Space Opera Fans discussion

The February 2025 Reader Pick is Outcaste by Christie Meierz. Please use this thread to post questions, comments, and reviews, at any time.

Official description:
Perhaps casual nudity wasn't Kim's best idea.

Dr. Kimberly Storm-Gale has to make it back to Tau Ceti University— and fast— after his peaceful research sabbatical is turned upside down by corporate predators. As he fights to escape debt slavery and remain a free man, he doesn't expect his research subjects to kidnap him and take him to Tolar.

Halla is a burden to the empaths of Sanctuary Aanesh, where she has struggled for years to survive the death of her life-partner — a battle she is slowly losing. Kim and Halla begin to dream about each other even before the ruling caste arrange their meeting on Tolar. But the laws of the University put Halla strictly off-limits, and the rulers of Tolar suspect that Kim may be the agent of a human government with designs on their world. Will he choose academic fame and glory — or Halla?

Outcaste is the sixth book in the Tales of Tolari Space science fiction series, but can also be read as a standalone. If you like planetary adventure and heart-warming romance, you'll love these tales of the reclusive Tolari.

I enjoyed reading the eARC of this book, and preordered the official edition. I plan to reread it in February and look forward to the discussion. Here’s a link to my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I’ve started my reread. I’m impressed by little details, such as gestures meaning completely different things to the Kekrax, and their strange speech patterns. It is so nice to have aliens who are definitely not just humans in costumes.

I like Kim’s quirks. I have taught in multiple colleges in the past, and I can certainly picture some (far from all though) of my former colleagues making similar decisions and having similar priorities. A three hundred year lifespan? Oh what a lot of papers I could write!

And finished!

I'm up to Chapter 6 and enjoying the book so far. Kim's interactions with the Kekrax were interesting and in some cases quite funny. "He liked the Kekrax. They were highly intelligent, decidedly civilized, and, he now believed, profoundly misunderstood by every other race in the Interstellar Trade Alliance."

While I wasn't overly fond of Rembrandt's Station, some of the events in that book led to events in this book.

Finished!

It occurred to me that the Tolari have been rather lacking in full disclosure when giving out the "Jorann's blessing." Someone takes it, has certain reactions, then that person is told "Oh yeah, we should have mentioned that could happen."