Aerth by Deborah Tomkins
This is the book I’m always looking for.
Magnus lives in Aerth, a post-industrial world slipping into an ice age in which the bears, lynx and wolves roam. He dreams of travel, and seeks opportunity and escape from his restricted community where everyone is responsible for each other. When a new planet the other side of the sun is discovered, Urth, he grabs the opportunity to take that journey, and discovers that other ways of living aren’t always greener.
Tomkins deftly tackles immigration, homesickness, climate change and broken hearts, in sparse, tender, and surprising prose, framing notions so familiar to us in a wholly new way.
At once a cautionary table, fable like in its telling, and an interplanetary adventure ambitious in its scope, this novella packs a whole life in its pages. It’s science fiction that centres the human experience, warts and all, and holds a mirror up to us so we can see ourselves clearly.
For those that loved Orbital’s beautiful, bird’s eye view of life on our planet, and the themes of LeGuin’s The Dispossessed. – Sôffi
The Favourites by Layne Fargo
A retelling of Wuthering Heights set in the cut-throat, competitive world of figure skating. Meet Kat Shaw and Heath Rocha: sometimes partners, sometimes rivals, known for their electric chemistry both on and off the ice. Their volatile partnership came to an explosive end at the Olympic Games… and as the ten-year anniversary of their final skate approaches, an unauthorized documentary reignites public obsession with the pair. Kat wants nothing to do with the documentary, but she can’t sit by and watch someone else tell her story… I, Tonya meets Daisy Jones and the Six in this scandalous, addictive read, perfect for fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid! – Liv
Peregrine Quinn by Ash Bond
Imagine Men in Black mixed with Star Trek mixed with Percy Jackson with a few extra fantastical creatures. There you have Peregrine Quinn and the Cosmic Realm – your next Fantasy/Scifi obsession. Peregrine loves hearing stories about her Godfather Daedalus’s life and adventures as an immortal. But when the portals that link the earth realm with the cosmic realm are shut down, Daedalus – as the inventor – is the probably the only one able to stop them. That is, until he goes missing. Peregrine is finally swept into one of her godfather’s rip roaring adventures that transcend space and mythology. This is an action-packed, mythology-stuffed, invention-filled sci-fi fantasy novel for the ages. I haven’t read anything like it in such a long time, and I can’t wait for book two! – Hannah
*Don’t miss our event with Ash Bond at Mr B’s on February 21st!*