Record of a Spaceborn Few

I think that the worldbuilding in this novel is really interesting. This is a quiet book, but I still think that it's a moving one -- about decent people, trying to make a good life for themselves while caring for the people around them. It grapples with questions of how automation threatens peoples' need to feel useful and contributory, how much obligation a society has to take care of its residents, and how much interference is acceptable from a more advanced culture to a lesser-advanced one.

Ultimately, this is a story about people trying to find and make a home for themselves and the people they love -- and for each person, the definition of "home" is something different. And it's okay to find, or make, your own definition of home, and it's okay to not be Martin Luther King, Jr. or Rosalind Franklin -- it's okay just to be a good, decent person who does the best they can to make a good life and to help others a little along the way.