A Year at the Zoo

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Minagerad, once nothing more than an acidic ball, orbiting an unimpressive gas giant, orbiting an unassuming star. A toxic planet with no hope of life.

All that changed thousands of years ago, and it is now the greatest nature preserve and zoo in the galaxy.

Millions of species from hundreds of worlds were moved here so the numerous sapients of the galaxy could appreciate them. The planet's second function is in the event of catastrophe on their homeworlds, no irreplaceable life will be lost.

Gabriel Ratlu travels to this world to spend a year enjoying the wonders of Minagerad. Gabriel hopes his stay will be enjoyable but not exciting; it was a wish he will not get.

Gabriel meets a Tufanda woman, Nish, and her precocious daughter Pista, whose desire for adventure gets her into trouble. Gabriel rescues the girl and, despite some misgivings, opens up to the pair along with two other tourists, Erilur and Risoti.

It will not be easy, though; Gabriel has horrors in his past and must overcome them to be the man he wants to be.

Information

Status
Completed
Year
2023
Author
Aeogeus

Royal Road Stats

Rating
4.8/ 5.0
Followers
47
Views
29,306

Chapters(27 total)

Reviews

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Community Reviews(3)

  • Gary123Royal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    This story is intelligent, it's wholesome, and it's perfectly mature. It's one of those ones that makes me lament the state of the site, because it should honestly be somewhere at the top.
    This - at it's core - is a story about a person opening up from a self imposed shell. Gabriel is an introverted gardener and general biology nerd who's not entirely well. Over the course of his stay at the zoo, he finds a group of people he genuinely enjoys being around. You can see how he improves over the course of the story vividly.
    The style oozes restrained class, the worldbuilding (rather literally, in the case of Minagerad) is well-considered and on-point, and you can tell the thoughtfulness of the author in every keystroke.
    Bravo!
  • NEK_T_ORoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    English is not my native language
    If you love science fiction, then you might like this story. If you like good stories, come here too. If you want cute characters then welcome. Don’t ask the impossible from the story and you will definitely like it.
    This is my opinion and if it is not the same for you, then this is your opinion.
    The story is good for reference. There is nothing superfluous in it. There is a beginning and an end. Does not carry unnecessary semantic load. The ending showed everything.
  • schere-r-kiRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 4.5
    I had very much fun with this story. It is well rounded and would also probably translate well into film. It starts of as a fun little sci-fi story but goes on to be a a sweet story about finding family and coming to terms with ones own past.