Far, far away, and Urns! Well, that's totally cool! Our heroine is getting her degree, in studying the aliens on the world she has grown up living on. What's not to love? 

Aoka has deep connections with the aliens. The more she studies them, the more she is connected to them. Yet, there are things they will not share with her. Why? I can't blow that for you. You have to just read it. I liked this book. 

My copy came from Net Galley. My thoughts and opinions are my own. This review is left of my own free volition.

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Aoka, a teenager lives with her parents in outer space on a planet’s satellite. Her parents and other adults are scientists studying the satellite. There are native beings on the satellite that has given the scientists permission to study their home. Aoka goes out on her own and explores the area. She becomes friends with a Native being. She has decided that she wants to study them. As she learns more about them, she discovers that their ancestors give them advice and other information. Aoka wants to learn more about the ancestors but is refused to have any knowledge of them. When a scientist discover mineral ores, miners come destroying the planets by pollution. When the natives ask them to stop the miners say no. Aoka is the only human who doesn’t think the natives are inferior. Will Aoka be able to help the natives save their planet? Will the natives fight the humans?

There is so much more going on in this novel but don’t want to spoil it for anyone who reads this. The characters in the novel are well described. I felt for Aoka as she wants there to be able to help the humans and races get along. This is a novel about xenophobia, friendship, and respecting someone that is unknown to you or “different.” It is an excellent science fiction novel. Read it!

The Secret of the Urns is a science fiction, futuristic novel that follows or is told by a young girl who is seeking to complete a degree about the aliens on the planet that she lives on. She's a teenager who has grown up on a foreign planet. Planetary exploration and colonization have been achieved. The Earth has been ravaged by wars from aliens (Extra Terrestrials) and from other humans as well. So humans did what they could and that was further space exploration and delve deeper into the stars. Set up places to move forward and that's what they did. On this new planet, humans look down on the creatures who live there. They think less of them and some even think that they should be treated as less than because they are not a "superior" species. The young girl, Aoka, thinks that it's wrong to think this way and is intent on proving this. Not an easy task when your parents, a triad, demand that everything is based on facts. Scientific parents, good luck with that! She has a tough road ahead, but with work and perseverance, she can do it. But opening the eyes of those around her to the trueness of these lives...that won't be easy.
The Secret of the Urns by A.B. Carolan is a science fiction novel that throws us into the depths of space, a different galaxy, and a different time. You'll be told that a species of aliens came to Earth and tried to destroy it, but they weren't the only ones. You'll be told that colonization, the spreading of humanity to other places has occurred and that humans have met other alien species. You'll be introduced to a few of these and even be told about some of the flora and fauna. Some of the things that you'll read about are truly interesting. I was engaged in those moments and wanted to know more. To me, the story has a lot of potential, but it falls short.
As I read this book, I'm disappointed in the overall tone of it. I was hoping that the story would be more exciting. For me, this story feels flat. Emotionally speaking. The characters really don't emote that much. They just seem to be apathetic about the situations, and I wanted them to react more. When the main character is talking to her "boyfriend's" parents and they display their disgust for the aliens, the Fistians, she just calmly gets up and leaves after verbally sparing briefly. I wanted her to react. She's friends with a Fistian. I was disappointed that there wasn't more to the scene. Also, there are a lot of abbreviations used in the story. I wanted the author to tell me what they meant. Yes, some are explained, but most are not, at least not when they are initially used. This bothers me because I have no idea what they mean until later into the story. It seems like an error of oversight. I also wanted more detailed descriptions of the extraterrestrials (ETs). We get some glossed over descriptions, but nothing to truly create an image of the character in your head.
I enjoyed this book, but I felt that the story is told more from a clinical or scientific perspective. The thing that comes to mind is that the author is a scientist themselves and is writing the book more from a dispassionate state of mind, that they have chosen to distance themselves and that is reflected in the writing style. I'm disappointed in this fact, because, with more emotion from the characters, more excitement from the author, and more detailed descriptions of the characters and planets, and this could truly be an engaging story. As it is, this story feels flat, and it truly needs more.
As is, I am rating this book a soft 4 out of 5 stars. This story has a lot of potentials to be truly interesting. But it's not really reaching that at this point. There are quite a bit of editorial errors, too, but I'm hoping that those have been corrected and taken care of. I was looking forward to a truly engaging story, but this book leaves me lacking.

I absolutely love this book. I love how the whole storyline has been portrayed. The story makes sure you stay on the edge of your seat. Such a gripping, nail-biting read that will leave you wanting to turn those pages till you have devoured the entire book. It will definitely leave you wanting to one click all of this authors books. I'm going to be keeping my eye on this one for sure. I hope you all love the book as much as I did. Good read