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Morally Grey Characters in SFF Books

Here are some book recommendations for speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, horror...) with morally grey or morally ambigious characters! This is definitely something I look for and I love having a twisted protagonist I can follow! Makes things a lot more interesting, I think.

The Poppy War, by R.F. Kuang

This is definitely a must-read when looking for morally ambigious characters, and if you've been looking for that then you might've seen this series around. This fantasy trilogy follows Rin, an impoverished orphan living in the Nikara Empire, who aces the Keju, a test meant to select the nation's richest into military colleges. Selected into one of the most prestigious schools, Rin must now face issues of colorism, gender and class, while the possibility of war dangles over the college's head.

Don't be fooled by the synopsis, though. The Poppy War is not a magical-school type of story. This series revolves around Rin's corruption arc - which Ms. Kuang crafts incredibly. The character development and the attention to detail with the world-building in The Poppy War are both impressive, especially considering that the first book in the trilogy was Ms. Kuang's debut. Rin's decisions will leave you screaming, crying and (you guessed it) throwing up, as she gradually destroys everything around her.

She Who Became The Sun, by Shelley Parker-Chan

Another debut, She Who Became The Sun is definitely reminiscant of The Poppy War in the sense that it not only features morally grey characters, but is also set in an Imperial China-inspired world. Here, we follow Monk Zhu, who assumes her brother's identity, sure that she is destined for greatness, and the people she meets in her quest to achieve this. Simultaneously, we read about Ouyang, an eunuch general who serves – and is lowkey in love with – Esen, the son of a province's Prince and the war they're involved in.

Ouyang and Zhu are prime morally grey material. Zhu is motivated by her desire to achieve greatness, which was profecized for her brother, and, as she assumed his identity, she believes is now her destiny. Ouyang, on the other hand, is a more spoiler-ly case - but trust me when I say his decisions are questionable at best. 

This is another case of masterful character development, beautifully crafted by Mx. Parker-Chan. Not to mention their writing is absolutely incredible here, flowerly without being too much, and their inclusion of the themes of gender is so well done. 

Oh, yeah, did I mention this is queer as all hell?

The Traitor Baru Cormorant, by Seth Dickinson

Since we're talking about books that are queer as hell, I give you: The Traitor Baru Cormorant! I finished this one the other day, actually, but this trilogy, soon to be a quartet, is definitely a must-read if you're into morally grey protagonists. The Traitor Baru Cormorant is about (say it with me) Baru Cormorant, a native of Tananoke, a small island nation that is conquered by the Empire of the Masks. The Masquerade's  homophobic and sexist policies affect Baru's family as one of her fathers is killed for being queer. Baru swears revenge, and she knows exactly how she'll exact it: from the inside. 

The Traitor Baru Cormorant follows her path of revenge as she inflitrates the bureaucracy of this Empire. So, as you can probably guess, it's a very politically-driven book, and it's for sure very dense. I would definitely recommend it, though, if you're up for it -- The Traitor Baru Cormorant has probably the best representations of moral greyness I've ever read. Baru's character is so layered and complex. Her every move is questionable, though you know her motives are good, all focused on the liberation of her home, Taranoke, from imperial rule. 

A Game of Thrones, by George R. R. Martin

Another dense, political one, but this definitely needs to be on the list. Mr. Martin is a master at creating dense plots with the most complex characters you've ever read - and none of them are good. Every single character (except for maybe Ned Stark??) in this series makes questionable decisions, and as the plot progresses they only get more fucked up. The A Song of Ice and Fire series, also known as Game of Thrones, the title of its first book, follows the political situation of Westeros and its surronding countries, as its noble families fight for power in the aftermath of a rebellion.

Although this is definitely a must if you're into grey morality, Mr. Martin's masterpiece comes as a big commitment. The series currently spans approximately 5,000 pages across five books, and it has been more than a decade in the making. Fans (me included) have been waiting for the mythical Winds of Winter for years, and after that is published, there's still A Dream of Spring, which hasn't even begun to be written. It's important to keep that in mind before diving into this one, but let me be the first one to tell you, it's definitely worth it.

I have a couple of more of these, so if you ever need a book full of morally grey characters, just drop me an ask and I'll get back to you with a couple more :)

Alright, some more recommendations for the end of #TransRightsReadathon! Here are some standalones by trans authors I've enjoyed.  These books mostly fall under the sff umbrella except for Confessions of the Fox which is meta-historical fiction.

