Escaping Exodus: A Novel

I saw this book on sale, thought it sounded interesting, and read it right away. It was a fantastic space opera sci-fi! I pre-ordered the next book, even though it sounds like the focus will shift onto a different character. This book switches between two points of view, but the characters are distinct, so it didn't bother me at all. Some readers don't like that kind of thing though. The main characters are Seske and Adalla. Seske is in the ruling class and is, in fact, heir to the throne, while Adalla is sort of a middle-class skilled tradeswoman. They have been close during their childhoods despite their class differences, but Seske has hit puberty and is expected to discard her childhood friend and choose a spouse from among the upper class. Seske is in despair, as she would not only be losing her best friend, but also the person she may be in love with. Meanwhile, we are discovering more about the society these two young women inhabit. Humans left earth generations ago after pollution and climate change made it uninhabitable. The planet they had chosen as a possible new home was uninhabitable. The generation ships needed resources, so they began harvesting moon-sized space beasts. Eventually, they began altering the internal anatomy and ecosystems of the beasts and living inside of them. This novel begins with the colonization of a new beast. Seske and Adalla each discover uncomfortable secrets about this process and about their society. This novel touches on themes of class structure, slavery, drug and alcohol abuse, corporal punishment, poverty, inequality, poor working conditions, traditional sex roles, lesbian and bisexuality, duty, obligation, sustainability, ecological destruction, and more. This is a matriarchal society where the traditional sex roles of men and women are reversed. In addition, to control the population size, family units here are composed of six women, three men, and one child. I found the following a little difficult to figure out: Two women and one man form the "head" parents. Another set form the "heart" parents. And the third are the "will" parents. There are also grandmothers called "Amas". Great characters and world building!

I have samples but each one is interesting to read.

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