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Green Laughing
There’s always hope, especially when there’s none.
Poppy and Teela wake from Hiber to discover their ship has been knocked off course. It’s okay though, everything will be alright. Just send a transmission. Help will come. Help must come.
Lost in space, trapped in an aging delivery ship, the two must contend with each other and figure out a way to stay alive and sane. Arguments are won and lost, food grows scarce, and the days begin to merge – passing by in hazy nightmares.
Even in the darkest times, beauty still grows. The celebrations and dancing, reminiscing and crying, feasting and laughing all endure.
Poppy and Teela wake from Hiber to discover their ship has been knocked off course. It’s okay though, everything will be alright. Just send a transmission. Help will come. Help must come.
Lost in space, trapped in an aging delivery ship, the two must contend with each other and figure out a way to stay alive and sane. Arguments are won and lost, food grows scarce, and the days begin to merge – passing by in hazy nightmares.
Even in the darkest times, beauty still grows. The celebrations and dancing, reminiscing and crying, feasting and laughing all endure.
255 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 11, 2025
1 person want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 16, 2025
Well, that wasn’t quite what I expected, but it was certainly enjoyable. The blurb gives the feel of a disaster SF story and whilst it does initially play out that way, anyone expecting The Martian or similar problem solving sci-fi will need to check those expectations at the door. This uses science fiction as a setting, but the focus is less on the technology and the science and almost entirely in the emotions and reminiscences of the two young women trapped aboard, lost in the depths of deep space.
What the book does so brilliantly is the authenticity of Poppy and Teela. These aren’t characters in a sci-fi adventure, but real people, with no scientific background, just trying to cope when faced with a situation beyond their abilities. We see their friendship change, and their emotions go through a rollercoaster as the situation becomes ever more desperate. Interspersed with this are continuous flashbacks—some short, some lengthy—which piece together their background beautifully and often work to reflect their emotional state at the time. The way this is done is a little two-edged though. The integration of flashbacks gives a real feeling of how intrusive thoughts can suddenly enter into someone’s life and do help keep that symbiotic emotional relationship with what is going on with their present state of mind. However, with often no separation in the text and it all being third person anyway, sometimes it’s a little confusing when or where a reminiscence starts and ends. At times I wished for some italics or spacing just to clarify the narrative a little.
Their stories are otherwise engaging and it is very hard not to root for them both and become swept up in their emotions. Their joy is our joy. Their anger is our anger. Their sadness is our sadness. It’s powerful writing of emotional connections which belie the fact that this is a debut novel.
The science itself is minimal. Mostly that works very well and a result there’s little to no tech speak. We get a space walk and glimpses of the future tech they use in what is clearly the future; their ship is essentially a galactic delivery van and we get references to touch pads, walkways above cities, Jetson-style taxis, spaceship farms, cryo-chambers, futuristic space suits and many other little tidbits. The way all of it is described is natural and without complication which helps not only build a wonderfully realistic sounding future society, but also means this will be very readable for non-SF readers.
I will say there is a slight niggle here though. With all their technology to see them into space in the first place, sometimes the actual situation they find themselves in feels somewhat implausible. There seems to be no contingency tech, computers or anything that they can utilise to get out of the problem which just felt a little odd, especially when nearby communications can be picked up. But, ultimately that isn’t the point of this story. It’s about friendship and coping in the face of extreme adversity. That goal is achieved to near perfection and in a way that stands out for its authenticity.
As a literary slice of soft SF, this a strong and emotional novel right up to the final scenes. If anyone is expecting a novel of discovery or adventure, look elsewhere, but despite some minor niggles, this shows how versatile science fiction can be in telling stories about real people, in skilled writing hands.
What the book does so brilliantly is the authenticity of Poppy and Teela. These aren’t characters in a sci-fi adventure, but real people, with no scientific background, just trying to cope when faced with a situation beyond their abilities. We see their friendship change, and their emotions go through a rollercoaster as the situation becomes ever more desperate. Interspersed with this are continuous flashbacks—some short, some lengthy—which piece together their background beautifully and often work to reflect their emotional state at the time. The way this is done is a little two-edged though. The integration of flashbacks gives a real feeling of how intrusive thoughts can suddenly enter into someone’s life and do help keep that symbiotic emotional relationship with what is going on with their present state of mind. However, with often no separation in the text and it all being third person anyway, sometimes it’s a little confusing when or where a reminiscence starts and ends. At times I wished for some italics or spacing just to clarify the narrative a little.
Their stories are otherwise engaging and it is very hard not to root for them both and become swept up in their emotions. Their joy is our joy. Their anger is our anger. Their sadness is our sadness. It’s powerful writing of emotional connections which belie the fact that this is a debut novel.
The science itself is minimal. Mostly that works very well and a result there’s little to no tech speak. We get a space walk and glimpses of the future tech they use in what is clearly the future; their ship is essentially a galactic delivery van and we get references to touch pads, walkways above cities, Jetson-style taxis, spaceship farms, cryo-chambers, futuristic space suits and many other little tidbits. The way all of it is described is natural and without complication which helps not only build a wonderfully realistic sounding future society, but also means this will be very readable for non-SF readers.
I will say there is a slight niggle here though. With all their technology to see them into space in the first place, sometimes the actual situation they find themselves in feels somewhat implausible. There seems to be no contingency tech, computers or anything that they can utilise to get out of the problem which just felt a little odd, especially when nearby communications can be picked up. But, ultimately that isn’t the point of this story. It’s about friendship and coping in the face of extreme adversity. That goal is achieved to near perfection and in a way that stands out for its authenticity.
As a literary slice of soft SF, this a strong and emotional novel right up to the final scenes. If anyone is expecting a novel of discovery or adventure, look elsewhere, but despite some minor niggles, this shows how versatile science fiction can be in telling stories about real people, in skilled writing hands.
Displaying 1 of 1 review