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A gripping science fiction thriller where five women task themselves with ensuring the survival of the human race; perfect for readers of The Martian, The Power, and Station Eleven.
Despite increasing restrictions on the freedoms of women on Earth, Valerie Black is spearheading the first all-female mission to a planet in the Goldilocks Zone, where conditions are just right for human habitation.
It's humanity's last hope for survival, and Naomi, Valerie's surrogate daughter and the ship's botanist, has been waiting her whole life for an opportunity like this - to step out of Valerie's shadow and really make a difference.
But when things start going wrong on the ship, Naomi begins to suspect that someone on board is concealing a terrible secret - and realizes time for life on Earth may be running out faster than they feared...
Goldilocks is The Handmaid's Tale meets The Martian - a bold and thought-provoking new high-concept thriller.
"Each member of the crew has a well-developed voice and her own drives and ambitions, which makes the novel increasingly difficult to put down as betrayals and double-crossings play out aboard the claustrophobic ship. The unexpected ending will leave satisfied readers searching for read-alikes in its wake. A slow-burning fire of a novel that begs the reader to keep turning the page." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Lam expertly evokes the claustrophobia of both tight spaces and taut relationships in the evolving struggle between Naomi and Valerie for the soul of the mission. This deeply felt space opera will please those who like their sci-fi to focus more on the characters than the science." - Publishers Weekly
"Ultimately hopeful, the majority of the story is grim and thriller-tense, with plenty of twists and turns." - Booklist
"If The Martian and The Handmaid's Tale had a book baby, this feminist environmental sci-fi thriller would be the incredible result...If you've been looking for your next favorite science fiction novel, this is it." - Book Riot
"It's bold and explosive, equal parts heartfelt and harrowing. Lam's unflinching prose interrogates you, asking what prices you'd be willing to pay for the future of humanity. It's a book that demands your attention." - Alex White, author of A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe
"The end of our world is well-trod territory for science fiction but Goldilocks tackles it with startling relevance, fusing together our social and political anxieties in a tense, taut adventure with rich characterization and care. It's Interstellar's brain with The Handmaid's Tale's heart." - Chuck Wendig, author of The Wanderers
"A compelling, character-led SF tale. With a perfect balance of beauty, thrills and hope, Goldilocks conjures up the twisty claustrophobia of space-travel, untrustworthy relationships and what we're doing to the planet." - Nick Clark Windo
This information about Goldilocks was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Originally from sunny California, Laura Lam now lives in cloudy Scotland. She is the author of the near-future space thriller, Goldilocks, feminist space opera Seven Devils (co-written with Elizabeth May), BBC Radio 2 Book Club selection False Hearts, the companion novel Shattered Minds, and the award-winning Micah Grey series: Pantomime, Shadowplay, and Masquerade. Her short fiction and essays have appeared in anthologies such as Nasty Women, Solaris Rising 3, Cranky Ladies of History, Scotland in Space, and more. She lectures part-time at Edinburgh Napier University on the Creative Writing MA.
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