you are diving into a new world. I think that Francesca G. Varela really managed to keep her readers up to speed by giving them just enough along the way without making them feel lost or bogged down with information. It really shined light on to the characters and world in general.
This was a sci-fi novel that really made me think on a deeper level than most Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels.

[Shelley]

Author's guest post at my blog:
https://bookfare.blogspot.com/2018/12...

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't like rehashing the summary of the book. It's easy enough to read the description and get a fair idea of what it's about. I gave this book five stars because the story is unique in its setting, characters, and plot. It tackles human growing pains, like change and child-adult transitions, with a sense of rawness. I was also surprised with where the story was going. There were moments when I thought I knew what was likely to happen next and was happy that I was wrong. It felt more realistic that way.

[Marlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published at Reading Reality

What if all, or at least some, of the alien abduction stories that regularly show up in some of the more, lurid tabloids were really true?

That’s just a small part of the premise of The Seas of Distant Stars, which combines that alien abduction scenario with a coming of age narrative and a search for identity in some interesting ways.

Agapanthus (born Aria on Earth) doesn’t really remember her home. After all, she was only two years old when she was taken.

But this isn’t the usual kind of alien experimentation story either. Agapanthus is being raised on Deeyae, among an offshoot of the human race who seem to have been seeded on a heavy gravity world with two suns.

She’s the foster child of a typical Deeyae family, loves her foster parents, and wants to follow in their footsteps – but she knows she can’t. She’s an Exchanger. It is believed that the parents of Exchangers willingly give them up for an unpredictable number of years in order to reap the benefits that will accrue to their less well-developed world.

Of course it’s all a lie, but we see this story from Agapanthus’ perspective, and at age four, six, eight, even twelve she’s not aware of the contradictions inherent in the story. Even her foster parents seem to believe a good bit of it.

And Agapanthus does get experimented upon, but it seems to be fairly benign. Exchangers are used to test new drugs, new treatments and new procedures, but Agapanthus is never harmed by the process.

Of course, she’s also very lucky. She is far from the only Exchanger on Deeyae, and not all Exchangers are fortunate to be placed with foster-families that care for them.

But as Agapanthus nears adulthood, the contradictions that restrict her life chafe and scrape. She can never become fully adult on Deeyae, but she can’t leave unless the “Gods” allow her to. She is looked down upon by most people, considered weak and ugly and childish. She cannot have a career – she will always be dependent on someone else.

She can’t make her own choices, and she is all too aware that she will always be a second-class citizen. And yet, becoming an adult on Deeyae, in spite of her limitations and restrictions, is what she strives for.

When she succeeds against all the odds, it is all taken away from her. Or is it?

Escape Rating B: While The Seas of Distant Stars is unquestionably science fiction, with its point of view character so very young for much of the narrative, it also feels like more of a young adult book than an adult book.

The story revolves around Agapanthus’ and later Aria’s search for identity. On Deeyae she is an Exchanger, and can never be more than she is. But when she is returned to Earth, she is equally out of place. She remembers her childhood and adolescence on Deeyae, even though she is not supposed to. She has to learn all over again how to function in this society that she does not feel part of.

Her Earth family, with their lost member now returned to them, is just as broken as it was when she was gone, but in completely different ways. The road back is difficult for all of them, and when the story ends they are still on that road.

This is a slow-building, slow-burning kind of story, as we see both worlds entirely through Aria’s eyes. On Deeyae, we learn and understand as she does, following her through the years of her childhood. On Earth, her reintegration into her birth world is equally slow, and in some ways more painful, as she is now aware of what she left behind.

But in the end, she is finally able to choose where and how she belongs.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hardly know what to say about this book. I read it because a crit partner recommended it to me, and, certainly, there were things about it that were admirable. But--it was almost a dnf for me. One reviewer called it "uneven", and I would agree with that.

The short version of this review: there is a strong novella in this book, somewhat hidden under verbiage.

The longer version: I think I may do this as a set of lists.
Things I did not like
1. Sadly, initially, the protagonist. This was a problem because we were very much in Agapanthus's head, and from a young age she seemed to me to have a tendency to look down on others. And not just because she was taller than most of them! I thought her emotions were very well-described, but somehow distant, such that I never got a clear sense of her relationships. Yes, she's an outsider, but I think we're meant to see that her foster parents do love her. It was never clear to me that she actually loved them. (but see note below)
2. The culture seemed bleak. I'd die in that world very quickly as a vegetarian-type person; all the people ate only raw meat. I can't remember reading about any plants other than seaweed, and there were no trees. Nothing but rocks and water. The arts seemed rudimentary; there didn't seem to be any literature, and the religion was opaque to me.
3. And this is what threw me out of the story several times--there was too much faulty grammar and poor editing. Examples:
Ms. Varela does not seem to know the difference between simple past and past perfect. For example, on page 32, "It sunk into her paleness..". It should be "it sank". And on page 89, there is: "It had been so long since she'd really swam..". That should be "swum". Things like this kept stopping me as I read. Some of the word choices are odd, too. For example, late in the story Agapanthus/Aria hears crows "bellowing" in a field. I had to read that sentence several times because I was convinced the crows had to be cows. Crows don't bellow!

