It’s the twenty-second century, and mankind is so over human genetic engineering. Anyone who possesses a tampered genome will be hunted down and irradiated. For Graysha Brady-Phillips, sufferer of a legally incurable genetic disease, this constitutes a death sentence. Unless, that is, she convinces the mysterious Lwuites, terraformer colonists of inhospitable Goddard, to divulge their secrets. But how can she win their trust when her mother, Eugenics Board enforcer, may descend on Goddard in wrath? Sci-fi luminary Kathy Tyers has revised her 1991 novel of the same title to include pronoun-heavy conversations about Christ. Fortunately, this story grows on the reader much faster than bacteria in a barren biosphere. With scientific specificity, slow-burn character studies reminiscent of The Vorkosigan Saga, and subtle romance that out-thaws any greenhouse effect, Shivering World is good medicine.

Best for: Adult fans of intelligent sci-fi willing to tackle religious questions.

Discern: Some innuendo and discussions of sex, brief sensuality, murderous scheming, infrequent violence, and discussion of the behavioral implications of genetic engineering.