History Literature / AWorldOfDifference

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Because of [[spoiler: the realities of Minervan reproduction, male dominance in Minervan society is a given. One of the effects is that Minervan mates are never allowed to leave what appoints to a harem.]]

* SuitWithVestedInterests: The NASA bureaucrats released false coordinates for the location of the Viking probe which landed in the Omalo Domain (telling Bragg the real location at the last minute), in an effort to humiliate the Russians and give their own team a leg up. [[DidNotThinkThisThrough As a result, the Russian becomes more suspicious of the American crew even though they honestly didn't know, and the Russians end up landing in the rival Skarmer domain, with the presence of the different shuttles in opposing territories prompting more war-mongering, putting the human explorers at greater risk, and even threatening to spill over to the cold war back home]].

* ValuesDissonance: Because of [[spoiler: the realities of Minervan reproduction, male dominance in Minervan society is a given. One of the effects is that Minervan mates are never allowed to leave what appoints to a harem.]]

* BewareTheNiceOnes: [[spoiler: Yuri]] is the second KGB agent in the Soviet crew and comes close to reporting [[spoiler: Shota]] for borderline treason, although he stays out of BitchInSheepsClothing territory by having some basic decency and ultimately giving his crewmate a pass.

* TheEngineer: Louise Bragg is this for the American expedition.

* SuitWithVestedInterests: The NASA bureaucrats released false coordinates for the location of the Viking probe which landed in the Omalo Domain (telling Bragg the real location at the last minute), in an effort to humiliate the Russians and give their own team a leg up. [[DidNotThinkThisThrough as a result, the Russian becomes more suspicious of the American crew even though they honestly didn't know, and the Russians end up landing in the rival Skarmer domain, with the presence of the different shuttles in opposing territories prompting more war-mongering, putting the human explorers at greater risk, and even threatening to spill over to the cold war back home]].

* VocalDissonance: The Minervans, despite using spoken language for communication, are otherwise completely strange looking. Yet their voices are compared to the contralto singing voice of human women. Made even more powerful by the Minervan ''males'' possessing such contralto voices.
* YourCheatingHeart: [[spoiler: There's at least one unfaithful spouse among each of the three American couples]].

* FamilyVersusCareer: Emmett Bragg loved his first wife, but still divorced her because NASA only wanted married couples for the Minerva mission, and she didn't have the necessary skills.

* VocalDissonance: The Minervans, despite using spoken language for communication, are otherwise completely strange looking. Yet their voices are compared to the contralto singing voice of human women. Made even more powerful by the Minervan ''males'' possessing such contralto voices.

* AllTakeAndNoGive: An unintentional example, but Frank Marquand hasn't made his wife Pat organs in over a year during their sex life.

* BizarreAlienReproduction: Minerva females (which are referred to as mates) [[spoiler: gestate their young six at a time in separate buds, one on each body section. The young connect to the mother's circulatory system for nourishment via their mouths, much like Earth's marsupials attach themselves to a teat in their mother's pouches. When the time comes for the young to be born, the buds on the mother's body split and the young fall off from their attachment points. This process inevitably kills the mother from bleeding out.]]

* CunningLinguist: Valery serves as the Soviets interpreter and is very good at his job, but ironically is the least world and cunning of the Russians.
* DeterminedDoctor: Sarah is determined to find a way to stop the Minervan women from dying when they give birth.

* TokenMinority: Shota, a Georgian, is the only Cosmonaut not from Russia.

As an Alternate History novel, A World of Difference is set in an alternate version of the 1990s where, due to the planet that became Mars in our timeline being larger, it has a different composition that makes it suitable for complex life into the present day. This also causes it to have a different color, so it's known as Minerva instead of Mars. Because of this, the Viking missions of the mid-1970s find conclusive evidence of life on Minerva, causing the US and USSR to send a pair of coordinated missions to the planet in order to study the local biosphere. They then find themselves on opposite sides of a war on Minerva, threatening to take the Cold War's proxy wars onto another world.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: [[spoiler: Yuri]] is the second KGB agent in the Soviet crew and nearly comes close to reporting [[spoiler: Shota]] for borderline treason, although he stays out of BitchInSheepsClothing territory by having some basic decency and ultimately giving his crewmate a pass.

* BizarreAlienReproduction: Minerva females (which are referred to as mates) [[spoiler: gestate their young six at a time in separate buds, one on each body section. The young connect to the mother's circulatory system for nourishment via their mouths, much like Earth's marsupials attach themselves to a teat in their mother's pouches. When the time comes for the young to be born, the buds on the mother's body split and the young fall off from their attachment points. This process inevitably kills the mother due to excessive hemorrhaging.]]
* BrutalHonesty: Fralk is upfront about his domains desire to invade Reatur's land, as a way of trying to motivate him to surrender. Later, Hogram [[spoiler: Admits that he would have treated any prisoners he would have taken in victory far less kindly than Reatur is treating there people]], having realized that honesty will win more appreciation than perceived insincerity.

* FamilyVersusCareer: Emmett Bragg loved his first wife, but still divorced her due to his desire to journey to Minerva, as NASA only wanted married couples for the mission, and his first wife didn't have the skills necessary to be part of the mission.
* LoveLetterLunacy: Yuri writes romantic songs directed at Katerina, the only woman among the Russian crew but never has the courage to send them.

* VocalDissonance: The Minervans, despite using spoken language for communication, are otherwise completely strange looking. Yet their voices are compared to the contralto singing voice of human women. Made even more powerful by the Minervan males possessing such contralto voices.

* VocalDissonance: The Minervans, despite using spoken language for communication, are otherwise completely strange looking. Yet their voices are compared to the contralto singing voice of human women. Made even more powerful by the Minervan males possessing such contralto voices.

* BizarreAlienReproduction: Minerva females (which are referred to as mates) [[spoiler: gestate their young six at a time in separate buds, one on each body section. The young connect to the mother's circulatory system for nourishment via their mouths, much like Earth's marsupials attach themselves to a teat in their mother's pouches. When the time comes for the young to be born, the buds on the mother's body split and the young fall off from their attachment points. This process inevitably kills the mother due to excessive hemorrhaging.]]

* BizarreAlienBiology: Six-section radial symmetry is commonplace on Minerva.

''A World of Difference'' is a ScienceFiction AlternateHistory novel by Creator/HarryTurtledove, set during an alternate, extended UsefulNotes/TheColdWar.

* VocalDissonance: The Minervans, despite using spoken language for communication, are otherwise completely strange looking. Yet their voices are compared to the contralto singing voice of human women. Made even more powerful by the Minervan males possessing such contralto voices.