Seed

by Bri Lee

An astonishing new novel from the acclaimed and bestselling author of Eggshell Skull and The Work .

Mitchell is a brilliant biologist, committed to the environment and the growing global antinatalist movement. For one month each year he lives with his colleague Frances in a utopia of radical equality and scientific dedication in Antarctica. They are concluding the Anarctos a seed vault in an isolated, secret location. It is a biodiversity insurance policy against humanity’s devastating effects on the rapidly warming planet. 

But when their helicopter doesn’t pick them up, and strange things begin to happen, their faith in science is suddenly not enough. Mitchell has been keeping big secrets—from Frances and from himself. The ice haunts him with memories of a devastating betrayal and questions of legacy and fairness crowd his mind.

If they don’t get back to McMurdo Station before the last flight home they face a long dark polar winter together. Alone. As the days get shorter, these two people of firm logic and reason begin finding fault lines in their perfect social experiment.

Thrilling, original and almost unbearably suspenseful, Seed offers an uneasy glimpse into isolation, love and our worst fears.

Genres: Fiction, Audiobook, Book Club, Contemporary, Literary Fiction

Audible Audio

Published September 29, 2025

Reviews

[Theresa Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m going to call it and say that Bri Lee’s novels are not for me. Many of the issues I had with her previous release, The Work, are repeated in this one, so I think it’s safe to say that I am not the right reader for her writing.

Once again, the story was filled with meaningless sex between two people with no chemistry, mundane scenes of wake, eat, sex, repeat, for the entire first half of the novel. There is a lot of heavy handed language throughout regarding people who have children, people who have pets, people who eat meat, people who breathe…it was a lot.

The main character, Mitchell, was someone I failed to empathise with or relate to in any way. He was using his colleague for sex despite appearing to not even like her. He was bitter about his ex-wife now being pregnant with the baby of a man he despised, fair, but also, a situation entirely of his own making on account of his moralistic high ground. Honestly, being inside Mitchell’s head was exhausting. One minute he hated his ex-wife, the next he loved her still, and this endless obsession with what’s for dinner. For such a brilliant scientist, he was incredibly limited as a person.

The plot also left me wondering. There is all this suspense that builds rapidly throughout the second half only to leave the reader with no resolution, no answers as to who was causing all of the havoc and spying on them and why. It felt like the entire plot was an idea that remained undeveloped.

At the heart of this story are some important issues about the state of our planet but I feel like these issues were left by the wayside in favour of, I don’t even know how to further describe what I’ve just read. And the ending. Could there be a more absurd ending?

Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.

[Alusha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Petition to send me to an Antarctic research base in place of the annoying man-baby main character

[Amy Cooper · Rating 2 out of 5]

okay… okay…. now… ADMITTEDLY… I did read the last 60 or so pages of this after a rather heavy-handed g&t… and am now writing the review in the same state, so my thoughts aren’t exactly CRYSTAL clear… but I fear that I just need to get them out and be done with this book!!!!!!!

God what a frigging frustrating read. Vast majority of this was a hate-read; one of those reading experiences where I’m so irritated by the book that reading and finishing it is almost a masochistic experience lol

I’m just like… WHAT WAS THE POINT!!!! WHY!!!!! what am I meant to take out of this?!!!! If we ignore (for now) the chaos of the last 50 pages, the first 250 felt largely like a way for BL to explore different ideas about population growth/ control, climate change, and human impact & responsibility for those things. Honestly, I’d read an essay by Bri Lee about those things in a heartbeat… but this was just a poor vehicle for it. Seriously one of the most obtusely irritating, narcissistic main characters I’ve read in recent memory, combined with a total lack of plot momentum for the vast majority of the book… how was I supposed to care about the ideas that were being presented when the person presenting them was such a right dickhead????? One of the only parts of the book I actually enjoyed was about a page and a half where Mitch just sort of spiralled into all of those thoughts, and I could forget that they were coming from HIM, and just ponder the ideas themselves. Then, we whack on this weirdly chaotic, suddenly frantic-paced, almost car-chase-esque-energy 50 pages worth of plot at the end to finish it? And end it that abruptly? Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh??? I’m just confuuuuuuuuuuuuuused!!!!!!! ugh. Anyways… as I said to Mum (about 100 pages in lol): if someone wanted to read an Antarctic thriller, I’d recommend Ice Station, if someone wanted to read about a character negotiating climate change and our future, I’d recommend Arboresence, and if someone wanted a combination of the two… sorry Bri, but I’d recommend Wild Dark Shore 🤷🏼‍♀️ Who Gets to Be Smart will remain one of my all time fav nonfiction reads but highly unlikely I’ll pick up any of BL’s future fiction books!!! :(

