CURIO CITIZEN REVIEW BY LIAM QUANE

Curio Citizen is a smartly woven tapestry of detail and intrigue. The author, Katherine Forrister, writes with a fascinating obsession with detail and specificity. It sounds like a bizarre description, but I found that the prose read almost like smoke. I found myself drifting off into long hypnotic dazes while reading. There is a hands-off sensitivity to the narrative that almost comes across as gentle. That is until a major geographical shift comes a few chapters in, ratcheting the tension up tenfold. Curio Citzen follows the intergalactic adventure of Carmen O’Dwyer. Carmen is quick-witted, smart, sensitive, brave, stubborn, aloof, and prickly all at once. These clashing personality quirks make for an engrossing protagonist. Furthermore, Carmen has a unique occupation: a wildfire responder. Only, instead of fighting the fire, she investigates and preserves the archaeological relics wildfires uncover. It was fascinating to read a story from such a unique occupational perspective; familiarly erratic weather patterns have led to a rise in new, reactive salvaging operations, and in the world of Curio Citizen, the need is an urgent one. Our history is being burnt away, so Carmen and her team set out to restore and preserve ancient anthropological pieces of art, the type that adorn cave walls and ancient sites of worship. To preserve, rather than destroy, is not usually the first thing you expect to see in a hardcore science-fiction story that explores themes of collective suffering and war, so you can imagine how refreshing it was to see the story starting off with a creative first step. This endeavour doesn’t last long, however, as Carmen is quickly whisked away to an extraterrestrial [place] in one of the most unique and visceral abduction scenes I have ever experienced. There she meets a race of interstellar beings called [The Paz]. They’re as visually detailed as the anthropological artwork they inspired and created. However, unknown to The Paz, their advancement seems to be a form of impairment for them. Carmen, with the help of a member of the Paz race, Inquieto, essentially undergoes a two-pronged journey, a literal one, in the form of finding a way back home, and a reflexive one: to reclaim her own natural femininity as a human being trapped in a cold, hyper-advanced world. The text is multilayered and filled with visual symmetry. One of my favourite examples of this is early and comes in the form of a thematic match between tent zippers and lingering sexual tension between two characters. This type of humorous double play keeps the plot snappy and alive with character. The writer has a talent for carving unique graphic images into the mind of readers, and they keep the lore flowing throughout to contextualise and curate what we’re seeing inside. It’s like a museum exhibit of science-fantasy. The world feels more lived in than imagined, and I thoroughly enjoyed exploring it as a reader. Overall, Curio Citizen is a serene sci-fi tale that buzzes with shocks of excitement and the call to adventure.

5 stars out of 5 stars. A recommendation for all.

:)

“Curio Citizen” was an enjoyable novel about an archaeologist who is kidnapped from a dig site, along with her site lead’s dog, by an alien government in search of non-intelligent life from other worlds to be part of their state-sponsored zoo. Inquieto, the head of the Curio Project, quickly realizes Carmen is sapient and works to convince his leaders that she should be freed and returned to her home planet. Carmen quickly comes to realize that the aliens (the Paz) are in their own planetary predicament: soon, their planet will approach too closely into the orbit of its binary star suns, and the Paz will be forced to relocate underground; the last time this happened, they significantly regressed in their technological, artistic, and cultural advancements. Carmen becomes a political chess piece used by one arm of the government to try and convince the people that relocating to another planet is the best solution for the Paz; along the way, a bond forms between her and Inquieto, who has his own reasons for being drawn to Carmen.
It was fun to read about the juxtaposition of a human living on a world with no war, no gun violence, no genocide, no climate change, and none of the other threats currently facing humanity; of course, the Paz have their own challenges and shortcomings that Carmen is uniquely positioned to help them recognize. I did feel that Carmen’s specific niche as an archaeologist, while well utilized later in the novel, didn’t really come into play much in the middle half or so of the story, and it was hard not to feel that she was being relegated to a primarily romantic lead, even though that didn’t really feel like the point of the story.

Curio Citizen brings us to an immersive alien world. Katherine Forrister dives us into Paz and all its cultural elements. If you are looking for a book that takes place on an alien planet where we get to learn a lot about the culture, the customs, the art, and the nature of the planet itself this is for you! There are so many delightful details about Paz and its peoples.

There are some high points with lots of action and then some slow points where we are just learning about the world Carmen has been whisked off too, so that is why I only gave it four stars. The only downside is it is almost too immersive and light on the action.

It's fascinating to consider a human having to prove to a more advanced species that we are in fact a sentient intelligent species. I want to share more but I'm keeping this spoiler free. I can't wait for more folks to read this and get some discussion going on the culture of Paz.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

Curio Citizen by Katherine Forrister is such a good read! Omg what a good time I had reading it!!! I totally recommend everyone to read this book as fast as they can.

I really enjoyed reading this book, it had that element that I wanted and enjoyed getting into this scifi element. I enjoyed that it was the main character and their dog, it had stakes and was hooked from the first page. Katherine Forrister has a great writing style and was able to create interesting characters and worlds. I enjoyed the overall feel of this and glad I got to read this.