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Circular Motion
A brilliantly imagined literary debut of love, despair, and two people’s search for belonging in a world literally spinning out of control
The acceleration of Earth’s spin begins gradually. At first, days are just a few seconds shorter than normal. Awareness of the mysterious phenomenon hasn’t reached Tanner, a young man preoccupied with dreams of escaping his tiny Alaskan hometown. One night, desperate to make his mark on the world, he runs away. He lands an unlikely job at CWC, the global operator of a network of massive aircraft that orbit the Earth at 30,000 feet, revolutionizing global transportation. Now goods and people can travel anywhere in little more than an hour—you can visit Paris for an evening or order sushi from Japan. But a wave of social unrest presents challenges for CWC just as Tanner settles into his new lifestyle and develops surprising feelings for one of his colleagues.
That unrest sweeps up Winnie. A high school outcast in an era of street protests, wild parties, and online savagery, Winnie falls in with a group of teen activists who blame CWC for the planet’s acceleration. As days on Earth quicken to twenty-three hours, then twenty, the sun rising and setting ever faster, causing violent storms and political meltdowns, Tanner and Winnie’s stories spiral closer together. They meet cynical executives toiling to forestall the crises they created and religious zealots for whom the apocalypse can’t come soon enough, lobbyists and lovers all coping in their own ways, and Victor Bickle—the self-aggrandizing TV scientist whose shameful secret will bind Tanner and Winnie’s fates . . . if they can uncover it before the Earth spins so fast that even gravity might lose its grip.
Three-hour days. Two-hour days . . .
A propulsive exploration of capitalism, technology, and our place within a system that dwarfs us, Circular Motion is one of the most ingenious debut novels of our time.
The acceleration of Earth’s spin begins gradually. At first, days are just a few seconds shorter than normal. Awareness of the mysterious phenomenon hasn’t reached Tanner, a young man preoccupied with dreams of escaping his tiny Alaskan hometown. One night, desperate to make his mark on the world, he runs away. He lands an unlikely job at CWC, the global operator of a network of massive aircraft that orbit the Earth at 30,000 feet, revolutionizing global transportation. Now goods and people can travel anywhere in little more than an hour—you can visit Paris for an evening or order sushi from Japan. But a wave of social unrest presents challenges for CWC just as Tanner settles into his new lifestyle and develops surprising feelings for one of his colleagues.
That unrest sweeps up Winnie. A high school outcast in an era of street protests, wild parties, and online savagery, Winnie falls in with a group of teen activists who blame CWC for the planet’s acceleration. As days on Earth quicken to twenty-three hours, then twenty, the sun rising and setting ever faster, causing violent storms and political meltdowns, Tanner and Winnie’s stories spiral closer together. They meet cynical executives toiling to forestall the crises they created and religious zealots for whom the apocalypse can’t come soon enough, lobbyists and lovers all coping in their own ways, and Victor Bickle—the self-aggrandizing TV scientist whose shameful secret will bind Tanner and Winnie’s fates . . . if they can uncover it before the Earth spins so fast that even gravity might lose its grip.
Three-hour days. Two-hour days . . .
A propulsive exploration of capitalism, technology, and our place within a system that dwarfs us, Circular Motion is one of the most ingenious debut novels of our time.
363 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 3, 2025
45 people are currently reading
6878 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
dnfed-books
September 20, 2025dnfing this because the book mentioned an 'israeli' actress. it's 2025, the book was released this year, and I don't think I need to explain why any acknowledgement of Israel as a legitimate state is an act of Zionism. It really fucking sucks cause I was quite excited for this too.
June 9, 2025
Really appreciated the detail about the mormon church reinterpreting the word of wisdom to allow coffee in the shortened days ... lol
November 27, 2024
I was intrigued by the premise of this novel, set in the near future when a company has manufactured circular vessels that allow people to travel around the world in a matter of hours. But something about the technology is causing time contraction and climate chaos, and I never really understood how that worked but the ideas were plausible.
The story focuses on people from Keber Creek, Alaska, whose disparate lives end up intersecting in this dystopian future. There is Tanner, a closeted gay man who sends fan mail to a professor in New York from his home town who offers him a job as an assistant when he takes a new role as spokesman for the company that makes the travel pods. Tanner falls for a coworker who has a crush on him.
The story then alternates with the point of view of Winnie, who is told in the third person while Tanner's story is told in the first, with other POVs from various characters in the third person. Around the 66% mark these POVs all clash at a party in a clumsy attempt at chaos and then the story just lost me from there. The POV shifts were confusing and I was never really sure who was telling the story.
It could also be that I'm really not into dystopian fiction right now because we're basically living in dystopian times, and this book got bleaker and bleaker at every turn; I was willing not to hold that against the book for a good story. It was almost grimporn in spots. I can forgive a little bleakness because that's not my thing but it may be someone else's, if the writing can pull it off.
But I think this story was too ambitious and trying to do too much and the execution would have benefited from smaller ideas, fewer perspectives or at least a tighter story concept.
I did like the character development of Winnie and Tanner, and there was some beautiful writing and thoughtful ideas about the collapse of civilization through technology and human hubris, but the story fell flat for me.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
The story focuses on people from Keber Creek, Alaska, whose disparate lives end up intersecting in this dystopian future. There is Tanner, a closeted gay man who sends fan mail to a professor in New York from his home town who offers him a job as an assistant when he takes a new role as spokesman for the company that makes the travel pods. Tanner falls for a coworker who has a crush on him.
The story then alternates with the point of view of Winnie, who is told in the third person while Tanner's story is told in the first, with other POVs from various characters in the third person. Around the 66% mark these POVs all clash at a party in a clumsy attempt at chaos and then the story just lost me from there. The POV shifts were confusing and I was never really sure who was telling the story.
