Really great book. Here, McIntosh takes some themes from
Brace New World (dividing people into distinct groupings depending on
intellect ) but really makes it his own. Here, people are not born into
Alphas, Betas, and Deltas but are tested with various intelligence tests
to move up from Blacks, Purples, Browns to White Circles, White
Crosses, and finally the ultimate White Stars. The caste system and
the alleged meritocracy are quite interesting as are the interactions
between these castes.
But this is not just a story about intelligence tests, McIntosh also
posits a stranger from another planet and his allies sent her as
embedded spies to await the invasion.
Also, he offers us the oddest love story imaginable with the stranger
who is too stiff to even mimic human emotions determined to wed
Allison, a White Star.
Although there are all kinds of ideas and themes in McIntosh's stories,
what really makes his stories and particularly this one great is how he
slowly develops the characters and the ideas. From where things start
in the beginning, it is hard to comprehend where they will end up
going. His writing style is rather captivating.
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