Sci-Fi Reading Guides
Sci-Fi Reading Guides make novel reading more profitable by considering the connections between the characters, setting, and events with the reader’s life. How do the characters reflect real people? What does the setting suggest about the trajectory of our world today? Is our global society prepared to handle the unfolding of events as imagined in this novel? Good questions, carefully considered, not only make a more introspective experience but, perhaps, a better world.
Newearth Progeny
Elementary (Junior High)
1 Why does Bala ask for Clare’s help? What upsets him? Is his reaction to the Spare Parts Shop reasonable?
2 What does Clare long to have? How does Taug offer to help? Does their “arrangement” seem reasonable?
3 What does Taug do that upsets Clare? Why is she bothered by a second baby? Did Taug have a right to do what he did?
4 Why is the Ingot race so interested in the biomb technology? What part does Gavin, as a Tabunite, play in the unfolding plot?
5 What characters do you enjoy getting to know? Why? Who do you dislike? Why?
Secondary (High School)
1 What is the main plot of the story? How does Clare’s work partner, Bala, play into the unfolding drama?
2 Why does Cerulean care about the situation? Who are two other side characters who play major roles in the conflict? Why are they important?
3 How do the Ingots view the biomb technology? Why do they care about it?
4 What do the Tabunites have to do with the situation? Is Gavin’s reaction reasonable?
5 Who are your favorite characters? Why? If you were to write the next part, what would happen in the immediate future?
Adult/Book Clubs
1 Having a child changes a person in countless ways. Does Clare react to her situation reasonably? How does her relationship with Kendra affect her? How does Kendra really feel about Clare?
2 Bala and Kendra’s relationship with their children is set against Clare’s relationship with her sons. How do they compare?
3 Who are the upstanding characters in the story? Why do you think so? Are those characters who make bad choices true villains? Do real villains actually exist? Or are villains just mixed-up and misunderstood human beings?
4 The Inter-Alien Alliance struggles to make laws to adequately deal with the volatile medical technology landscape. Who bears responsibility for Newearth society ills? Can any “person,” be it a politician or a high-ranking alien, take that role and be successful?
5 If you could have lunch with some of the characters at the café, who would you invite? Why?
Paperback/Journal Reflections
1 Reflecting on Clare’s confusion over her relationship with her parents and sons, how do I feel about my relationship with my parents and/or children? Is it possible to truly understand each other?
2 Considering several of the confused adult children in the story, when a child makes a terrible decision, are the parents partially to blame? How do I feel about shared guilt when a family member gets into trouble?
3 Bala and his wife must deal with loss on many levels. Do they handle it well? Who or what supports them? Are they able to support others in turn? Who is my support in troubled times?
4 Which characters offered hope in humanity? How did they do that? Who was scary? Why did he or she scare me?
5 If I lived in this story, who would I hang around with? What would we do together? What would the day after the book ends look like?
ReadingGuide.NewearthProgeny
Newearth Relevance
Elementary (Junior High)
1 Who was Relevance, and what was his passion in life?
2 Relevance was created as part of a laboratory experiment. How does that affect his decisions in life?
3 Who is your favorite Animan character in the story? Why?
4 Poor choices can lead to bad outcomes. How is this illustrated in the novel? Do you think this is always true? Why or why not?
5 Which characters changed the most? Who did you trust? Why?
Secondary (High School)
1 Was Relevance a conflicted soul? If so, about what?
2 How does Relevance’s relationships with his mother, brother, and humanity, in general, affect his life?
3 Are Animans possible in today’s world? What should people do to regulate such experimentation, if any?
4 What happens to the people involved in the creation of Animans? Detail some of the variations of reactions and outcomes that result from the secret research.
5 Bala’s family is directly affected by the experiments. Who helps him? Are all the outcomes for his family bad?
Adult/Book Clubs
1 How did Relevance’s relationship with his mother influence his life?
2 Which characters do you trust the most in the novel? Why?
3 If Animans actually were created, should they have full legal rights as humans do? If not, how should they be treated?
4 The people who worked at LEAP Laboratory didn’t all feel the same about the experiments. Who changed the most? How?
5 Family identity is a core issue in the novel. How is that illustrated in Bala’s family?
Paperback/Journal Reflections
1 How did my relationship with my mother compare to Relevance’s? Are there healing issues that need to be addressed?
2 What role does Cerulean play in Clare’s life? Do I have anyone in my life like that? Am I that person for anyone else?
3 The creation of Animans brings up the legal issue of who gets to decide who is human and how human rights are defined. How do I feel about a sub-creation getting human rights? How does the novel enlighten or conflict with my feelings on the subject?
4 Bala has to deal with his children’s involvement in LEAP Laboratory, which creates a family crisis. Are any resolved? Which family member interests you the most? Why?
5 Which characters do I relate to the most? Why? How do I feel about their lives?
ReadingGuide.NewearthRelevance
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