This is a long, slow paced science fiction in which the author plays out a thought experiment around gender. It's very dense and political and didn't reach a real narrative until towards the end of the book. I can see people finding t hard to get to that point as it's a book that feels A LOT longer than it is.

I can see why it's rated so highly as a sci-fi, this clearly would have been a revolutionary read when it was released. There's some great lines but as a whole, it's just a bit too boring to be as long and dense as it was. Furthermore, it's portrayed as a queer book and whilst I can see that in the inheritant 'my alien race has genders and yours is gender fluid' aspect, this isn't necessarily a book I would think of if asked to think of a queer sci-fi set on an ice planet.

I did listen to the audiobook which may have been part of the problem; the audiobook narrator drones on and on and if I hadn't been a read for a reading challenge, I would have DNF'd quickly. All in all, it's a book I think I'll find easily forgetable. I already wouldn't be able to tell you what happened in some of the political parts (though not because I've forgotten, more because nothing seems to actually happen)!