Grand River — Jon Sparks

It seemed like every man's fantasy: a million women who'd never even seen a man. But for Rob it rapidly proved to be far more complicated. Far beyond any other recorded human settlement, Nerea had managed very well without men for over two centuries, and most of its people were very happy for it to stay that way. Some just wanted him to disappear; a few had more drastic solutions in mind. Others recognised that, while he might be the first man to intrude on their long isolation, he would not be the last. Even so, he soon realised that his welcome was, at best, conditional. And if he had much to teach them about the worlds beyond, he had even more to learn. Marooned on Nerea indefinitely-possibly even for life-Rob knew he was the one who had to adapt. He could never become a woman, but he had to change. It would be a road littered with pitfalls and misunderstandings. Sometimes there was nothing to do but retreat to the empty simplicity of Nerea's vast wilderness areas. Fortunately there were a few who would travel the road with him, offering support and friendship and eventually the possibility of love. First there was Gebri, like him an explorer at heart; then Malya, a teenager who shared his sense of standing apart. There were others, too-some with whom he clashed violently at first yet slowly came to a brittle and fractured understanding. Learning to live among the Nereans was a long and sometimes painful process. Yet when, years later, another ship from outside did arrive, Rob faced perhaps the toughest choice of all. Would he return to the worlds beyond, where being a man was simply accepted-or would he stay? And now that there was a choice, would the Nereans allow him to stay?