[niamh · Rating 3 out of 5]

bri lee references arguments about anti-natalism with the same subtlety that taylor swift references shakespeare

[Sarah Steed · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favourite character was the cat. I’m not sure if that says more about me or the book…

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I think the end was lacking and rushed given how well paced the start of the book was. I just feel confused by some “twists”, I think there is a difference between ambiguity and plain confusion through unresolved plot lines

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

As far as speculative fiction goes, I found SEED genuinely satisfying.

Mitch is a scientist, very much of the black and white variety, and driven by a strong sense of moralism for our planet’s future. While dispatched to a secret seed storage facility somewhere in the Antarctic alongside another colleague Frances, he discovers an orphaned cat, and despite his anti-natalist views, treats this mysterious feline as if it were his own child.

SEED is drawn taut with a sense of foreboding that’s difficult to place. Strange coincidences occur that fail all logic. It’s a propulsive storyline that untangles much of Mitch’s backstory as it progresses and gives pause to how much one is willing to forego in the name of love and companionship.

The novel questions what it means to live ethically and equally, and how often this can contradict with human desire. Mitch is reasonable, even logical to a flaw and yet his personal circumstances demonstrate how fallible the human condition can be, and how empathy does not necessarily go hand in hand with one’s own value system.

SEED felt like the beginnings of a series that’s yet to come to fruition, a taster for something much larger at play. While it did unravel a little towards the end with crucial questions left unanswered, its premise of morality when faced against an inevitable climate crisis was packaged nicely as a fascinating character study.

Find more of my reviews on Instagram: @tackling.my.tbr

[Elysha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This isn't a book where everything is resolved and neatly tied up in a bow. Bri Lee's books make you THINK and QUESTION and I love this.

The philosophical and thought-provoking questions are brilliant. This book raises a number of very real themes around animal suffering, the environment, the ethics of having children, religion, gender equality (and more).

Bri Lee plants 'seeds' for the reader to think about and she does so expertly. If some of the themes cause you discomfort, good, that's the point. That's cognitive dissonance baby!!

I loved this book. Bri Lee tackled BIG topics in a relatively short book and she did it with her research seeping through.

I was enthralled throughout the whole book wondering how it felt both compelling and quick, but also slow (in the literary fiction sense) at the same time?! Genius.

I was awake until 2am because of this book. Not because I was reading it, but because I finished and was THINKING about it.

The best books are those that you keep thinking about long after you've finished them and Seed definitely makes that list.

[Ash (sundrenchedpage) · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐½

Seed is a wonderfully unique novel set in Antarctica, where two biologists, Mitchell and Frances, work in an isolated seed vault. They are preserving the botanical future of the planet, so themes such as climate change, the ethics of reproduction and humanity's toll on the world at the forefront of this story.

What I loved about this book is how the character of Mitchell was written. In the first half of the book, I found him unlikeable and hard to connect with, but as the story went on his character became increasingly complex. I did find myself being more and more immersed in the story as it went on, and despite the wild, open spaces of Antarctica, the aurhor has somehow managed to make the landscape seem claustrophobic and tense, with an ever constant presence of threat amongst the beauty.

I did find it difficult to grasp what was going on early in the story, and even now that I'm finished I'm still not sure I understood everything about the seed vault. I would have loved more chapters where we saw how the seed vault functioned at different phases of the project.

Overall, I think if you enjoy literary fiction that provides an unflinching character study and tackles some heavy, interesting themes, you will really enjoy this novel.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Katja Ehler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really enjoying the building slow burn tension, the morally complex characters and the claustrophobic but isolated setting, everything felt so intentional!!

And then suddenly the last 5 chapters were so intense it felt like I was reading a different book and then it just ended…

You know when you’re boogie boarding and you see a big wave building and you get all excited for it and then randomly it just never crashes, like you might see a bit of white foam but then it just disappears?? Yeah reading this book felt like that

[Sarah Jagoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I found the start sort of slow, but by halfway I was committed. I am in awe that this is only Bri Lee’s second fiction title ever and she’s not only written an emotionally moving novel, but also written about such a niche topic. Would have rated 5, but it wasn’t long enough, I wanted more of a resolution at the end!

