Goldilocks - Laura Lam

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF SEVEN DEVILS

'GOLDILOCKS GRABS YOUR ATTENTION AND DOESN'T LET GO - A THOUGHT-PROVOKING, IMAGINATIVE CALL-TO-ARMS' Katie Khan, author of Hold Back the Stars

'BOLD, FEMINIST SCI-FI FROM A SINGULAR, VISIONARY TALENT' Waterstones Online

This is The Martian by way of The Handmaid's Tale - a bold and thought-provoking new high-concept thriller

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 starts to suspect that someone on board is concealing a terrible secret - and realises time for life on Earth may be running out faster than they feared . . .

FIND OUT WHY READERS CAN'T PUT GOLDILOCKS DOWN...

'Through the novel's fascinating premise Lam gives us plenty of food for thought about gender dynamics in our own world... Eerily prescient' USA TODAY

'Looking for a thrilling ecofeminist sci-fi space opera to keep you glued to your seat during this pandemic? You've found it' MS. MAGAZINE

'INTERSTELLAR'S brain with THE HANDMAID'S TALE's heart' Chuck Wendig, author of WANDERERS

'A perfect balance of beauty, thrills and hope' Nick Clark Windo, author of THE FEED

Laura Lam is the author of several science fiction books, including Radio 2 Book Club selection False Hearts. Originally from California, she now lives in Scotland with her husband, and currently teaches Creative Writing at Edinburgh Napier University.

Goldilocks grabs your attention from the first page and doesn't let go - a thought-provoking, imaginative call-to-arms featuring brilliant female characters and a terrifying premise
Katie Khan, author of Hold Back the Stars

Through the novel's fascinating premise Lam gives us plenty of food for thought about gender dynamics in our own world. The image of five women taking back what's rightfully theirs from five less-qualified men, and literally freezing them in time to do so, is a symbol that will stick with me for some time. The viral pandemic that plays out off-page also feels eerily prescient
USA Today

The end of our world is well-trod territory for science fiction but Golidlocks tackles it with startling relevance, fusing together our social and political anxieties in a tense, taut adventure with rich characterization and care. Interstellar's brain with The Handmaid Tale's heart
Chuck Wendig, author of Wanderers

Looking for a thrilling ecofeminist sci-fi space opera to keep you glued to your seat during this pandemic? You've found it with this Handmaid-esque journey through space where five women attempt to save the human race
Ms. Magazine

A compelling, character-led science fiction 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, author of The Feed

I was rooting for them the whole way, even as secrets and alternate motives corroded the mission. I couldn't help but feel like this was the way the real-life Mercury 13 story should have really gone, and it was satisfying to watch these women take what they knew they deserved
Chicago Review of Books

Lam makes the personal political in this tense near-future family drama that's fuelled by the climate crisis. 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... [A] deeply felt space opera.
Publishers Weekly

A fascinating cast of characters, which from the very start of the story hook you in. Surprisingly dark.
James Oswald, author of the Inspector McLean series

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 (starred)

A more beautiful than usual work of science fiction. Come for the superbly researched escape from a dying plane, stay for the cast of characters and the emotional heart.
Rhys Thomas, author of The Unlikely Heroics of Sam Holloway

Masterful science fiction. An absolutely stunning and compelling story.
K. B. Wagers, author of A Pale Light in the Black

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

Goldilocks is an excellent, character-led space epic filled with well-researched science, moral ambiguity, and - in place of stereotypes and easy answers - the kind of science fiction that makes me keep reading
Fran Wilde, author of Updraft and The Jewel and Her Lapidary

Ultimately hopeful . . . 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... The book is full of The Martian's 'science the shit out of this' attitude as well as the spacefaring intimacy of Becky Chambers's To Be Taught, If Fortunate. If you've been looking for your next favorite science fiction novel, this is it
Book Riot