Scan barcode
A review by saesteorra
Frontier by Grace Curtis
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Centuries after a dying Earth was abandoned in favour of a future in the stars, a ship crash-lands on the planet, and a woman with a gun blasts her way out. She isn't meant to be here - not alone, anyway - and Earth is not exactly uninhabited.
Those who've eked out a living on the barren planet over the past 300 years have developed a deep suspicion of off-worlders - the "heathens" who chose to leave Gaia behind. Despite the crusading Deputy on her tail, our protagonist makes her determined way overland, trying to keep a low profile. Because without any form of communications device, she still has no idea whether anyone else on her ship survived - including the woman she loves.
I started this book at London Kings Cross and finished by the time I got to Edinburgh (it was a great train journey). I was instantly swept up into this return to a much-changed future Earth. To begin with, each chapter is an episodic encounter between the mostly-unnamed protagonist and some of the motley characters who people the planet - from librarians to horse thieves, cultists to tortoises. But our protagonist never loses her drive to discover what became of the rest of her ship's crew, even when forces on Earth seem determined to prevent her.
Honestly, this book ticked every box for me: space hijinks, a brilliant cast of characters, tongue-in-cheek narration, a gunslinging protagonist, and sapphic yearning! I haven't read anything that combines all these factors before, and didn't know I needed to until I read Frontier. I can't wait to see what Grace Curtis does next.
Those who've eked out a living on the barren planet over the past 300 years have developed a deep suspicion of off-worlders - the "heathens" who chose to leave Gaia behind. Despite the crusading Deputy on her tail, our protagonist makes her determined way overland, trying to keep a low profile. Because without any form of communications device, she still has no idea whether anyone else on her ship survived - including the woman she loves.
I started this book at London Kings Cross and finished by the time I got to Edinburgh (it was a great train journey). I was instantly swept up into this return to a much-changed future Earth. To begin with, each chapter is an episodic encounter between the mostly-unnamed protagonist and some of the motley characters who people the planet - from librarians to horse thieves, cultists to tortoises. But our protagonist never loses her drive to discover what became of the rest of her ship's crew, even when forces on Earth seem determined to prevent her.
Honestly, this book ticked every box for me: space hijinks, a brilliant cast of characters, tongue-in-cheek narration, a gunslinging protagonist, and sapphic yearning! I haven't read anything that combines all these factors before, and didn't know I needed to until I read Frontier. I can't wait to see what Grace Curtis does next.