This ambitious slice of science fiction dystopia deftly balances issues surrounding severe climate breakdown with Deb Olin Unferth’s signature sharp wit. The novel is set on a severely depopulated Earth, sometime in the future, with humanity splintering. Some have fled to Mars, others have uploaded their consciousness into digital code, while some holdouts remain. Among these are two women, Dylan and her mother, Rosemary, who spend a significant amount of time living beneath the ocean waves in some kind of pod. Later, Dylan – after having had quite her fill of living underwater – hits dry land and forms a relationship with another woman. It’s a novel that doesn’t skimp on the mind-bending possibilities that Unferth has managed to conjure through her prodigious world-building (or world-destroying), but it’s also a novel about bonds and the connections we make, even when the odds are stacked against us. Written in measured tones, it  succeeds in being a terrifying call to action. RM

Published by DB Originals