It could also be that I'm really not into dystopian fiction right now because we're basically living in dystopian times, and this book got bleaker and bleaker at every turn; I was willing not to hold that against the book for a good story. It was almost grimporn in spots. I can forgive a little bleakness because that's not my thing but it may be someone else's, if the writing can pull it off.
But I think this story was too ambitious and trying to do too much and the execution would have benefited from smaller ideas, fewer perspectives or at least a tighter story concept.
I did like the character development of Winnie and Tanner, and there was some beautiful writing and thoughtful ideas about the collapse of civilization through technology and human hubris, but the story fell flat for me.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
May 13, 2025
First, I’d like to say that I was graciously given this ARC by a local bookstore, without having any knowledge of the book beyond the synopsis. The brief snapshot in the back of the book was enough to hook me immediately, as I have never seen a novel tackle this type of situation before.
This quickly became one of my top 5 reads of the year so far. It’s intriguing, poignant, and relevant to today’s society in many unsettling ways. At times, a book with multiple points of view can become confusing and difficult to follow, but Circular Motion does this with style and ease. It is mostly a dual POV structure, but I also highly enjoyed the additional POV interludes featuring various other characters.
Overall, I enjoyed the premise and loved entering this (increasingly spinning!) world. I look forward to more novels created by Foster.
This quickly became one of my top 5 reads of the year so far. It’s intriguing, poignant, and relevant to today’s society in many unsettling ways. At times, a book with multiple points of view can become confusing and difficult to follow, but Circular Motion does this with style and ease. It is mostly a dual POV structure, but I also highly enjoyed the additional POV interludes featuring various other characters.
Overall, I enjoyed the premise and loved entering this (increasingly spinning!) world. I look forward to more novels created by Foster.
June 3, 2025
4/5 stars for Circular Motion!
"The incontrovertibility of the situation remained vaguely implausible to me, and yet it seemed (a horror) the truth: The world had been capable of rapid change all along, and our grandparents, and then our parents, and then we ourselves had changed it for the worse."
A couple of weeks prior, I read Paul Shrader's script for First Reformed. I had no idea that it'd pair so well with Circular Motion; both dealt with God and our dying planet and made my hatred for AI burn brighter (despite neither piece mentioning artificial intelligence once).
Unexpectedly funny (Juicy Couture-esque finance firm merch! Conspiracy theory theorists! Whole Foods thriving throughout the end times!). But bleak (as expected)—made me question if I would continue on living like normal if the world literally spun out of control and if I was actually already doing that now.
-- More RTC after book club !
"The incontrovertibility of the situation remained vaguely implausible to me, and yet it seemed (a horror) the truth: The world had been capable of rapid change all along, and our grandparents, and then our parents, and then we ourselves had changed it for the worse."
A couple of weeks prior, I read Paul Shrader's script for First Reformed. I had no idea that it'd pair so well with Circular Motion; both dealt with God and our dying planet and made my hatred for AI burn brighter (despite neither piece mentioning artificial intelligence once).
Unexpectedly funny (Juicy Couture-esque finance firm merch! Conspiracy theory theorists! Whole Foods thriving throughout the end times!). But bleak (as expected)—made me question if I would continue on living like normal if the world literally spun out of control and if I was actually already doing that now.
-- More RTC after book club !
October 19, 2025
4⭐️ a dark (not-too-unbelievable) glimpse at a dystopian future, fueled by corporate greed and human pride, where our three (ish) main characters find their past and present crashing into each other. Poignant, incredibly dark, and a super creative idea. This won’t be for everyone but it worked very well for me!
May 8, 2025
“In the woodland wind with the stars all falling westward, she grew vaguely afraid.”
Circular Motion is a frightening and powerful - if unsubtle - novel about public complacency and corporate greed, and how those are a terrible combo.
It follows 2 characters (with occasional side chapters from other points of view) through their lives as an environmental disaster shapes the world around them and in doing so, shapes them. I really enjoy novels where personal drama is interwoven with larger crises as a backdrop, and I think this book did a great job of both. The personal stories mean that the crisis matters, whilst the crisis spurs on the personal drama.
The inexorability of the environmental crisis in this novel - and how easily it could have been prevented were it not for greed - made this a difficult book to read in some ways. I’m very conscious of the state of our environment, and sometimes it really does feel like the world is spinning out of control. I had to put this book down at some points because it stressed me out so much. I sat in a cafe with my boyfriend and stared into space thinking about it. The fact that it was difficult proves that despite its humour, this is a book with a strong message, and in my opinion it got it across well.
(I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review!)
Circular Motion is a frightening and powerful - if unsubtle - novel about public complacency and corporate greed, and how those are a terrible combo.
It follows 2 characters (with occasional side chapters from other points of view) through their lives as an environmental disaster shapes the world around them and in doing so, shapes them. I really enjoy novels where personal drama is interwoven with larger crises as a backdrop, and I think this book did a great job of both. The personal stories mean that the crisis matters, whilst the crisis spurs on the personal drama.
The inexorability of the environmental crisis in this novel - and how easily it could have been prevented were it not for greed - made this a difficult book to read in some ways. I’m very conscious of the state of our environment, and sometimes it really does feel like the world is spinning out of control. I had to put this book down at some points because it stressed me out so much. I sat in a cafe with my boyfriend and stared into space thinking about it. The fact that it was difficult proves that despite its humour, this is a book with a strong message, and in my opinion it got it across well.
(I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review!)
July 1, 2025
An incredibly creative and inventive premise for a book that is really well executed. Felt a bit like sci-fi realism or futuristic realism. The characters are rich with their own unique neuroses, motivations, and complexities that all come through very clearly. I won’t give anything away but the story itself is simultaneously expansive and highly localized within each character’s life, which makes for a really compelling narrative.
