A easy to read story with lovely descriptive touches, I bought the book becuase of a review I read in The Guardian (link) and also (I am shamed to admit) becuase the book cover looked so attractive and tactile. I would recommend this as it provides a journey to a world which we can find parrallels with, but can also find distinction from.
To borrow from Groucho Marx’s “Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.”
I would change it to say, “Outside a Bee, a book is a man’s best friend, Inside of Bee it’s too small to read”.
Fiction
Fourth Estate
01/01/2015
352
Born into the lowest class of her society, Flora 717 is a sanitation bee, only fit to clean her orchard hive. Living to accept, obey, and serve, she is prepared to sacrifice everything for her beloved holy mother, the Queen. But Flora is not like other bees. Despite her ugliness she has talents that are not typical of her kin. While mutant bees are usually instantly destroyed, Flora is removed from sanitation duty and is allowed to feed the newborns, before becoming a forager, collecting pollen on the wing. She also finds her way into the Queen's inner sanctum, where she discovers secrets both sublime and ominous. But enemies are everywhere, from the fearsome fertility police to the high priestesses who jealously guard the Hive Mind. And when Flora breaks the most sacred law of all her instinct to serve is overshadowed by an even deeper desire, a fierce love that will lead to the unthinkable.