They are beautiful, heartfelt, creative explorations of humanity, of our drive for connection, self-understanding, love, and survival. So many of these books look at history, personal, and community, aaaand they are filled with complicated, lovable, engaging characters. All of these books gave me something from a soft place to rest to a new way of viewing the world we live in. 

Many of these have trans characters as well, but not all of them. Most of these authors have other books that are also wonderful. Annnd as always there are so many other fabulous books by and about people who are trans.

One Last Stop by Casey McQuistion

An Unkindess of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi

Confessions of the Fox by Jordy Rosenberg

All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

ID: a stack of 8 books on a teal background 

Every Speculative Fiction Book I Read This Year Featuring Queer Women, the 2023 Edition

Ask me if you want to know which ones I liked the most!

I’m reading Witch King by Martha Wells, and now that I have read more than one (1) series by this author, I have been suddenly brained with a two-by-four sharpied over with “realizing that I really enjoy novels by Martha Wells because they live in the specific niche created by the intersection of casually and thoroughly queer casts and non-romance storylines”

I am as ever a sucker for non-human main characters struggling with their very human feelings, which is why I jumped on Witch King the moment I saw “the author of Murderbot wrote another book with a main character that’s non-human,” but I live in this dichotomy where I can really enjoy reading queer romances but I don’t really identify with non-ace characters (which is not actually something I figured out how to differentiate until I was Last Week Years Old). so there are lots of books out there that I enjoy reading but it’s comparatively rare for me to read something that feels like it was written For Me and Martha Wells does that very well

anyway, give me more ace it-pronouns human-spliced robot main characters and people-eating demons who consider rank over gender when finding new bodies to inhabit

Spoiler-Free Advance Review:

Exordia by Seth Dickinson

I could not put this book down, my god. Staying up super late multiple nights because I couldn’t stop reading is such a great problem to have, and Exordia gave me that problem more than any book I’ve read in a few years.

This is a very different book than Baru, but Seth’s evocative prose and dark humor is familiar from page one, and the laser focus on defamiliarizing real world injustices is again the core of the work. Despite being far more immediate (Exordia is set during the Obama administration in our world, with an alternate history beginning from the moment the book starts), the heaviness of the topics never gets overwhelming. There’s some incredible (and extremely fitting) tonal dissonance here, with every perspective character having their own sense of disaffected humor about the apocalyptic situation they’ve been thrown into.

I described this to my friend after just starting as “if the Books of Sorrow were written with Gideon the Ninth’s tone and just straight up in our world,” and I think that remains true throughout. There’s a huge amount of references peppered in, and it helps maintain that lighter tone to balance the despair of what is essentially a doomsday clock ticking down throughout the book - and it helps keep things grounded, honestly. I never felt it took away from the gravity of things, or was unnatural - after all, if I, an early 21st century sci fi nerd, was thrown into some fucked up alien bioweapon mystery, it’s hard to say my first thought wouldn’t be “oh shit, this is just like the Andromeda Strain!”

Having seven (eight?) different protagonist (or deuteragonist, I don’t know which they qualify as) PoVs is pretty wild but works perfectly here. Every character has such a unique outlook that you can instantly figure out whose head you’ve popped into even before any identifying names or things are mentioned - Seth’s mastery of the tonally cohesive PoV shifts was something I had loved in Tyrant, especially, and they’re equally impressive here. The characters are lovable, hatable, and everything in between - and each as mentioned is so distinct and compelling that I can’t say there was a single character who I was unhappy to get into their head. And that’s saying something, given who some of these characters are, but I’ll leave the specifics a surprise. Predictably, my favorites were the dysfunctional autistic butch-femme lesbians, but I really loved all of them in the end.

The base premise is almost comical in how small it starts to how much it escalates - a cynical, disillusioned Kurdish genocide survivor, Anna Sinjari, meets a terrifying (and yes…very hot. I’m a simple woman) alien in Central Park, and this seemingly chance encounter sees her roped into a small group of scientists, soldiers, and her own mother in a desperate countdown to solve an otherworldly mystery and save their world. The twists and turns of the plot are intense, so engaging that I was bouncing up and down at times (there’s plenty of sci-fi insanity that I absolutely eat up), and tightly paced.

Seth seems to really enjoy writing ethical dilemmas to great effect, and Exordia is ruthless in that area, taking the base concept of the trolley problem and the moral justification for what someone would sacrifice for the greater good and carving it apart for narrative weight. What greater good does the sacrifice serve? Is it actually good? Who gets to make the choice, and do they have a choice but to make it? There’s a lot to dig into here, and Exordia is a four course meal.

