Plutoshine
Shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award for best science fiction novel of the year 2023, and reviewed in the Guardian, the Times, New Scientist, and the Washington Post.
FOUR BILLION MILES FROM HOME.
TWO HUNDRED DEGREES BELOW ZERO.
WELCOME TO PLUTO.
“The language and imagery are as perfectly formed as ice crystals. And Kissick has turned Pluto into a world as marvellous as Arrakis or Pandora.”
Engineer Lucian builds suns—of a sort. Through solar mirrors and captured asteroids, he and his team are set to flood this frozen worldlet with warmth and light in the Solar System’s most ambitious terraforming project yet.
What nobody factored in was a saboteur—one willing to wield reactors, asteroids, even moons to achieve their ends.
Ten-year-old Nou searches for life—or used to. Wholly mute, traumatised by an accident that tore her family and the base apart, her elder brother is determined to keep her that way… only adding to Lucian’s intrigue. If he could reach her, perhaps he could understand what happened that day—and what she knows of the underworld of Pluto.
For Nou guards a secret, and what she has to say could stop the terraforming forever—and transform our place in the Universe.
“Classic science fiction in the grandest tradition. A glorious sunburst of imagination and total literary control.”
“Worth the admission fee for the fantastical depictions of Pluto alone.”
“Thrillingly vivid ... A rousingly good story.”
“Skillfully-drawn friendships, family secrets, and intrigue.”