All in good time! This book was focused on exploring Cygnus Beta (very pleased that's your favourite). The rest of the galaxy will have its turn in due course. But you know a little about Ain, enough to know why they'd want to destroy the Sadiri. What do you think happens when you gather up the worst of your social…

No problem – but I have come across a couple of reviewers who thought the book was either a revamped Spock/Uhura or Sarek/Amanda!

Befuddling, exciting, inspiring and sometimes just plain cool! I don't mind people bringing their frames to my story; that's all a part of it. I just want them to acknowledge that theirs is not the only frame and be prepared to entertain other perspectives.

Thank you for your interest and your questions. The hour went by very quickly!

It may be too early to tell, but I am detecting some differences in how UK/Commonwealth readers take to the book and how American readers view it, and also SF readers, romance readers and lit readers. It may be a question of missing references or it may be that genre expectations become firmly fixed.

I'm afraid I've never read Gordon Dickson, but it sounds as if, along with many other SF writers, we are dealing with some common (one might say almost foundational) tropes and symbols.

Quite a lot of it, but to varying degrees. Almost every place in Cygnus Beta is based on or inspired by a real place. People may recognise Guyana in the river community, Trinidad with the carnival, Montserrat and Monserrate where Grace's family homestead and the nearby monastery are located, Petra for Piedra, and so…

I have to admit that I only noticed the Candide and Leibniz references after my second draft of the manuscript. When I researched the title that I had randomly chosen, I saw how it might well look as if I'd done it on purpose. I intended more of an expanded 'best of both worlds' concept to reference the different…

I didn't have a chance to delve into galactic-level politics and commercial interactions, which was quite all right ... there was enough on the plate for one book. The question of how civilisations link under speed-of-light constraints of transportation and communication is a fascinating one which spawns more plot all…

First of all, thanks for the invitation to the io9 book club!