A New Yorker Best Book of 2026
From Cameron Reed, the acclaimed author of The Fortunate Fall, comes a soaring novel of queer hope and transformation, perfect for readers of Ann Leckie and Amal El-Mohtar.

On the planet Scythia, plants give birth to insects and trees can drag you to your death. Artificial monsters stalk the desert, and alien basket-men have wandered into town.

John Maraintha has been abandoned here, light-years from the peaceful forests that he loves.

The desert is harsh and the people in thrall to a barbaric custom called marriage.

He must find some way to make a life here.

But on Scythia, survival means transformation―and not everyone is willing to change.

About the Author

Cameron Reed is a science fiction writer and the winner of the 1998 Otherwise Award. Both she and the award had different names in 1998, but as part of a late-in-life gender transition she chose a new one, which is an anagram of “remade crone.” She is an avid dragonfly-watcher, a moderately skilled insect photographer, and a hopeless birder. She lives with her found family in an old house full of books and cats.

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