One aspect of this simply taking place in our world, rather than being an alternate universe like Baru, is that the defamiliarized commentary is even more on the nose. Whereas Baru is a commentary on empire and homophobia as a whole, transparently pulling from primarily American history of genocide and imperialism to shape a culture unlike our own in many ways to defamiliarize this moral exploration, Exordia is just literally about real world American imperialism and enabling of genocide in the MENA region, primarily the ramifications of the military industrial complex’s usage of drone warfare and the extremist regimes armed and encouraged by “counterterrorism.”

All this sets the stage for the question of what happens when a bigger fish arrives, one just as hell bent on empire building and justifying its own atrocities. The sci-fi intervention into this banal evil is at the same time a reflection of that evil, and asking if the world has the capacity for resistance to both. Exordia’s answer is profound, and far from easy, but entirely fitting for the ethical dilemma that runs throughout the book, creeping up on you slowly as you start to recognize what shape it takes in this story.

The central material conflict of the book, a locked box mystery of sorts that you piece together with the characters, is fucked up and fun and scary, a reality shifting threat that treads the line between body horror, meta-narrative, and lovecraftian math. It’s extremely cool, and I think it’ll be right up the alley of fans of The Andromeda Strain, The Locked Tomb, The Books of Sorrow and other parts of Destiny lore, and a lot of other SFF stories where ethics, horror, and mystery mix together.

I don’t want to say too much about the climax and the ending - going into this book without knowing too much was an incredible experience that had me on the edge of my proverbial seat - but the ending left me asking myself some very similar questions as I had at the end of Traitor, and I cannot wait for a reread when the physical book is in my hands to see what little foreshadowed things I can pick up on.

I don’t think people are going to be quite as completely emotionally Destroyed at the ending of this one as Traitor, but…it is very much a Seth Dickinson book, and they have quite the talent for making every thread tie together at the end to make the reader feel every emotion at once and realize that this could never have gone any other way. I cried, I laughed, sometimes simultaneously, and a book that can do that to me is entirely worth the experience - and what an experience this was.

Absolutely fucking incredible, I want more of these characters and everything they’re wrapped up in, 10/10.

I received an ARC of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Check out these 10 amazing sapphic mermaid books, each recommended by a Lesbrary reviewer who read and loved it!

BANG BANG BODHISATTVA releases May 9th, 2023.

Okay, I think it’s time I made a full roundup post.

An edgy, queer cyberpunk detective mystery by an exciting new trans voice from New Zealand. Someone wants trans girl hacker-for-hire Kiera Umehara in prison or dead—but for what? Failing to fix their smart toilet?   It’s 2032 and we live in the worst cyberpunk future. Kiera is gigging her ass off to keep the lights on, but her polycule’s social score is so dismal they’re about to lose their crib. That’s why she's out here chasing cheaters with Angel Herrera, a luddite P.I. who thinks this is The Big Sleep. Then the latest job cuts too deep—hired to locate Herrera’s ex-best friend (who’s also Kiera’s pro bono attorney), they find him murdered instead. Their only lead: a stick of Nag Champa incense dropped at the scene.   Next thing Kiera knows, her new crush turns up missing—sans a hand (the real one, not the cybernetic), and there’s the familiar stink of sandalwood across the apartment. Two crimes, two sticks of incense, Kiera framed for both. She told Herrera to lose her number, but now the old man might be her only way out of this bullshit... A fast-talker with a heart of gold, Bang Bang Bodhisattva is both an odd-couple buddy comedy that never knows when to shut up, and an exploration of finding yourself and your people in an ever-mutable world.  

You can read the first chapter here.

ARCs are currently available for reviewers through Netgalley.

Preorder links should start to appear soon through retailers here--please note that the release date is currently showing erroneously as 2022, due to an error. I am working to get this fixed.

I am on Goodreads.

“I am ecstatic to be working with Rebellion Publishing, the home of JUDGE DREDD, to bring my hopelessly queer cyberpunk-buddy-comedy-noir-mystery to print. If you’re a fan of 80s anime pinup girls, Daft Punk, Robert Patrick as the T-1000, hormone replacement therapy, the Nintendo Virtual Boy, a neat whiskey or a fruit-flavored cocktail, Philip K. Dick, lo-fi hip-hop beats to chill/study to and/or the prospect of hope for humanity beyond the next seven to ten years–I hope that Bang Bang Bodhisattva will hit just right.”

