Appearing before the head of the Academy for fighting at her graduation ceremony, puffer ship navigator Tia Grom-Eddy must either join the crew of a spaceship on a deep space mission or complete a lengthy probationary period on Earth. Mortally afraid of travelling into deep space, Tia chooses probation.
Estranged from her parents, Tia is bereft when her sister, Leilani, joins the crew of a puffer fish spaceship sent to investigate a whirlpool in deep space. And when the cosmic whirlpool sucks Leilani’s shuttle into its grip, Tia must overcome her fear of space travel and find a way to work with her mother, who is leading the rescue, or risk losing her sister forever.
Ceridwyn Roberts writes in The Sapling that Na Viro has ‘stunning world-building—rich and interesting and believable as the endpoint for real people and real knowledge. The future of Tāmaki Makarau and the Pacific is well thought through. It’s depressing and yet inspiringly hopeful at the same time. It is wonderful to see a Pasifika sci-fi novel, especially a queer Pasifika sci-fi novel, cover such new ground and new space (pun intended).’