[Brad Barlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. It is a true rarity when an author can nail the fine line of combining genuine literature with heart pacing thrilling fiction. This book asks some deep philosophical and urgent questions whilst maintaining a creepy damn undercurrent throughout.

I cannot understate just how damn eerie this book is

[Bree Roscoe · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a genuinely frustrating book. So many questions, so few answers; barely any plot progress for 7/8ths of the book and then a frenetic pace change in the last 50 pages; and an ending that leaves everything hanging. I can’t remember the last time a book has felt like such a waste of time.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Main character was verrrrry frustrating at times, especially in the first half. I enjoyed the plot quite a lot for most of it though, literally smashed the whole thing out in the afternoon, but the last 10% added things AND THEN did not resolve things enough and I am annoyed about it ughhh.

[Libby · Rating 3 out of 5]

okay, what was that. I hated the protagonist , hated the way women were portrayed and the ending was very rushed. I enjoyed the fact I couldn’t put it down.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

About a quarter of the the way through this book I went searching for interviews with Lee because I wanted to know whether she’d intentionally made her main character so obnoxiously, naively irritating, or if this was a subconscious (or worse, conscious) choice on the part of someone who doesn’t realise how sanctimonious they sound to others.

I found this: https://fashionjournal.com.au/life/br...

In it, she describes her decision to write the book thusly: “it’s really asking what we owe each other in the climate emergency, what our obligations are as individuals and as part of larger societies, and how we can possibly do the right thing at this stage of the climate emergency. And I wanted to put it in an absolute page turner so that people would actually read it, instead of feeling like they should eat their vegetables. Unfortunately, I think this is how a lot of climate fiction ends up.”

Firstly, one of my biggest bugbears is authors holidaying in a genre they’d normally turn their noses up at because they want to move units, and because they think that playing dress-up in the traits of something they would never read will be easy. It never is, and they never do a good job. If Lee thinks this is “an absolute page turner”, all that tells me is that she’s never read Michael Crichton or Neal Stephenson, who have both written many books that manage to ask deep scientific and philosophical questions while simultaneously making me chew my own hand off with suspense.

For Lee to describe her own painfully didactic novel as “vegetables”, she implies that she believes it’s Important Work that needs to be read, and that the only thing holding it back is that most people don’t want to read what’s good for them. The trouble is, you can’t prescribe books like medication. Writing climate fiction isn’t going to reduce carbon emissions, and reading it won’t lower the sea level.

And even if they did, this novel’s problem isn’t that it’s destined to be under-read, it’s that Lee decided to have her narrator Mitchell, the world’s most annoying volcel, just say everything that’s bad about the climate crisis. Over and over and over again. While he bemoans his ex-wife’s desire to have children because she changed her mind on him. He whines and pontificates and rails at humanity, he blames society in general for the problems he is obsessed with while screaming at individual people who don’t meet his imaginary standards. He is a ball of anxieties and inconsistencies wrapped up in an obnoxiously self-satisfied package, and for some reason Lee decided that this would be the important climate crisis work that would change hearts and minds?

Mitchell, a man who is staunchly child-free and actually the editor of an anti-natalism journal that keeps having to distance itself from the incel community, says things like “Where was the line between a humble acknowledgement of my limited understanding of this world and idiotic naivety?”, and “It hurt my feelings that she didn't call this place home” completely without irony. He appreciates Frances, the only other scientist with him in the secret seed vault in deepest Antarctica, because he takes comfort in her frankness and other autistic-coded traits, knowing he can always rely on her to be honest and unemotional, but he gives nothing similar back to her. When she says they need to go overland to McMurdo if their helicopter doesn’t arrive, he privately thinks “That was so completely and utterly batshit there was no way it could come to pass. Poor Frances was panicking. Bonkers” but he says none of this to her.

Instead his inner monologue is filled with his own irrationality about the mystery cat that showed up in their habitat, obsession with his past mistakes, fixation on his ex-wife, imaginary scenarios where she still secretly loves him, and constant complaining about everyone who ruined the world. It honestly beggars belief that Lee thought his would be a voice sympathetic enough to have us eat our vegetables, just because she cleverly thought to hide them inside a clumsy science thriller that is, at best, only a page-turner for the last quarter. I will admit that last quarter was a decent attempt at a thriller, and pushed things along fairly well, which does unfortunately highlight just how little action there was in the rest of the book.

