The Book of Strange New Things, by Michel Faber

The hero of this novel is Peter, a minister in the UK.  He is selected by a private firm called USIC to be sent to another planet to minister to the natives there (i.e., aliens to him).  Unfortunately, Peter's wife Bea must stay behind.  The letters they write each other are an important part of the story.

Mr. Faber avoids developing any kind of plot around the planet's natives. There's no explanation for the USIC not wanting to learn more about them, or for the ambivalence about a couple of missing humans.  There was an abundance of opportunity for interesting story directions and yet none of them were taken.

It was not particularly fun to read this book; I kept going out of hope that some of the questions would be resolved in some satisfying fashion.  Far from it. Nothing was resolved. I do not recommend this book.

The Book of Strange New Things: A Novel