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Circular Motion: One of The Guardian's Best Sci-Fi Books for 2025
'Sparky writing, clever plotting and biting wit [spin] an excellent tale' GUARDIAN, BOOKS OF THE YEAR
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 who flees his Alaskan hometown to work at CWC, a corporation which runs a network of massive aircraft that orbit the Earth, allowing people to visit Paris for an evening or order sushi from Japan. But a wave of social unrest presents challenges for CWC.
That unrest sweeps up Winnie. A high school outcast, she falls in with a group of teen activists who blame the company 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.
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 who flees his Alaskan hometown to work at CWC, a corporation which runs a network of massive aircraft that orbit the Earth, allowing people to visit Paris for an evening or order sushi from Japan. But a wave of social unrest presents challenges for CWC.
That unrest sweeps up Winnie. A high school outcast, she falls in with a group of teen activists who blame the company 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.
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.
411 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 3, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews
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.
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.
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 !
December 24, 2025
This book wanted to be Don’t Look Up, but it was written from the perspective of the dullards who, well, don’t look up. That might’ve been a conscious choice, but it ruined the reading experience.
In this near-future world, there is ultra fast atmospheric travel with pods that continuously circle the globe, which has the unintended side effect of causing the earth to spin ever faster (don’t think too hard about the science, it won’t be explained and you’ll just have to go with the vibes). Even as days become shorter, freak weather events increase and eventually gravity goes out of whack, no one wants to give up on instant world travel and commerce even once it’s clear what’s causing it. It’s Don’t Look Up if the asteroid was also our fault (aka climate change) - this is basically a story of final stage capitalism, hyper-commercialisation and human selfishness. So far, so good.
Unfortunately Foster barely does anything with the premise. It’s literary sci-fi and I understand it’s very light on the “sci” part, fine. But even without that, the consequences of the earth spinning faster basically don’t feature AT ALL, which is wilddd. It’s mentioned every so often, but it doesn’t really affect the characters’ lives in any way. Maybe that’s a commentary on how vapid they are, but it’s inexcusable from a plot POV. It’s literally the only thing that’s interesting about the book and you just treat it as the backdrop to the usual best of litfic hits (abusive childhood! Issues with sexuality! Mental illness! Groundbreaking.)? Just write litfic then!
It reminded me of Severance (the book, not the TV series) in the worst way and I’m not surprised to see that both authors did MFAs. At this point I’ll just have to assume that all they do at these courses is autofiction and using whatever ostensible plot construct you have to talk about trauma instead. The two main characters here, Tanner and Winnie, are soulless empty shells with tragic backstories and/ or mental illness, but no character, charisma, insights or feelings. I basically just turn into a boomer every time I come across these characters in books and want to tell them to grow tf up and get over themselves. It’s ridiculous. It’s nothing but a bit of sci-fi dressing for the usual MFA navel gazing, like in Severance.
I have some hope that the MFA hasn’t destroyed all of Foster’s individuality though because if you exclude the characterisations (such a tiny thing, lol), the writing was actually pretty good, especially early on. After the halfway point it lost all momentum and yeah it’s hard to care about the plot if you don’t care whether the characters live or die, but there was something there.
At the end though it was a cool premise let down by everything else surrounding it.
In this near-future world, there is ultra fast atmospheric travel with pods that continuously circle the globe, which has the unintended side effect of causing the earth to spin ever faster (don’t think too hard about the science, it won’t be explained and you’ll just have to go with the vibes). Even as days become shorter, freak weather events increase and eventually gravity goes out of whack, no one wants to give up on instant world travel and commerce even once it’s clear what’s causing it. It’s Don’t Look Up if the asteroid was also our fault (aka climate change) - this is basically a story of final stage capitalism, hyper-commercialisation and human selfishness. So far, so good.
Unfortunately Foster barely does anything with the premise. It’s literary sci-fi and I understand it’s very light on the “sci” part, fine. But even without that, the consequences of the earth spinning faster basically don’t feature AT ALL, which is wilddd. It’s mentioned every so often, but it doesn’t really affect the characters’ lives in any way. Maybe that’s a commentary on how vapid they are, but it’s inexcusable from a plot POV. It’s literally the only thing that’s interesting about the book and you just treat it as the backdrop to the usual best of litfic hits (abusive childhood! Issues with sexuality! Mental illness! Groundbreaking.)? Just write litfic then!
It reminded me of Severance (the book, not the TV series) in the worst way and I’m not surprised to see that both authors did MFAs. At this point I’ll just have to assume that all they do at these courses is autofiction and using whatever ostensible plot construct you have to talk about trauma instead. The two main characters here, Tanner and Winnie, are soulless empty shells with tragic backstories and/ or mental illness, but no character, charisma, insights or feelings. I basically just turn into a boomer every time I come across these characters in books and want to tell them to grow tf up and get over themselves. It’s ridiculous. It’s nothing but a bit of sci-fi dressing for the usual MFA navel gazing, like in Severance.