I found the book super interesting and many of the issues the characters grapple with to be especially resonant given so many of the complex, man-made global problems facing the world today. Foster writes with a lot of emotion and humor and does a great job of balancing drama with levity. The book is clearly really well researched, which I appreciate. I highly recommend it.
I found the book super interesting and many of the issues the characters grapple with to be especially resonant given so many of the complex, man-made global problems facing the world today. Foster writes with a lot of emotion and humor and does a great job of balancing drama with levity. The book is clearly really well researched, which I appreciate. I highly recommend it.
February 27, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. If you like books that focus on the social and political aspects of scifi settings, then this is for you. Circular Motion was a unique scifi concept, and I feel it’s an annoyingly accurate depiction of how bureaucratic and capitalist our society’s reactions would be/are to natural and manmade disasters. I mean, yes, Day Contraction is causing global natural disasters and ruining peoples lives, but how will it affect the poor shareholders if we stopped using the pod technology? Won’t someone think of the shareholders?!
As for the characters, I loved Tanner and Miguel’s storyline, but I didn’t personally care much for Winnie’s story. To me, her perspectives dragged and were not as interesting, I found Tanner’s POVS to be way more interesting as he had an inside perspective to the way CWC was operating.
A solid 3-3.5 star read, this book has a lot of potential.
As for the characters, I loved Tanner and Miguel’s storyline, but I didn’t personally care much for Winnie’s story. To me, her perspectives dragged and were not as interesting, I found Tanner’s POVS to be way more interesting as he had an inside perspective to the way CWC was operating.
A solid 3-3.5 star read, this book has a lot of potential.
May 18, 2025
Instantly one of my favorite books.
April 19, 2025
I had high hopes for Circular Motion, but unfortunately it fell completely flat for me. The premise sounded incredible — a world literally spinning out of control, with society unraveling and characters navigating love, fear, and belonging. But what could have been a gripping, high-stakes story ended up feeling scattered and emotionally hollow. The characters never felt fully developed, and the plot’s pacing was uneven, dragging in places where it should have soared. The social commentary was heavy-handed, and rather than feeling thought-provoking, it came off preachy and disjointed. Sadly, this one was a major disappointment.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.
September 13, 2025
An intriguing premise - but with an underlying message. We, as humans, seem to have caused the earth to spin faster. Just a little bit, initially, but then the days are mere hours. It’s a great time to be alive with the advent of pod travel, transportation cris-crossing the world, but with any technology there are problems, resistance, and industrial shenanigans. Amongst all of this, Tanner is desperate to escape the small Alaskan town he’s grown up in, and Winnie is searching for who she really is. They’re all linked up wth Victor Bickle, one time TV science communicator, but increasingly a figure of derision and avoidance.
September 15, 2025
A thinly-veiled criticism of the bizarro timeline we (particularly the U.S.) seem to have been on for the past 10 years, or 20 years, or [insert number] years. It's a pretty good sendup of capitalist greed, and our inability as a society to do what is clearly best for humanity, especially when that goes against our own self-interest. The trigger warning is that Circular Motion emphasizes those feelings of powerlessness and hopelessness among the bottom 99%, in the face of corporate stupidity and a top 1% who treat the world as their plaything. So yeah, it's... timely. And... not the most optimistic vision of our potential future.
I found the writing a little difficult at times, and I found myself not infrequently rereading the same sentence or paragraph multiple times to figure out what was actually happening. Additionally, there are multiple narratives that weave in and out of each other, and I sometimes found it difficult to keep all the details straight. Someone help me out and make this into a miniseries or something?
I found the writing a little difficult at times, and I found myself not infrequently rereading the same sentence or paragraph multiple times to figure out what was actually happening. Additionally, there are multiple narratives that weave in and out of each other, and I sometimes found it difficult to keep all the details straight. Someone help me out and make this into a miniseries or something?
July 30, 2025
Compelling because Fosters asks more questions than he reveals answers. The prose is fairly challenging and opaque, using a lot of creative constructions and arcane vocabulary that forced me to stop and slow down and read more carefully. Foster has a clear gift for the subtleties of proprioception, and deftly weaves his commentary about the soul-killing malaise of capitalism with the protagonists' struggle for meaning and silver bullets. The big dramatic beats are shocking, but never make a full impact due to the sparsity of Foster's prose. I kind of liked that though, I liked that the reader only gets access to these slivers of time and have to piece together some of the emotional working throughs characters go through in between shockwaves. That opaque and elliptical handling of emotions felt distinctly human to me. Foster has clearly thought about all of the things his characters muse over with great care and room for complexity, and it's truly refreshing to read a novel like this in the age of technofascism. I'm surprised he was able to get away with as many brand drops as he did.
I felt like the ending was a little cheesy visually and thematically, but so many previous pockets had given me so much weight and unconventional musings that I really didn't mind in the grand scheme. I think some of the tropes re: identity are a little played out, but it bears mention that Foster absolutely executes their concepts with more aplomb than most genre writers would settle for. I think both Tanner and Winnie were stellar protagonists and it was a treat to watch how they felt about their world unraveling.
I would want to write a novel like this. It's challenging and sad, but ultimately seeks to ground something of the human spirit in an increasingly groundless, sandshifting mania flood, and I think he used his strong prose skills to portray the themes of his novel's unstoppable, circling-in-on-itself momentum, and it simply makes for a fabulous, novel-length word picture.
I felt like the ending was a little cheesy visually and thematically, but so many previous pockets had given me so much weight and unconventional musings that I really didn't mind in the grand scheme. I think some of the tropes re: identity are a little played out, but it bears mention that Foster absolutely executes their concepts with more aplomb than most genre writers would settle for. I think both Tanner and Winnie were stellar protagonists and it was a treat to watch how they felt about their world unraveling.