⭐TO SHAPE A DRAGON'S BREATH⭐

🍾 Congratulations Moniquill Blackgoose 🥂

Qualified for all 2024 awards for Fantasy, YA, and Debut Novel!

Now on the 4th printing and being featured on Best Book of the Year lists, such as:

Washington Post's 10 Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels of 2023

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/11/14/best-science-fiction-fantasy/

Chicago Public Library Must-Read Books of 2023: Fantasy, Horror & Sci-Fi https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/199702383/2422351289

NPR's Book We Love

https://apps.npr.org/best-books/#year=2023&book=336

Pop Sugar's Best New Fantasy Books

https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/best-new-fantasy-books-2023-49056293

post the sites!!

I’ve got quite a few!

gaylactic spectrum awards - sff + horror lgbt awards, ran from 1999-2018. I’ve linked the archived website bc their current website is broken (at least on mobile, where I’m accessing it).

otherwise award - formerly known as the tiptree award, speculative fiction that explores/expands upon gender. running 1991 to present day.

lambda sffh award - while I’m sure a million of you have heard of the lambda awards, there’s a specific section for sff + horror. 1989 to present day.

queer horror - while the site was updated in 2020, in practice most of the books are on the older end of the spectrum. there’s a section for queer horror books, queer vampire books, queer werewolf books, and queer ghost books.

lesbian science fiction - literally exactly what it says. science fiction books written about wlw or by wlw, with the occasional “badass straight woman” thrown in. has almost 500 books, still updating in present day.

queer scifi - while the site in general is worth checking out for some great reads, I want to draw special attention to the “out of the past” blog post series, which focuses on lgbt sff by decade. for some reason the first post in the series doesn’t have the tag, you can find it here.

Finally, here’s an article on feminist lesbian scifi from the 1970s.

please use this opportunity to read some older lgbt books!!! there is nothing more satisfying than reading a book older than you and deeply clicking with it/the characters. I’m throwing myself deep into this so I will be happily posting recs as I find/finish them.

I just added a few books and updated the pub dates of others, so now's a good a time as any to link to the 2022 Queer SFF Books list!

Adult! Science fiction! And fantasy! Books! That have queer main characters!! They exist!

A great place to find gifts for your friends! Your family! Your enemies!!

Books With Morally Grey Gay People for Pride Month (Except, I'm Late)

Happy Late Pride, everyone! I'm sure many of you, like me, are tired of reading about perfect gay people doing everything right – you want some chaos in your stories! You want some problematic gays! So, even though I missed the end of Pride Month by about two days  – and as a reminder that every month is Pride Month! –I've compiled a list of 5 books that have something super cool about them: their gays are bananas, complex as fuck and ready to wreck hell. 

The Masquerade Series, starting with The Tyrant Baru Cormorant, by Seth Dickinson

This is one I've read recently and haven't gotten over just yet. The Masquerade Series is a triumph. This series follows Baru Cormorant, a young girl from the island nation of Taranoke, who watches her country be colonized by the hugely powerful Masquerade Empire. After one of her fathers is killed for being queer, Baru decides to join a Masquerade school and destroy the Empire from the inside out. Soon, she is being sent to unruleable Aurdwynn, where she is to be the Imperial Accountant. And things get very, very complicated from there.

Baru is an incredibly complex, ever-changing character surrounded by a cast of other complex, ever-changing figures – and most of them are queer! In fact, I think the only drawback for The Masquerade Series is that it can be a little too complex. But the payoff is amazing, and so worth it – especially in this first book, The Tyrant Baru Cormorant. And don't even worry about it – Baru & co. will cause more than enough harm in their way, making them an essential addition to the "problematic queers" packet.

The Locked Tomb Series, starting with Gideon The Ninth, by Tasmyn Muir

You've probably heard of The Locked Tomb Series if you spend a little bit of time on queer SFF booklr, but it's never too much recommending when it comes to this series.

It's very hard to explain what goes on in The Locked Tomb. The first book, Gideon The Ninth, follows our butch lesbian star Gideon as she is enlisted to become the sworn swords-woman to Harrowhark Nonagesimus, and they’re summoned to the First House to compete to become Lyctors, the companions of God. The first book plays out as murder mystery, while the next ones all devise creative ways to tell this story, which grows more and more complex. As the plot thickens, so does the complexity of our characters. They shine through in these novels, as their unapologetic queer selves, in this universe where homo and transphobia don't exist – refreshingly. But, as is the theme here, they don't always make the moral choice. In fact, The Locked Tomb is filled to the brim with crazy queers who do the most insane, deranged things. And Tasmyn Muir's complicated, intriguing writing will get you completely hooked and desperate to know what happens next with our problematic queers!