But there were things I liked, and here they are.
1. It's a very imaginative story. The culture Ms. Varela depicts may not seem fully realized to me, but it's very different from anything else I've come across in fantasy or SF.
2. The story, which centers on a coming-of-age rite, can be emotionally astute. Here, for example, Agapanthus muses to herself after completing the alien rite of passage: "Maybe no one was really an adult at all. Everyone just felt the same inside for the whole stretch of their lives. And maybe, all their lives, everyone was just trying not to be scared, and trying to convince themselves--prove to themselves--that they weren't children any more." (p 139)
3. As we see above, the themes of love and belonging are powerful.
4. The story became gripping to me when the young adult Agapanthus/Aria returned to her Earth family. This was in part because of the clarity of the relationships. I really liked Max, Agapanthus's teenage half-brother. He's smart and supportive in his way, and says one of the loveliest things in the novel.

I can't help thinking that, with better editing and more clarity, this could have been a classic. I'm not sorry I read it. It was worth it in the end, but it was a bit of a struggle.

[Kristy · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars
This book started great. The premise was so original, and the world building really sucked me in.
The writing wasn't great, and the timeline was choppy. There were seemingly unnecessary details tossed in, but i assumed they would eventually have a purpose. Agapanthus seemed irrational. She would randomly become angry and belligerent. She would feel one way about another character and then, in the next paragraph, say or think something about them that was in complete contrast.
I could overlook all of this because the characters and story were so interesting. I just chalked it up to bad editing.
Then, just as the story drama is coming to a head....wham it got shut down and out of nowhere Agapanthus goes back to earth.
Once on earth, all those irritating things in the first part of the book just got worse... so much worse. (Honestly, did ANYONE edit this book?)
I skimmed most of the last third of the book because it was so boring and so poorly written.
With all its flaws, I really enjoyed the section of the story that takes place on Deeyae. I give that part 4 stars. The section that takes place on Earth is a hard 1 star.
Honestly, I feel robbed. I want all the questions from the first half answered!
Would I recommend this? No, not unless you like frustration.

[Giovanni Padron-Calero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before being sent back to earth, the book was amazing. Varela really built us into the world and Aga’s emotions. Some people might say that the writing was all over the place, but that reflects Aga’s headspace; confused and extreme. She finally swam the rite of passage after leading up to it for a little over half the book and then once she does it, her world completely shifts and so does the story.

On earth it’s clear that there is a battle in Aga’s head relating what she knows and what the world around her thinks they know. It was even demonstrated in the narration style when it switched over to third person rather than Aga speaking her thoughts. I can see where Varela was trying to take us with the Aster airport meetup, but I kinda was a bit underwhelmed when it happened. Also, how could the whole earth segment be about her trying to figure out the truth and then when she finds another Deeyan she’s like 🙂👍. I really thought it was going to be that the guy who put that video up knew aster and was gonna reintroduce them or something. Maybe even start that revolution and go back to the planet they were raised on.

The writing at the end feels a bit rushed but overall this book was an enjoyable read so 4 stars

[C.L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aria/Agapanthus is abducted from Earth and raised on a different planet with the Deeyae. Explored through the lenses of “otherness” the story asks the reader to understand what happens when people are marginalized and removed from their home.
.
I really enjoyed this book. Gorgeously told in a clean, crisp style reminiscent of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, I found myself unable to put it down. While Aria’s narrative on Deeyae was the most compelling for me, Varela wraps up the narrative in a satisfying way.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Seas of Distant Stars was the book choice for my book club and when I read the back of the book I was immediately intrigued. The world that the author built made me so curious and the descriptions pulled me into the story.

"We are all starstuff. So if you think of it that way, if you think of it like everything's connected, everything comes from the same place."

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an enjoyable read to be sure, with a well-developed central character and fully-realized world. But there were parts that should have been trimmed and parts that could have been expanded. 3 stars instead of 4 because I did find the ending to be disappointing and anti-climatic, although I did appreciate also wondering if it had all been real. No one finds peace in Florida!

[Heidi Barr · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that keeps you wondering what might happen, full of wonderful imagery, descriptions, and characters. I read it in three days because I couldn't put it down. A very unique coming of age story.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely not action packed but it kept my interest. Well written

[Arielle Ali · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled to finish this book. Other than the possibility of kidnapping aliens, I'm not sure what to get out of this book. The action plodded along to get me to nowhere.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

The world

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was interesting enough, but I saw it compared to Ursula LeGuin . . . and it is not Ursula LeGuin. Strange little story.