I would want to write a novel like this. It's challenging and sad, but ultimately seeks to ground something of the human spirit in an increasingly groundless, sandshifting mania flood, and I think he used his strong prose skills to portray the themes of his novel's unstoppable, circling-in-on-itself momentum, and it simply makes for a fabulous, novel-length word picture.
June 3, 2025
This was such a cool premise, even if I didn’t understand the science (if there is indeed a science) behind it. Travel is faster than ever, thanks to… well, again, science I don’t actually understand. I pride myself in escaping ever taking physics, and I stand by that decision. Anyway, imagine being able to travel anywhere in the world in a matter of minutes. Pretty great, right? Well, nothing is without its cost, and the cost of this is that Earth’s rotation is slowly but surely rapidly evolving and completely out of whack. Days go from just a few minutes shorter than we’re used to to barely being days at all.
We meet Tanner, just as the days are minutely shrinking. He’s from Isolation, Alaska, population several, and he is (understandably) over it. His dad is an extra special breed of ass, and while he doesn’t seem as eager to leave his mom and sister, he knows he has to go while he can. He finds himself working for one of the leading Fast Circular Travel™ companies, so we get to see some of the inside stuff at play. We also follow along with Winnie, who is relegated to living with an aunt and uncle, trying to figure out where she belongs in the world. I must admit, while I think Tanner is meant to be the main-main character, I definitely felt more connected with Winnie.
I loved the ideas in the story, loved the interconnections of the characters (and how I thought I knew things, but it turned out I did not- love when that happens!), and absolutely loved wondering what was going to become of Earth. I think it felt a little longer than necessary, and some bits probably could have been whittled down in the middle, but other than that, I really enjoyed the characters and the premise, and wasn’t even bothered much by not understanding the science behind the whole thing (and coming from me, that is pretty solid praise).
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
We meet Tanner, just as the days are minutely shrinking. He’s from Isolation, Alaska, population several, and he is (understandably) over it. His dad is an extra special breed of ass, and while he doesn’t seem as eager to leave his mom and sister, he knows he has to go while he can. He finds himself working for one of the leading Fast Circular Travel™ companies, so we get to see some of the inside stuff at play. We also follow along with Winnie, who is relegated to living with an aunt and uncle, trying to figure out where she belongs in the world. I must admit, while I think Tanner is meant to be the main-main character, I definitely felt more connected with Winnie.
I loved the ideas in the story, loved the interconnections of the characters (and how I thought I knew things, but it turned out I did not- love when that happens!), and absolutely loved wondering what was going to become of Earth. I think it felt a little longer than necessary, and some bits probably could have been whittled down in the middle, but other than that, I really enjoyed the characters and the premise, and wasn’t even bothered much by not understanding the science behind the whole thing (and coming from me, that is pretty solid praise).
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
May 13, 2025
First of all, I would like to thank Grove Atlantic for the ARC and the opportunity to read this wonderful book early.
Just from the plot summary alone, I was very intrigued by the premise of the book, and I felt like the opening pages really capitalized on that intrigue. The book does a fantastic job of placing you in this future where traveling across the world is as easy as a morning commute. I honestly felt like many of the aspects of everyday life here were a natural progression of where we seem to be heading as a society, which was equally immersive as it was unsettling. It’s pretty easy to draw a straight line from the day contraction crisis in the book to the ongoing climate crisis, but to me, it never feels heavy-handed or preachy. I felt like it posed a lot of timely questions about what systems (if any) are actually interested in changing the world for good.
Where I found Circular Motion lacking was in the relationship of the main male character (Tanner) and his boyfriend. Any time the book spent time on that subplot, I felt like the story lost its momentum and it took some time to get it back. What made it so frustrating was that there were other potential character interactions that were heavily teased to happen throughout the book that I thought were vastly more interesting, but ultimately were either heavily underdeveloped or not explored at all. Alex Foster did a lot of things wonderfully in this debut novel, but that was an area where I felt like the book faltered.
Outside of time spent on his romantic life, I loved the Tanner character as well as the female lead character, Winnie. I really enjoyed viewing this future world through their eyes and any time the story shifted to Winnie, I felt like that’s where the book was able to sustain its pace.
All in all, I have to say that for a debut novel, this was an easy, unique read that made the most of an intriguing premise. I hope this finds an audience because with this kind of imagination and a little bit of refinement, I would love to see where Alex Foster goes next.
Just from the plot summary alone, I was very intrigued by the premise of the book, and I felt like the opening pages really capitalized on that intrigue. The book does a fantastic job of placing you in this future where traveling across the world is as easy as a morning commute. I honestly felt like many of the aspects of everyday life here were a natural progression of where we seem to be heading as a society, which was equally immersive as it was unsettling. It’s pretty easy to draw a straight line from the day contraction crisis in the book to the ongoing climate crisis, but to me, it never feels heavy-handed or preachy. I felt like it posed a lot of timely questions about what systems (if any) are actually interested in changing the world for good.
Where I found Circular Motion lacking was in the relationship of the main male character (Tanner) and his boyfriend. Any time the book spent time on that subplot, I felt like the story lost its momentum and it took some time to get it back. What made it so frustrating was that there were other potential character interactions that were heavily teased to happen throughout the book that I thought were vastly more interesting, but ultimately were either heavily underdeveloped or not explored at all. Alex Foster did a lot of things wonderfully in this debut novel, but that was an area where I felt like the book faltered.
Outside of time spent on his romantic life, I loved the Tanner character as well as the female lead character, Winnie. I really enjoyed viewing this future world through their eyes and any time the story shifted to Winnie, I felt like that’s where the book was able to sustain its pace.
All in all, I have to say that for a debut novel, this was an easy, unique read that made the most of an intriguing premise. I hope this finds an audience because with this kind of imagination and a little bit of refinement, I would love to see where Alex Foster goes next.
