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The Worth of a Shell: The Stone Moon Trilogy, #1
The Worth of a Shell: The Stone Moon Trilogy, #1
The Worth of a Shell: The Stone Moon Trilogy, #1
Ebook425 pages7 hours

The Worth of a Shell: The Stone Moon Trilogy, #1

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Born to a harsh world, we Jokka have evolved three sexes to survive: neuter, male and female. Twice in our lives we may change from one to another. A change we accept with grace... or resignation. It was our way. ...until one female defied all tradition: Dlane Ashoi-anadi, revolutionary, intentionally childless, runaway.

This is not her story.

This is mine.

I am Thenet Reña-eperu, female-guardian, voice of orthodoxy... and Dlane's first and dearest companion. This is the tale of how we changed each other... and how that changed everything.

Book 1 of the Stone Moon Trilogy (continues with Book 2: Pearl in the Void, and Book 3: A Bloom in the North).

LanguageEnglish
Release dateJul 15, 2014
ISBN9781501417733
The Worth of a Shell: The Stone Moon Trilogy, #1

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In this novel about gender... It's not human genders, and the characters are *characters*, not Icons For Their Gender. It's not saying what you might expect about the human condition -- but it does have a lot to say about choice, both individual and for one's race; about beauty; about self-worth and where to find it.Personally, I think that there needs to be a sequel; the end of the book is still torn between the choice of granting *sanity* to an entire third of the population, and dying out as a species. There are several places where this story could go. By the end -- which holds, yes, tragedy -- the the story has changed from being a very unconventional sort of romance/adventure to being a story of a species. Unfortunately for my tastes, that's where it ends, but I hold out hope that the author will wend her way back to What Happens Next. Though... the slightly "unfinished" feel, to me, mitigates much of the sadness; this is not The End. The torch has been passed, not extinguished.If you're a reader who is looking for a HEA, this book is not really that. If you're a reader who enjoys seeing a different race, a different mindset, a world with no humans at all? Pick up this book. There's adventure, love, witty banter, pieces of a lost civilization, and in the end... There's a new Idea in that universe, that may yet change it.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    'The Worth of a Shell' is the first novel-length story of the Jokka. When I first picked this up, I wasn't in the right frame of mind to read it. It's immersive fantasy at its finest and, while I liked what I'd read, I was too busy (and emotionally turmoiled) to give it the time it deserved and I put it aside. And then I got side-tracked by reading all the preceding short stories because this world... is so fascinating. I'm so glad we got a full-length novel (and two more in the planning!) because, while I've enjoyed to loved all of the short stories, it's here that Hogarth's world-building really shines. Her characterisation is equally well-done. I couldn't get into it the first time, but this second time I couldn't put it down! (There's a lesson there about knowing your reading habits, I'm sure.) I loved to see the relationship between Dlane and Thenet develop as well as between them and Roika. (And oh the little hints of what might've been if their views were just a little more flexible towards one another...)And the ending. I cried. So much. Words. I have not.

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The Worth of a Shell - M.C.A. Hogarth

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