Hidden vegetables are still vegetables, and these ones are particularly unpalatable because the cook didn’t even like the recipe, she just thought more people would see it because it was based on a popular dish.

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

A couple of loose ends not tied off really pied me off
However, loved the protagonists journey of antinatalist to literally holding a baby at the end.

[Amy Plant · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bri Lee’s fiction is not for me

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Major spoilers: Strangely captivating! It felt very original which is what kept me going. I liked the slow build up and the exploration of the antinatalism ideas. I would have felt a stronger ending would have been a happily ever after one - they get the plane and it’s left unknown about what decisions the characters then make (and what’s left of the world?)

I would have loved more explanation of what was happening. Presumably they were being spied on by the Russians? The cat and the odd things that were happening were completely separate to the volcano eruption which knocked out the comms and led to the creation of the giant iceberg? Basically the major external tension wasn’t resolved?

All good with sex in books, but it was every few pages. Why? And for someone so against having children, he didn’t seem to care about the risk, no matter if he thought it to be small (and he already knew that he could!)

If I hadn’t known the author, I would have thought this was a case of a man writing women badly. The period descriptions just felt off. Yes endo is bad, but Frances just gave up so quickly that she couldn’t work for a week. Who doesn’t bring emergency pills when there’s a high risk of having to overstay due to weather even in normal times?

And I know, I know it’s fiction. But a 6-month pregnant woman would not get an exemption to stay at McMurdo!

[Janet Rayner · Rating 4 out of 5]

It dragged on a little at the beginning but everything made sense and made it a really good book in the last 100 pages. if she wrote a sequel I would be keen to read it!

[Bonnie R-V · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started reading this at the airport while extremely sleep deprived and a little hungover, and assumed the circumstances would prevent me from reading more than a few pages. I was wrong. It was so easy to get into that I read the entire thing in the space of a few hours. The writing was marvellous and created such vivid imagery, and I was a big fan of the way the characters’ backstories were drip fed throughout; it made the whole thing feel very suspenseful.

[Anita Tymkiw · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a suspenseful read. Two scientists are storing and cataloguing seeds in a secret facility in Antarctica as a kind of insurance policy for the future. Anomalies occur from the outset of their posting that generate paranoia in one scientist which is countered by rational explanations and denial from the other. When they don’t get picked up for their return home as scheduled, the back story of each scientist starts to be revealed in tandem with the growing pace of anxiety and sense of lurking badness and scary unknowns. These revelations provide an equally compelling story with particularly fascinating dynamics between two people who live and sleep with each other but keep much of their true selves secret. Character complexities and contradictions feature throughout as the narrator and protagonist, Mitch, grapples with personal conflict between his values, logic and irrational love. I really enjoyed this read.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mitchell and Frances are environmental scientists spending the summer(?) in Antarctica planting seeds for future generations. What they were actually doing still confused me a little as they didn't seem to spend a lot of time doing it and I'm not sure why this is being done in one of the most inhospitable places on earth.

The story is promoted as a literary thriller. The literary I get after reading it but the thriller I don't. The only time I really felt any suspense was the last 10 pages which by the way were great and this was my favourite part of the story.

Not a lot happens in the story. Mitch and Frances are co-workers with benefits. However, I was never sure if they actually liked each other. Mitch as narrator, philosophises a lot and there clearly is a message around climate change and its impacts but I'm still not sure what I'm supposed to take away from the story.

I struggled to like both characters, however, Lee writes in such a way that I found it easy to turn the pages, even though there was a lot of repetition: get up, feed the cat, cut some ice, do something with the seeds, have lunch, dinner and sex. Then do it all again the next day. Lee does a great job making the reader feel they're experiencing the bitter cold and the confinement of the housing and environment.

Both Mitch and Frances carry deep relational which Lee explores which in the second half of the story helped me develop some empathy for them both.

I'm not unhappy that I read 'Seed' but I wouldn't recommend it.

I received an early ebook copy from Simon & Schuster via NetGalley but this had no influence on my review.

[Luisa Bedoya Taborda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seed is an absolutely brilliant novel that asks urgent, uncompromising questions, many for which I do not have a response. “Is it narcissism en masse or racism en masse that prevents the normalisation of adoption?”