The Salt Grows Heavy, by Cassandra Khaw

I feel like The Salt Grows Heavy is severely underrated. It just needs to be better known! This is a horror twist on The Little Mermaid, and follows a siren and a plague doctor, the only survivors of a destroyed kingdom, as they go on the run, and the creepy things they find along the way. Now, although our queers aren't exactly villains, they aren't exactly the most moral of people. And their deep feelings of anger, for instance, permeate every page of this book. Mx. Khaw's writing style perfectly captures this, as they weave a tapestry of purple prose that keeps you hooked – I wasn't able to put this novella down from the moment I started until I finished it. Hopefully, you'll have as intense of an experience! She Who Became The Sun, by Shelley Parker-Chan

Another must for your problematic queer needs: She Who Became The Sun is a multi-POV story spanning two different nuclei. One follows Monk Zhu, who assumes her brother’s identity, sure that she is destined for greatness, and the people she meets in her quest to achieve this. Another focuses on Ouyang, an eunuch general who serves – and is lowkey in love with – Esen, the son of a province’s Prince, and the war they’re involved in. Zhu and Ouyang are the most chaotic of protagonists – and their decisions are morally grey, at best. The best part is that they arrive there very naturally – Mx. Parker-Chan is a master at character development, taking you from A to B smoothly. Plus, their writing is absolutely fantastic. She Who Became The Sun is a stunning debut and it is definitely worth all the hype! I'd hop on the train now, before He Who Drowned The World, the sequel, comes out in August!

The Monster of Elendhaven, by Jennifer Giesbrecht

Another novella, this one follows a monster and the man who controls him, exploring their complicated relationship. It's hard not to spoil it, but rest assured that these gay people do the craziest, most morally corrupt things you can imagine! What I enjoyed the most about The Monster of Elendhaven is its readability. I remember flying through this in a single sitting. The writing style reminds a little bit of The Salt Grows Heavy in the sense that it leans into the gruesome, but keeps itself very lyrical! Not to mention, the build up for the toxicity of their relationship is absolutely masterfully done, and I loved every single second of it.

That's all I have, guys, but if you want more queer books, I'd definitely check out my Queer Normal-World Books, where I've compiled some stories with no queerphobia in them!

Avra Helvaçi, former field agent of the Arasti Ministry of Intelligence, has accidentally stolen the single most expensive secret in the world―and the only place to flee with a secret that big is the open sea. To find a buyer with deep enough pockets, Avra must ask for help from his on-again, off-again ex, the pirate Captain Teveri az-Haffar. They are far from happy to see him, but together, they hatch a plan: take the information to the isolated pirate republic of the Isles of Lost Souls, fence it, profit. The only things in their way? A calculating new Arasti ambassador to the Isles of Lost Souls who's got his eyes on Avra's every move; Brother Julian, a beautiful, mysterious new member of the crew with secrets of his own and a frankly inconvenient vow of celibacy; the fact that they're sailing straight into sea serpent breeding season and almost certain doom. But if they can find a way to survive and sell the secret on the black market, they’ll all be as wealthy as kings―and, more importantly, they'll be legends.

My thanks to the author for providing an ARC copy.

Alexandra Rowland's Running Close to the Wind is a cozy low-stakes pirate adventure set in the same world of the excellent A Taste of Gold and Iron, loosely connected to it by a plot point. The two books couldn’t be more different, as Running Close to the Wind is funny. Hysterically, being-in-stitches, laughing-on-the-floor funny. It’s so funny that it’s too funny sometimes, but it’s a joy to read a book that doesn’t take itself so seriously while simultaneously delivering some very profound reflections in the more serious segments.

The trio of main characters is a delight, their banter on point as the dynamic between Avra and Teveri expands with the arrival of the mysterious Julian and his wiles. The characters are unapologetically horny, but the book is surprisingly chaste in that regard, while also being incredibly tender in parts. I especially enjoyed the few conversations about having and defending one’s boundaries. The rest of the cast, from the colorful crew to the pirates on the island, were all painted in deft strokes, resulting in vivid characters with so much to say. It really was reminiscent of Our Flag Means Death, as it was pitched, and it was an absolute romp.

