The Best of Both Worlds

Zagar's (The Forbidden Zone) dystopian science fantasy erotica is much like cotton candy: pretty to look at and fun, but lacking any appreciable substance beneath the clumsy attempt at romantic moralizing. Andrea serves a totalitarian government, the Hand, on a 20-year deep space journey. She was born in a futuristic New York and turned herself over to the Hand's training program after her mother's death. Even under the regime, Andrea is a bit of a rebel, though she risks being assigned to morgue duty, tortured, or executed. Two aliens from the planet Evalaque, Jacniuqnio and Ledieven, are hobbyists in the study of human beings; they choose Andrea to study and bring her back to their planet. Along the way, the three of them fall in love, in a society where polyamory is banned and same-sex relationships are forbidden to those of Ledieven's class. Drama with Ledieven's family quickly provides enough artificial tension to move the story into its baffling, overwrought climax, where too many clich%C3%A9d concepts are packed into very few words. (July)