I'm not a science fiction reader ...

"My intention was that the book would read like a science fiction novel to a science fiction reader, and that it would read like a mainstream novel to a mainstream reader, which is the point, that you bring your own perceptions to everything in a very compelling sort of way. So, it's always tricky for me, because I don't want to dodge the question, and I don't want to hide the fact that I envisioned the novel in a certain way, but I also don't want my vision to determine the way other people envision it." (author interview, Strange Horizons)

( potential spoilers for what Dick Jude terms 'the most discreet of first-contact novels' )