#aetherbound

[ekjohnston]

Sometimes you write four books with demisexual protagonists before you realize that's a thing. Then it becomes your thing.

[queereads-bracket]

Queer Fiction Free-for-All Book Bracket Tournament: Round 1A

Choose a book:

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers series) by Becky Chambers

Aetherbound by E.K. Johnston

Voting ended onFeb 15, 2025

Book summaries and submitted endorsements below:

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers series) by Becky Chambers

Endorsement from submitter: "The modern space opera, includes gays in space, found family, and delightful discussions in the social customs of different species"

Rosemary Harper doesn’t expect much when she joins the crew of the aging Wayfarer. While the patched-up ship has seen better days, it offers her a bed, a chance to explore the far-off corners of the galaxy, and most importantly, some distance from her past. An introspective young woman who learned early to keep to herself, she’s never met anyone remotely like the ship’s diverse crew, including Sissix, the exotic reptilian pilot, chatty engineers Kizzy and Jenks who keep the ship running, and Ashby, their noble captain.

Life aboard the Wayfarer is chaotic and crazy—exactly what Rosemary wants. It’s also about to get extremely dangerous when the crew is offered the job of a lifetime. Tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet is definitely lucrative and will keep them comfortable for years. But risking her life wasn’t part of the plan. In the far reaches of deep space, the tiny Wayfarer crew will confront a host of unexpected mishaps and thrilling adventures that force them to depend on each other. To survive, Rosemary’s got to learn how to rely on this assortment of oddballs—an experience that teaches her about love and trust, and that having a family isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the universe.

Science fiction, adventure, space, series, adult

Aetherbound by E.K. Johnston

Set on a family-run interstellar freighter called the Harland and a mysterious remote space station, E. K. Johnston's latest is story of survival and self-determination.

Pendt Harland's family sees her as a waste of food on their long-haul space cruiser when her genes reveal an undesirable mutation. But if she plays her cards right she might have a chance to do much more than survive. During a space-station layover, Pendt escapes and forms a lucky bond with the Brannick twins, the teenage heirs of the powerful family that owns the station. Against all odds, the trio hatches a long-shot scheme to take over the station and thwart the destinies they never wished for.

Science fiction, fantasy, science fantasy, space, young adult

[foxhatessonic]

Asdfahjf ive been streaming a lot more recently, it was fun to draw these lil guys on stream-

They're VERY old ocs but super fun ones i love a lot and wanna draw more off ♡♡

[verridith]

I have SO MANY adopts open, all on ko-fi! These range from around $10 to $70, and while most are dragons, I also have wolves and horses in the mix. Please give it a look:

Visit Verridith's Ko-fi Shop!

I've opened a Ko-fi shop. Come take a look!

[daemonmatthias]

I just accidentally read Aetherbound by EK Johnston in a single day and WILL THERE BE A SEQUEL??? Omg.

[sorel-nav]

A body couldn't hold it.

A soul could.

Isn't that what she had learned?

That there was something about human life that changed the rules?

- Aetherbound by E.K Johnston

[johnsbookshelf]

🄹🅄🅂🅃 ➎ 🄼🄸🄽🅄🅃🄴🅂

with 𝗘. 𝗞. 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻

Each week, I ask some informal questions of an author. Their answers can be as short or as long as they like. They can answer all or none, or just ignore my emails…

This time, I am absolutely thrilled to be spending just 5 minutes with New York Times No1 best-selling author E. K. Johnston. Her book Star Wars: Ahsoka remains one of my favourite books.

𝙆𝙖𝙩𝙚'𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙡𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙨.

The full blog including information and buying links for all of Kate's books is published on jldixon.co.uk.

[badbookopinions]

Aetherbound - E. K. Johnston

A- : I mean, it’s not like E. K. Johnston has ever disappointed me, but this one was very good.

Pendt Harland and her family are long-haul spacers, in a world where everyone has to earn the oxygen and food they consume - and Pendt, who has useless gene-magic, can’t earn hers. When she finally escapes to Brannick Space Station and meets brothers Ned and Fisher, she realizes just how insidious her family’s abuse was, and that she’s worth more than she let herself believe.

This is one of the most chilling descriptions of abuse I’ve ever read, largely because it never crosses into the cartoonishly evil. Pendt’s family is cruel, but they and Pendt believe they’re doing what is necessary, which provides this whiplash that makes you even more freaked out. 

It’s also a strange sort of novel, in that it doesn’t follow any typical 3-act structure, is on the shorter side, and sits astride the young adult and adult age demographics. The pacing isn’t bad, but it does feel strange - I think lengthening the second half would have fixed it.

That just contributes to how unique it is - Johnston always delivers something totally different from her previous works and any that have come before. It means sometimes that you like some of her books and not others, but I very much liked this one.

If you’re burnt out on typical sci-fi and fantasy stories and want new types of characters (Pendt especially), settings that combine sci-fi with magic, and a quieter, more personal sort of plot, highly recommend.

The ending seems to suggest there’s another book happening in this world - I’m looking forwards to it. Johnston has created a fascinating world here and I can’t wait to see more than the tiny slice we were exposed to.

Plot: pacing was weird, but not bad. I  think it would have benefited from a bit more length in the second half, once they’re on Brannick station. It would have turned this into a book about healing from abuse (as opposed to a book where the abuse happens for the first half and the healing in the second, where it’s equally about both) and made the final action and developing relationships of the story feel less rushed.

Characters: Pendt is my girl. She’s practical and charming and deeply traumatized - it sounds callous to say it’s interesting, but it is. I’ve never read of a character quite like her. I want her to tell me about her day and to give her cake to eat. I liked Fisher as well, and thought that the villains were excellent. I wouldn’t have minded more time spent on the romance, but liked how quiet it was compared to the main focus on Pendt.

Setting: interesting. Johnston keeps us in such a small amount of this world, and Pendt’s own relative ignorance means we don’t find out much more. I’d be really interested to find out about the vast galactic empire just beyond the reach of the space stations, but still influencing their everyday lives.

Prose: nothing to report. The books is divided into parts and each uses a song lyric, though, which took me right out of the book. One second I’m reading a space opera and the next Johnston is quoting Panic! At the Disco. 

Diversity report: well-written women, a trans love interest.