Makinda Lo: Natural Selection

[bibliogramma]

Malinda Lo's novella Natural Selection, set in the same fictional universe as her novels Adaptation and Inheritance, focuses on Amber Gray, the Earthborn alien who is a key character and love interest for the protagonist of the novels.

This is a prequel of sorts, giving us a glimpse into Amber's early life as a child of two cultures and her struggle to develop a sense of self that includes both her heritage and her adopted culture. As Amber and her polyamorous. family (one mother, two fathers) move back and forth between the two planets, her experiences and relationships give her the chance to explore her identity in both worlds.

Lo's work is notably GLBT-friendly - something I am very happy to see - and Amber's preference for relationships with other girls plays a large part in her coming to see who she is. On Earth, she is attracted to her best friend, who rejects Amber when she is outed by the boy her friend has been pursuing; on her own world, same-sex relationships are seen as perfectly natural, and it is in part through a shared rite of passage with a girl who sees her as a prospective lover that she comes to terms with the differences between her two worlds and finds a way to be herself in both.

I find myself hoping that Lo will write more about Amber, and the protagonists from the two novels.