November 17, 2025
Well, this is a weird one. It felt too chaotic and ultimately kind of pointless, with characters that never resonated with me at all. And the “plot” wasn’t really a plot, more like a series of disconnected episodes from the lives of two random people.
But the world-building was genuinely interesting: a planet spinning faster and faster toward an inevitable end, everyone knowing humanity caused it while simultaneously living in denial… With climate change and the rise of AI, it hit uncomfortably close to home.
But the world-building was genuinely interesting: a planet spinning faster and faster toward an inevitable end, everyone knowing humanity caused it while simultaneously living in denial… With climate change and the rise of AI, it hit uncomfortably close to home.
Read
March 6, 2025Dnf for now
November 5, 2025
Zet je wel even aan het denken...
Zeer sterke start maar focus verwatert wat.
Zeer sterke start maar focus verwatert wat.
October 6, 2025
So disappointing because the concept is brilliant. Some really lovely passages, but the narration is all over the place, jumping perspective constantly and gets worse as it goes on. The plot is not well laid out, needed events taken out that simply weren’t relevant and none of the characters or relationships were particularly clear at all. Shame.
September 20, 2025
I bought this book on the strength of its (admittedly unlikely) premise and very nearly abandoned it halfway through, but slogged through partly in the vain hope that it might end up having something interesting to say, and partly so that I could write this review on the basis of having read the whole thing.
I should start by saying I’m no SF purist - if a book sets up a somewhat fantastical premise (in this case, what would happen if the world’s days became shorter and shorter) it can be very interesting to explore how that might affect the lives of real (and relatable) people. But this book’s poorly-fleshed out characters, with their wooden dialogue, completely fail in this regard, throwing the actual mechanics of the world into the foreground. These mechanics (including a ridiculously implausible shell around the world at 60,000ft, built in just a few years) come across as lazily conceived and even more lazily explored.
Stylistically, the narrative POV of the book (a combination of first and third-person) is also highly problematic as the two POVs combine in the final chapters, creating a disorienting impression of the main character apparently being able to read the mind of another person. I would have expected any creative writing program to have highlighted how flawed an approach this is. Compounding this is the author’s gratuitous use of extremely abstruse vocabulary and the insertion of untranslated Spanish, which just serve to give the impression that the author is trying desperately to be “authorly” at the expense of clarity.
Finally, as a Brit, I cannot finish without standing agape at the astonishingly bad and lazy depiction of London and various British characters, especially Cromwell Grant (speaking of whom, what kind of a name is that?). Has the author ever been to London, or seen or consumed any media about the UK? It honestly felt like he was deliberately trying to enrage his audience with such a ham-handed attempt to portray it.
A truly terrible and disappointing book. Read only if you have exhausted all other literature in the world.
I should start by saying I’m no SF purist - if a book sets up a somewhat fantastical premise (in this case, what would happen if the world’s days became shorter and shorter) it can be very interesting to explore how that might affect the lives of real (and relatable) people. But this book’s poorly-fleshed out characters, with their wooden dialogue, completely fail in this regard, throwing the actual mechanics of the world into the foreground. These mechanics (including a ridiculously implausible shell around the world at 60,000ft, built in just a few years) come across as lazily conceived and even more lazily explored.
Stylistically, the narrative POV of the book (a combination of first and third-person) is also highly problematic as the two POVs combine in the final chapters, creating a disorienting impression of the main character apparently being able to read the mind of another person. I would have expected any creative writing program to have highlighted how flawed an approach this is. Compounding this is the author’s gratuitous use of extremely abstruse vocabulary and the insertion of untranslated Spanish, which just serve to give the impression that the author is trying desperately to be “authorly” at the expense of clarity.
Finally, as a Brit, I cannot finish without standing agape at the astonishingly bad and lazy depiction of London and various British characters, especially Cromwell Grant (speaking of whom, what kind of a name is that?). Has the author ever been to London, or seen or consumed any media about the UK? It honestly felt like he was deliberately trying to enrage his audience with such a ham-handed attempt to portray it.
A truly terrible and disappointing book. Read only if you have exhausted all other literature in the world.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 4, 2025
Recommended: I don't think so?
If you're interested in the sciency premise, probably don't bother. If you want to read about a shitty world of shitty people, go ahead. It's very grim and offers no hope.
Thoughts:
This book made me feel incredibly sad when I finished it. Sad as in, hopeless for the world. I really don't need more of that lately...
About halfway through I realized this is less focused on the interesting sciency premise and effects of the world rotating faster, and is more focused on the gross consumerism, capitalism, and greed of the people and characters in the story. I kept thinking to myself, why does any of this matter? Which ironically also kind of mirrored the characters who kept thinking that as well before continuing on in their pointless, meaningless, unfulfilling lives.
No one is happy basically ever in this book. No one is very likeable. Even the literal earth is a bit gross and sad. There's much talk about "inevitability" in this book, and that's what the ending is too. I am struggling a lot with this book overall because I would say in the end, I really didn't enjoy it much at all. It was kind of a chore to keep coming back to it. I don't feel like I got much out of it when I finished. The effects of the world spinning faster were interesting, but basically a footnote. That is of course the whole point of the story, but it didn't really serve me well.
It felt like a lot of pointless, annoying noise, much like the constant ads the characters are bombarded with in every angle of the book. I think this was the goal, and in that case: very well done. But as for being something I enjoyed reading or got something from: not done. Capitalism is bad, people are greedy, and humanity is it's own inevitable downfall. I know. This is not news. Eh. That said, I write this as I am still feeling pretty morose after finishing it, and who knows how much that's also now coloring this review. :(
If you're interested in the sciency premise, probably don't bother. If you want to read about a shitty world of shitty people, go ahead. It's very grim and offers no hope.
Thoughts:
This book made me feel incredibly sad when I finished it. Sad as in, hopeless for the world. I really don't need more of that lately...
