Goldilocks

L.R. Lam’s Goldilocks begins with five women stealing the spacecraft they were trained to fly after a government determined to push women out replaces them with men. Their destination is Cavendish, a habitable planet that may offer humanity a future beyond a dying Earth.

I was gripped by the mission, but the relationship between botanist Naomi Lovelace and her formidable mentor, Valerie Black, gave the novel its real tension. Naomi owes Valerie almost everything, yet gradually begins questioning how much can be justified in the name of survival. Their closeness makes every doubt and betrayal feel deeply personal.

The science feels convincing without overwhelming the story, while the isolation of the Atalanta creates a growing sense that something is terribly wrong. Intelligent, claustrophobic and increasingly unsettling, Goldilocks is feminist science fiction that asks who gets to shape humanity’s future, and whether saving it can become an excuse for controlling it.