I have some hope that the MFA hasn’t destroyed all of Foster’s individuality though because if you exclude the characterisations (such a tiny thing, lol), the writing was actually pretty good, especially early on. After the halfway point it lost all momentum and yeah it’s hard to care about the plot if you don’t care whether the characters live or die, but there was something there.
At the end though it was a cool premise let down by everything else surrounding it.
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.
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. :(
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.
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 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?
December 13, 2025
Great premise, and I was glad to read to the end, but the story was choppy and the characters confusing. Several bits of character development and dialogue made no sense at all. A bit disappointing, but still I was happy to complete it.
December 10, 2025
I completely agree with the point it makes but this was dull as fuck and I can't say I cared for any of the characters.
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.
December 30, 2025
The short: Helped me process my climate-change anxiety.
The long:
This was a tough read. A very realistic take, I feel, on the way the world might react to a bad addiction. The world feels well thought out without too many exposition dumps. The characters were interesting and complex enough but I found it hard to latch on to any of them though not enough to deter me.
The fictional transportation technology invented by Alex Foster seems similar enough to fossil fuel that we can empathize with its broader implications. And it's different enough that I was always curious about the next set of hurdles.
Ultimately, it's about the hubris of humans and the futility of our trials and tribulations in the face of an indifferent universe. I think. It was definitely better than Don't Look Up which is in a similar genre except way less satirical.
The long:
This was a tough read. A very realistic take, I feel, on the way the world might react to a bad addiction. The world feels well thought out without too many exposition dumps. The characters were interesting and complex enough but I found it hard to latch on to any of them though not enough to deter me.
The fictional transportation technology invented by Alex Foster seems similar enough to fossil fuel that we can empathize with its broader implications. And it's different enough that I was always curious about the next set of hurdles.
Ultimately, it's about the hubris of humans and the futility of our trials and tribulations in the face of an indifferent universe. I think. It was definitely better than Don't Look Up which is in a similar genre except way less satirical.
November 6, 2025
I picked up the book thinking it was this great sci-fi story about the consequences of the earth accelerating it's rotation. instead I got a story about a young man who leaves his family and small town home for the big city, decides he's gay, gets a corporate job, gets involved in corporate drama, and returns home too little too late.
it wasn't great. it was just a decently readable book. if you're looking for sci-fi here, don't. The book only mingles with sci-fi.
it wasn't great. it was just a decently readable book. if you're looking for sci-fi here, don't. The book only mingles with sci-fi.
October 21, 2025
I don’t like to do too much research into books before grabbing them off the shelf since I hate spoilers. I don’t even check the back cover to look at the author. I was hoping this would be a sci-fi book with the feel of The Martian or something similar. What I left the library with was a book of terribly cringy main characters, writing that made a 5th grade essay look good, and zero care about what the book was even supposed to be about. I thought there would be more scientific things involved on how to fix the issues at hand but it was a mix of whining about the problem and just continuously offering up more cringy irrelevant issues in this society. Idk, I made it to the last page and sat there for a few minutes thinking “what did I just waste my time on”. The ending wasn’t even clearly an ending. I still am unclear on if it was a dream or what actually happened in the book. Anyways… contemplating changing this rating to a 1. Highly recommend if you just enjoy feeling awkward whilst reading other people’s inner monologues.
August 22, 2025
I really thought I would love this book, the synopsis of the book reminded me of the age of miracles, a book that I truly loved… well let me just be honest, this book just isn’t… circular motion, left me wanting in all departments, at the same time it got me bored everytime I grabbed it, went from a doomsday first image, to gay sex almost very detailed, while the world goes faster and faster and the days are getting shorter, but that is not important…
What is important is whatever clothes Miguel has on…
The chapters are also, very long, and they are not exclusively only about a point of view, so it gets confusing, in how things go along.
Maybe I wasn't the right reader for this book, but I didn’t enjoy it that much, and to be honest, felt very shallow for whatever was happening in the world…
Thank you Netgalley and Grove Atlantic | Grove Press, for the free ARC and this is my honest opinion.
What is important is whatever clothes Miguel has on…
The chapters are also, very long, and they are not exclusively only about a point of view, so it gets confusing, in how things go along.
Maybe I wasn't the right reader for this book, but I didn’t enjoy it that much, and to be honest, felt very shallow for whatever was happening in the world…
Thank you Netgalley and Grove Atlantic | Grove Press, for the free ARC and this is my honest opinion.
did-not-finish
June 6, 2025Marked as DNF @ 10% on 6/6/25 | The concept of this was really neat but I was already REALLY struggling with the narration and the pacing. I know myself well enough that when I'm having this hard of a time at the beginning, it really just never picks up for me, so I'm choosing to pass on this one.
July 13, 2025
Concept interesting.
Writing inconsistent.’
Story ALL over the place.
Skip and skim and finally end.
Writing inconsistent.’
Story ALL over the place.
Skip and skim and finally end.
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