About halfway through I realized this is less focused on the interesting sciency premise and effects of the world rotating faster, and is more focused on the gross consumerism, capitalism, and greed of the people and characters in the story. I kept thinking to myself, why does any of this matter? Which ironically also kind of mirrored the characters who kept thinking that as well before continuing on in their pointless, meaningless, unfulfilling lives.
No one is happy basically ever in this book. No one is very likeable. Even the literal earth is a bit gross and sad. There's much talk about "inevitability" in this book, and that's what the ending is too. I am struggling a lot with this book overall because I would say in the end, I really didn't enjoy it much at all. It was kind of a chore to keep coming back to it. I don't feel like I got much out of it when I finished. The effects of the world spinning faster were interesting, but basically a footnote. That is of course the whole point of the story, but it didn't really serve me well.
It felt like a lot of pointless, annoying noise, much like the constant ads the characters are bombarded with in every angle of the book. I think this was the goal, and in that case: very well done. But as for being something I enjoyed reading or got something from: not done. Capitalism is bad, people are greedy, and humanity is it's own inevitable downfall. I know. This is not news. Eh. That said, I write this as I am still feeling pretty morose after finishing it, and who knows how much that's also now coloring this review. :(
June 22, 2025
Circular Motion is one of those rare debut novels that swings big—stylistically, thematically, and emotionally—and mostly sticks the landing, even when it veers into chaos. Alex Foster crafts a speculative scenario where the Earth’s rotation is accelerating, days are shrinking, and society is slowly unraveling. It’s not apocalyptic in the usual sense—it’s eerier than that. The world doesn't explode. It just keeps slipping out from under you, minute by minute. That creeping dread becomes the backdrop for a story about capitalism, technology, climate anxiety, and the fragile threads of human connection.
The narrative bounces between Tanner, a corporate worker trying to escape his past and fit into a high-speed future, and Winnie, a sharp, disillusioned teen swept into a youth rebellion movement. Their arcs feel wildly different at first—Tanner’s story glides on satire and tech-world absurdity, while Winnie’s pulses with rage and urgency—but as Earth spins faster and the hours vanish, their paths converge in ways that feel surprisingly grounded. The book’s emotional weight comes less from plot and more from how people adapt (or break) under systems they can’t control.
That said, the novel occasionally loses focus. The pacing lags mid-way as ideas stack faster than character development, and a few side plots feel sketched more than drawn. But when it works, it really works—especially in its quieter observations about time, intimacy, and the absurdity of trying to maintain “normal life” as reality speeds off the rails. Circular Motion doesn’t pretend to solve anything. It holds up a mirror, spins it a little, and dares you to keep your balance. Not perfect, but ambitious, and absolutely worth the ride.
The narrative bounces between Tanner, a corporate worker trying to escape his past and fit into a high-speed future, and Winnie, a sharp, disillusioned teen swept into a youth rebellion movement. Their arcs feel wildly different at first—Tanner’s story glides on satire and tech-world absurdity, while Winnie’s pulses with rage and urgency—but as Earth spins faster and the hours vanish, their paths converge in ways that feel surprisingly grounded. The book’s emotional weight comes less from plot and more from how people adapt (or break) under systems they can’t control.
That said, the novel occasionally loses focus. The pacing lags mid-way as ideas stack faster than character development, and a few side plots feel sketched more than drawn. But when it works, it really works—especially in its quieter observations about time, intimacy, and the absurdity of trying to maintain “normal life” as reality speeds off the rails. Circular Motion doesn’t pretend to solve anything. It holds up a mirror, spins it a little, and dares you to keep your balance. Not perfect, but ambitious, and absolutely worth the ride.
May 25, 2025
Well done debut novel about world spinning to fast and the resulting mess. The three main characters of the story all come from/tied to Keber Creek, Alaska, which is barely inhabited nowhere Alaska.
In the future, a transportation pod can take you 30,000 feet up to and connect you anywhere in the world in just a few hours. Unfortunately, and maybe due in part to this travel system, the world is slowly starting to spin faster thereby exacerbating climate change. The CWC has created the travel system and is now trying to determine if it has in fact caused any issues.
Meanwhile CWC has hired Dr. Victor Bickle, a renowned scientist, to give a positive spin (pun intended) on all CWC activities thru his Science Hour program. Bickle's sort of capable assistant is Tanner, a twenty one year old nobody who shows up in NYC at the urging of the good doctor, because they are both from Keber Creek.
And last, but certainly not least is Winnie, a similarly aged women who is originally from San Francisco but whose mother was from, you guessed it, Keber Creek. Winnie's mother is currently housed in a coma warehouse in Nevada and was friends with Bickle back in Keber Creek. Winnie has her own bag of trauma related to pods, climate change but is living with her best friend in SF.
As the years pass, the world continues to spin faster causing more climate problems and CWC issues. Hijinks ensue.
This book creates a fairly believable scenario whereby earth is in big trouble as are the three main characters. Some redemption is found, but is the world doomed? Read it and find out.
In the future, a transportation pod can take you 30,000 feet up to and connect you anywhere in the world in just a few hours. Unfortunately, and maybe due in part to this travel system, the world is slowly starting to spin faster thereby exacerbating climate change. The CWC has created the travel system and is now trying to determine if it has in fact caused any issues.
Meanwhile CWC has hired Dr. Victor Bickle, a renowned scientist, to give a positive spin (pun intended) on all CWC activities thru his Science Hour program. Bickle's sort of capable assistant is Tanner, a twenty one year old nobody who shows up in NYC at the urging of the good doctor, because they are both from Keber Creek.
And last, but certainly not least is Winnie, a similarly aged women who is originally from San Francisco but whose mother was from, you guessed it, Keber Creek. Winnie's mother is currently housed in a coma warehouse in Nevada and was friends with Bickle back in Keber Creek. Winnie has her own bag of trauma related to pods, climate change but is living with her best friend in SF.