[Anne Fenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has joined my ‘book of the year’ category. It’s unusual in lots of ways. We know about a seed vault in the northern hemisphere, that’s a fact. This sets up a seed vault in Antarctica in the near future, countries going under water are desperate to preserve their unique seeds. It’s a highly organised facility with strict protocols keeping the location secret and sealed. Working safely to maintain life in such a dangerous environment is a huge part of the narrative. The author’s record of her research within this field adds authenticity to a fascinating story.
Two characters, Frances and Mitchell inhabit the vault for a month, to test and record new seeds. They are deeply complex creations, opposites in many ways, really stretched by their need to interact. Events put them under extreme pressure, genuine life and death situations where trust is key. The ending is heart stopping, it rounded off what moves from a quiet build up to unease, increasing concerns, then terrible danger.
It novel raises moral questions, about the conflict between population growth, dwindling resources for the planet and the natural needs for love and family.
These are dramatically explored through competing personalties of Frances and Mitchell.
For all that it’s not actually reflecting the current experience of life for many of us, the story is a vivid imagining of our future and it’s a disturbing picture.
I think it’s a brilliant novel, clear and crisp in expression, with a powerfully engaging plot.

[Belinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

M heart is still pounding as I’ve just finished this. The last 50 pages had a hectic pace.

I spent the first three quarters of the book hating Mitchell but in the end I liked him. I did date a bloke like him many moons ago. Very intelligent, superficially attractive, a scientist and an avowed anti-natalist. His prior long term partner had left him as he didn’t want kids but I think no she still loved him and hoped he would change while she went travelling . He also insisted they had separate bank accounts and split everything 50/50. Not only stingey with sperm but also money. I didn’t stick around past date 2 to see how that would pan out. I suspect he still loved her too. Mitchell realised the error of his ways but did that guy? Who knows. I quite enjoyed this dark thriller. Full of climate angst.

I can see the comparison with ‘dark wild shore’. I think this story is grittier. Less kids and love story elements here. More introspection from a depressed and at times suicidal , tortured biologist. Interesting work Bri Lee. Bravo.

Read for Dymocks book club.

[Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to pick this one up when I saw the main character is called Mitchell, and the blurb begins with "Mitchell is a brilliant biologist."

The isolation and beauty of Antarctica is a central character in this book, and there's a current of tension running through this book that really drives the narrative and makes it an engaging read. I was a little let down by the ending, in that I feel a lot was left unanswered or wasn't as exciting as it was perhaps implied to be.

The relationship between Mitchell and Frances is very interesting, with her personality and his both meshing and clashing in brilliant ways. This is the sort of book that makes you wonder what a month in Antarctica might do to you, too.

[Stuart Austin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve always been fascinated by remote places which is why I thought I’d give this book a go, set in remote Antarctica at a seed storage facility. The characters’ worlds had shrunk to the size of the research facility and their fate became unknown after a scheduled pick up failed to eventuate. As a result, the reader is brought along on the characters’ small world existence, where the importance of menial tasks and their relationship became amplified. I think the author was hoping for a nail biting thriller/mystery with overtones of human relationships. But for me, it missed the mark. I found the characters painful and self-indulgent and honestly cared more about the cat in the story.

[Rachel Holland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Snow, spies and adventure. What more could you want from an Antarctic novel? This was my favourite of Bri Lee’s works. I loved the pace, scenery and character development.

A lot of reviews centred around the insufferable protagonist, Mitchell. But Lee was entirely intentional with Mitchell’s character and flaws. He represents the insufferable self-righteous ‘feminist’ men so many of us have encountered. Lee was calculated in unravelling his ideologies and flaws bit by bit until we get to know this insecure, lonely and scared man by the end of the novel. When shit hits the fan, the women in Mitchell’s life pick up the pieces, accurately referencing women’s emotional labour in times of crisis.

This was a massive improvement from her previous novel The Work. Great start to my 2026 reading!

[CarolinaBookBliss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seed by Bri Lee.
Audiobook narrated by Luke Arnold.
This wasa thought provoking and engaging novel.
The Audiobook narration waa great and helped brinf the charactersto life. The characters are well developed, and the protagonist is intriguing. With a slow burning tension, this book tackles deep topics with care and nuance.
A true page turner that I really enjoyed.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this Advanced Release Copy.