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Author Sarah Zettel booklist (click here)

Book Review By Bridgette Redman
Kingdom Of Cages by Sarah Zettel

Chena Trust has landed with her family on Pandora, a planet where they hope to make a new life. This environmental utopia is divided into primitive villages and domed cities, both designed to protect the environment. Unfortunately, the rest of the galaxy is suffering from a "diversity crisis" which is quickly killing them all off. They've threatened to destroy Pandora unless the Pandorans help them find a cure. The cure, thinks many Pandorans, may be found in the genes of Chena's mother. Chena's mother, however, is unwilling to cooperate and the Pandorans begin putting the pressure on her to join their experiments.

The book explores how to balance the needs of the environment against the needs of people; the need for freedom against the need for safety; and the concept of free-thinking versus loyalty.


Plot & Themes
Tone of book - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story
Tech./$$$/Info hunt Yes
Stealing/recovering/destroying
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Cultural problems, alien culture Yes
Culture clash- - one culture tries to impose its culture on another group
Descript. of chases or violence - 10 %
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40 %
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40 %
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 10 %
Intense exploration of society's culture? Yes

Main Character
Identity: - Female
Profession/status:
Age: - a teen

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - long-lived adults
Profession/status:
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
How sensitive is this character?
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters

Setting
Terrain
A substantial portion of this book takes place on a non-Earth planetary body: - humans in a futuristic society - very controlled society
Planet outside solar system? Yes

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
scientific jargon? (SF only) - a moderate amount of scientific explanation
How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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