As the years pass, the world continues to spin faster causing more climate problems and CWC issues. Hijinks ensue.
This book creates a fairly believable scenario whereby earth is in big trouble as are the three main characters. Some redemption is found, but is the world doomed? Read it and find out.
April 6, 2025
First, the things I really enjoyed in the novel: the worldbuilding. The contraction of time for everyone on Earth as a consequence of a corporation's rising tech that supposedly made everyone's lives so much better. That was very cool.
Also, I think I quite enjoyed the slow, detailed LitSF pacing that was ALL about characters, their lives, their hopes and dreams, their failures and little successes. In this regard, it was very much a mainstream piece couched in a cool SF complication.
But that leads me to the things I enjoyed a bit less: the end was probably the biggest gripe. No spoilers, but it really irked me. As for the other things, I could have done with a little less sex, endless sex. What are we, writing in the 70's? And third, the plot wasn't so much going anywhere, but existing, swirling, like the titular circular motion. Shall we say--a downward spiral?
But the last shouldn't be all that surprising. It is a dystopia. And as for my actual enjoyment of it, I enjoyed many aspects of it--but at the moment, a dystopian future isn't exactly on my list. I'm trying to be objective here for the sake of the author's obvious engagement in his work, but I simply got depressed as I read it.
Still, it was worth reading.
My synesthesia tastes the sweet rain of a hurricane.
Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews might be interested in reading my own SF, I'm going to be open to requests. Just direct message me in goodreads or email me on my site. I'd love to get some eyes on my novels.
Arctunn.com
Also, I think I quite enjoyed the slow, detailed LitSF pacing that was ALL about characters, their lives, their hopes and dreams, their failures and little successes. In this regard, it was very much a mainstream piece couched in a cool SF complication.
But that leads me to the things I enjoyed a bit less: the end was probably the biggest gripe. No spoilers, but it really irked me. As for the other things, I could have done with a little less sex, endless sex. What are we, writing in the 70's? And third, the plot wasn't so much going anywhere, but existing, swirling, like the titular circular motion. Shall we say--a downward spiral?
But the last shouldn't be all that surprising. It is a dystopia. And as for my actual enjoyment of it, I enjoyed many aspects of it--but at the moment, a dystopian future isn't exactly on my list. I'm trying to be objective here for the sake of the author's obvious engagement in his work, but I simply got depressed as I read it.
Still, it was worth reading.
My synesthesia tastes the sweet rain of a hurricane.
Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews might be interested in reading my own SF, I'm going to be open to requests. Just direct message me in goodreads or email me on my site. I'd love to get some eyes on my novels.
Arctunn.com
July 22, 2025
“I feel like I’m at war with the world around me, and every day I lose a little bit of ground.”
Thank you to Grove Atlantic for the gifted copy of the book in exchange for an honest review!
The premise of this book is fascinating and unique, which is what drew me to it in the first place. I love stories like this that feel a little strange but also feel weirdly rooted in reality. The story focuses mainly on Tanner and Winnie who are both trying to figure out their lives while the world is literally spinning out of control. It feels like they’re on very different trajectories, so when their paths do cross it feels exciting but also concerning because it seems that they’re on differing sides of the crisis.
I really liked how this was told, through both Tanner’s and Winnie’s perspectives while offering small insights into some of the other minor characters. When Tanner ends up with a job at the CWC, it sounds exciting. They operate this network of massive aircraft that have revolutionized travel, but not without consequence. Winnie’s home life is difficult, she lives with her aunt and struggles to make friends. But when she does, she’s pulled into a world of learning and understanding the climate crisis.
The story feels pretty fast-paced, offering just enough information to keep the reader guessing. It feels like the not-so-distant future, where there’s incredible technology but there are still things that are familiar. When the time loss starts to get significant, it’s interesting to see how these characters handle it. My only real complaint is that I wish there was a better explanation how they tell the time and date, as well as a little bit more about how the circuit worked. I still really enjoyed this, and the eeriness of the ending is really excellent.
Thank you to Grove Atlantic for the gifted copy of the book in exchange for an honest review!
The premise of this book is fascinating and unique, which is what drew me to it in the first place. I love stories like this that feel a little strange but also feel weirdly rooted in reality. The story focuses mainly on Tanner and Winnie who are both trying to figure out their lives while the world is literally spinning out of control. It feels like they’re on very different trajectories, so when their paths do cross it feels exciting but also concerning because it seems that they’re on differing sides of the crisis.
I really liked how this was told, through both Tanner’s and Winnie’s perspectives while offering small insights into some of the other minor characters. When Tanner ends up with a job at the CWC, it sounds exciting. They operate this network of massive aircraft that have revolutionized travel, but not without consequence. Winnie’s home life is difficult, she lives with her aunt and struggles to make friends. But when she does, she’s pulled into a world of learning and understanding the climate crisis.
The story feels pretty fast-paced, offering just enough information to keep the reader guessing. It feels like the not-so-distant future, where there’s incredible technology but there are still things that are familiar. When the time loss starts to get significant, it’s interesting to see how these characters handle it. My only real complaint is that I wish there was a better explanation how they tell the time and date, as well as a little bit more about how the circuit worked. I still really enjoyed this, and the eeriness of the ending is really excellent.
August 10, 2025
The earth’s rotation is speeding up. Days are gradually getting shorter and climatic shifts in sea and weather are beginning. The cause is the large scale transport system that everyone relies on. CWC pods fly up from the ground to the stratosphere and travel clockwise a short distance to land, hence increasing movement.
The solution is to give more funding to the company to build the Shell around the whole planet. The theory is that the sun, weather and atmosphere can then be adjusted as required.
The conceit is to mirror the reality of climate change, its impact and the capitalist approach, which is to not fix the problem but get more income through technology to tinker with climate and adaptation while everything gets worse.