The world gets expanded in a really clever subversion of what we know from A Taste of Gold and Iron, showing what the outside world thinks exactly of the choice to keep for themselves the only way to sail safely during a certain time of the year. There’s sea serpents and giant turtles and ghosts that need a complex reference guide to be handled, and it’s all so delightful. This choice to have loosely interconnected stories where the world is explored more and more is an intriguing one, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Running Close to the Wind is a fun adventure with hidden depths.

✨ 4 stars

[You can find more of my reviews about queer speculative fiction on my blog MISTY WORLD]

I Did a Thing Again

We interrupt this Good Omens fan account because I'm actually an author and I have to do that annoying self-promo thing because it's like a job or something and people have to know about my books to buy them? Yeah, it's super weird.

So here goes:

Earth Earls Are Easy releases on Feb. 29th!

Here are some fun graphics to give you an idea of what the book is about!

Things you can find in the book:

The book as AO3 tags:

If you want to find out more, read the book blurb, see the book trailer, and/or read the prologue, you can do that HERE!

And you can pre-order here to get the book to you ASAP!

I've been thinking a lot lately... I frequently have the honor of working with fantastic indie publishers who are putting out great books, especially from diverse and often historically underrepresented perspectives. In a world increasingly politically hostile towards trans/queer folks, and in an industry increasingly permeated by AI garbage, working w/ these excellent people over the last few years has helped me stay sane, & feeling like the work I'm doing matters. So here we go, Some Really Cool People making some Really Cool Things (that I am vaguely or specifically involved in):

Neon Hemlock is funding their 2024 Novellas! They're super close to funding, and have plenty of time left to possibly discover some stretch goals?👀

Neon Hemlock consistently puts out amazing queer sf/f/h and the lineup this year looks incredible.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/davering/neon-hemlocks-2024-novella-series

Atthis Arts' Be the Sea is out now! Climate-conscious Science Fantasy. Queerly Diverse/Diversely Queer. Sea Creatures & Mysterious Dreams.

Also! Author Clara Ward will be donating 100% of their royalties to conservation efforts for our global ocean.

New Edge Sword & Sorcery is funding their 2024 issues of New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine! I got to illustrate a trans revenge story last time. 👀 so I'm very excited to see what the next issues have in store! https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/brackenbooks/new-edge-sword-sorcery-2024?ref=bk-social-project

And finally, If a "contemporary romantic drama about sad archaeologists" sounds up your alley, check out A.M. Weald's novel "Even if We're Broken" (out in April this year)!

A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys is exactly the sort of science fiction I go for. It's thoughtful and gentle, the world-building is rich and believable, and it focuses on people and culture over adventure, drama, or the explanation of scientific concepts. And, as usual, I've had the ARC in my house for a year and only picked it up this month. Entirely my fault, that, but also clearly the perfect time to pick it up because it hit the spot for me so hard.

So, plot? About 60 years from now, we've started getting a handle on climate change. It's not fixed, but it's definitely looking fixable. But then aliens arrive, convinced that we're in denial about our extinction and the whole planet needs to be evacuated immediately because technological societies can only thrive properly in space. And our protagonist, who's from a collectivist, planet-focused culture, says, "… You're making a lot of assumptions there, can we talk about this?"

Emrys uses the discussions, negotiations, and cultural exchanges to talk about family and community, to celebrate the best of humanity while acknowledging the worst and most complicated. It's hopeful, not only for how we're reversing the climate crisis but also for the casual inclusivity, the mutual aid, and the willingness of everyone to talk rather than use violence—but not so hopeful as to be unbelievable. There are still cultural differences, there are still prejudices, and few people are happy to let one overwhelmed new mom be the voice of her species. There were genuinely moments where my shoulders were around my ears.

Emrys has taken the time to think through some of her core world-building, and current human tech and societies, and build a cohesive whole. All the stuff around food, for instance: how you get it, how you make it, how you present it. And the stuff about gender? Folklore and history? Children? And then it was well-written and the characters all felt like people in all their complicated, contradictory glory and … yeah, there was so much of this I loved.

Was it perfect? Honestly, no. Some parts of the resolution felt rushed, or repetitive from things that had come before. But it was darn good and had me not only hooked from the beginning, but adding this to my Best of 2023 list before I'd finished my first day's reading. If you're looking for a great first-contact book, a good climate-focused SF book, or sci-fi that's just a shade or two darker than "cozy", this is absolutely one to pick up!