The fact that the Shell dooms everyone to artificial sunlight, no fresh air (the trees now seem to have been replaced with plastic ones) and advertising in the sky feels like a death sentence.
This is the wider picture. The story is told via several characters; Winnie is the more annoying of the two as her disfunctional relationships and quirky character seemed less natural than that of Tanner and Miguel.
The author tries to tackle the complexity of the individual vs the mass population, with complicity, indifference or activism all featured but it’s a difficult task.
The solution is to give more funding to the company to build the Shell around the whole planet. The theory is that the sun, weather and atmosphere can then be adjusted as required.
The conceit is to mirror the reality of climate change, its impact and the capitalist approach, which is to not fix the problem but get more income through technology to tinker with climate and adaptation while everything gets worse.
The fact that the Shell dooms everyone to artificial sunlight, no fresh air (the trees now seem to have been replaced with plastic ones) and advertising in the sky feels like a death sentence.
This is the wider picture. The story is told via several characters; Winnie is the more annoying of the two as her disfunctional relationships and quirky character seemed less natural than that of Tanner and Miguel.
The author tries to tackle the complexity of the individual vs the mass population, with complicity, indifference or activism all featured but it’s a difficult task.
February 2, 2025
There are a lot of books coming out that have the thesis of people are ruining the planet and everything is going to hell, but unfortunately not all of them are very interesting.
Circular Motion, however, does not suffer from that. It is a clever plot, flawed and interesting characters and no heroes waiting to save you.
This is a story of what happens when people let life go on as it always have been - carrying on with their job, their relationships and their lives as usual while the planet is literally losing gravity due to man made technology.
I particularly liked the side plots and how ultimately likeable/unlikeable the characters were.
At heart, I am an optimist but I do love me some dystopian fiction that digs into the human psyche in the face of a catastrophe. Circular Motion does just that.
The prose is good, it is a well-written book. The characters are interesting, yet Foster manages to strike a tone where it feels like you're almost looking at them through a TV screen rather than being there yourself. This is cleverly done, and fits the world building.
Read if: You like Atwood's Oryx and Crake or Kim Stanley Robinson's Ministry for the Future.
Thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for letting me read this ARC!
Circular Motion, however, does not suffer from that. It is a clever plot, flawed and interesting characters and no heroes waiting to save you.
This is a story of what happens when people let life go on as it always have been - carrying on with their job, their relationships and their lives as usual while the planet is literally losing gravity due to man made technology.
I particularly liked the side plots and how ultimately likeable/unlikeable the characters were.
At heart, I am an optimist but I do love me some dystopian fiction that digs into the human psyche in the face of a catastrophe. Circular Motion does just that.
The prose is good, it is a well-written book. The characters are interesting, yet Foster manages to strike a tone where it feels like you're almost looking at them through a TV screen rather than being there yourself. This is cleverly done, and fits the world building.
Read if: You like Atwood's Oryx and Crake or Kim Stanley Robinson's Ministry for the Future.
Thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for letting me read this ARC!
May 11, 2025
I was intrigued by the concept of being able to travel around the world in a matter of hours and the premise of Circular Motion had a lot of potential. The story alternates between Tanner’s point of view in first person and Winne’s in third person, and while it’s clear early on that their stories will eventually converge, it takes a long time for that to happen. It isn’t until around 65 percent of the way through the book that their narratives finally connect and by then it didn’t feel like there was much of a point to it. The occasional side chapters from other points of view added to the confusion and made it even harder to stay engaged.
Unfortunately, I was confused quite a bit. Some of the technical aspects went over my head and maybe I was supposed to deduce the science behind why and how the Earth was spinning faster because of CWC, but I couldn’t really make sense of it. Or maybe LitSF just isn’t for me. The plot wasn’t really going anywhere and it was hard for me to visualize a lot of the book. At times I kept asking myself what I was even reading.
Overall, an interesting concept but the execution landed very flat for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the ARC.
Unfortunately, I was confused quite a bit. Some of the technical aspects went over my head and maybe I was supposed to deduce the science behind why and how the Earth was spinning faster because of CWC, but I couldn’t really make sense of it. Or maybe LitSF just isn’t for me. The plot wasn’t really going anywhere and it was hard for me to visualize a lot of the book. At times I kept asking myself what I was even reading.
Overall, an interesting concept but the execution landed very flat for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the ARC.
June 27, 2025
This book surprised me. It starts with science idea—Earth is spinning faster—but it is not really about science. It is about people, about how we live when the world starts feeling strange and dangerous. The characters, especially Tanner, feel very real to me. He is lost in the beginning, but the strange days force him to look harder at his own life.
I like how Alex Foster writes. Sometimes I didn’t understand every English word, but I always understand the feeling. The writing is emotional, not too heavy, not too cold. The parts about love and loneliness made me quiet for a moment. It shows how big problems outside can match the quiet pain inside.
Some readers maybe expect more action or answers about why the Earth is changing. But for me, it is okay that not everything is explained. Life is also like that. You don’t always know why things happen, but you feel them. And that’s what this book gives you—a feeling.
I think Circular Motion is for people who want to read something that stays in the heart, not only the mind. It is strange, but gentle. Not perfect, but very human.
I like how Alex Foster writes. Sometimes I didn’t understand every English word, but I always understand the feeling. The writing is emotional, not too heavy, not too cold. The parts about love and loneliness made me quiet for a moment. It shows how big problems outside can match the quiet pain inside.
Some readers maybe expect more action or answers about why the Earth is changing. But for me, it is okay that not everything is explained. Life is also like that. You don’t always know why things happen, but you feel them. And that’s what this book gives you—a feeling.
I think Circular Motion is for people who want to read something that stays in the heart, not only the mind. It is strange, but gentle. Not perfect, but very human.
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