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The Celestial Seas
Not yet published
Expected 31 Mar 26A tale of identity, love, and the hunt for vengeance in the darkest corners of space—perfect for fans of
Iron Widow
and
Aurora Rising
!
Ishara Ming is the sole survivor of the Essex, a spacefaring whaler destroyed by the legendary Ballena. Left with a damaged memory chip and a missing arm, Ishara has vowed to avenge the twenty-three lives lost to the rogue Mech-Operated Bio-Integrated Spacecraft (MOBIS), an autonomous spacecraft containing an intricate blend of mechanical hardware and code-controlled bacteria.
To take on the Ballena, Ishara assembles a crew of capable misfits, including her first mate, Quinn, the girl who makes Ishara's heart stumble over its own beats. Quinn has always believed in her, even when the rest of the system thinks she’s a delusional captain who hallucinated the Ballena.
That is, until Augustus, a handsome ship mech with his own reasons for revenge, convinces Ishara to let him join the crew. He’s armed with a specialized tracking system Ishara can’t refuse, but there’s something familiar about him she can’t quite shake. Torn between Quinn’s cautious guidance and Augustus’s encouragement, Ishara issues increasingly risky orders. But one too many brushes with death will force her to choose between her newfound family or the vow to avenge her old one—and the two closest to her she can't help but fall for.
Inspried by Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, this retelling brings a much-needed modern update to a beloved classic.
Ishara Ming is the sole survivor of the Essex, a spacefaring whaler destroyed by the legendary Ballena. Left with a damaged memory chip and a missing arm, Ishara has vowed to avenge the twenty-three lives lost to the rogue Mech-Operated Bio-Integrated Spacecraft (MOBIS), an autonomous spacecraft containing an intricate blend of mechanical hardware and code-controlled bacteria.
To take on the Ballena, Ishara assembles a crew of capable misfits, including her first mate, Quinn, the girl who makes Ishara's heart stumble over its own beats. Quinn has always believed in her, even when the rest of the system thinks she’s a delusional captain who hallucinated the Ballena.
That is, until Augustus, a handsome ship mech with his own reasons for revenge, convinces Ishara to let him join the crew. He’s armed with a specialized tracking system Ishara can’t refuse, but there’s something familiar about him she can’t quite shake. Torn between Quinn’s cautious guidance and Augustus’s encouragement, Ishara issues increasingly risky orders. But one too many brushes with death will force her to choose between her newfound family or the vow to avenge her old one—and the two closest to her she can't help but fall for.
Inspried by Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, this retelling brings a much-needed modern update to a beloved classic.
368 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication March 31, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
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August 7, 2025very interested in a YA space Moby Dick
Want to read
August 8, 2025an action-filled sci-fi romance with a queer love triangle
Want to read
November 20, 2025pre-read notes:
ARC received! Inspired by Moby Dick, sci-fi, and that stunning cover??? 💜
ARC received! Inspired by Moby Dick, sci-fi, and that stunning cover??? 💜
October 21, 2025
THE CELESTIAL SEAS is an action-packed thrill ride with stellar worldbuilding and a wonderfully flawed protagonist. It's YA Sci-Fi at its finest.
Now, this is the part where I admit I haven't read Moby Dick. So a lot of the references in this book, which is a loose Moby Dick retelling, were probably lost on me. But! The space whales were really cool. This book has a really interesting take on what constitutes a living creature vs a machine.
The worldbuilding was seriously, deeply impressive. The technical details will appeal to readers who are STEM nerds, but there's also a lot to love here in terms of language, culture, etc. The vibes were kind of like a YA "The Expanse", which is one of my favorite series of all time.
Anyone who knows me knows I love a messy protagonist, and Ishara Ming is definitely a mess. I think that's great. It makes it easy to root for her as she confronts her past, her flaws, and the possibility of a future she didn't think was possible.
Overall, this is also just a very well-written book, with vivid imagery and some gorgeous turns of phrase. I have to emphasize again just HOW COOL the setting is.
Thank you so much to the author and publisher for this early look!
Now, this is the part where I admit I haven't read Moby Dick. So a lot of the references in this book, which is a loose Moby Dick retelling, were probably lost on me. But! The space whales were really cool. This book has a really interesting take on what constitutes a living creature vs a machine.
The worldbuilding was seriously, deeply impressive. The technical details will appeal to readers who are STEM nerds, but there's also a lot to love here in terms of language, culture, etc. The vibes were kind of like a YA "The Expanse", which is one of my favorite series of all time.
Anyone who knows me knows I love a messy protagonist, and Ishara Ming is definitely a mess. I think that's great. It makes it easy to root for her as she confronts her past, her flaws, and the possibility of a future she didn't think was possible.
Overall, this is also just a very well-written book, with vivid imagery and some gorgeous turns of phrase. I have to emphasize again just HOW COOL the setting is.
Thank you so much to the author and publisher for this early look!
December 4, 2025
I like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for this read.
So, for a debut, this is a really solid book. It was inspired by Moby Dick, obviously it doesn't follow the story beat by beat, but it takes the inspiration from the whale and the Captain who is attempting to chase it down and kill it.
The plot is pretty straight-forward, and the action is non stop. It's a YA book, but for a YA book it drops a lot of technical jargon and scientific terms which is solid in my book. There is also the fact the main character is bi, which is solid in my book (she has her sights on the tracker in her team.) I liked the other characters and I liked that they all had something to do instead of just being on the ship for the sake of having a crew.
So why did I rake it down a star? I think it comes from that this book could not in any way expect me to believe this girl is tough / captain of a ship. She's eighteen (or around about) and at one point she was like, "there are consequences for disobeying my orders". In my eyes, she is all talk and no real bite. Sure, she had something traumatic happen to her, but she just came off young / inexperienced for me to really take her seriously. Do I think the book should have had their ages increased? Yes, I do. Yet, I don't know if the author could make the book have an adult tone / add more to it. (I also don't quite understand the strange firefly mesh of language going on - seemed like Spanish, Mandarin and English were used as the defacto slang.)
All in all, for a YA book? It's pretty good and it will fit that hole for YA kids looking for LGBTQ sci-fi.
So, for a debut, this is a really solid book. It was inspired by Moby Dick, obviously it doesn't follow the story beat by beat, but it takes the inspiration from the whale and the Captain who is attempting to chase it down and kill it.
The plot is pretty straight-forward, and the action is non stop. It's a YA book, but for a YA book it drops a lot of technical jargon and scientific terms which is solid in my book. There is also the fact the main character is bi, which is solid in my book (she has her sights on the tracker in her team.) I liked the other characters and I liked that they all had something to do instead of just being on the ship for the sake of having a crew.
So why did I rake it down a star? I think it comes from that this book could not in any way expect me to believe this girl is tough / captain of a ship. She's eighteen (or around about) and at one point she was like, "there are consequences for disobeying my orders". In my eyes, she is all talk and no real bite. Sure, she had something traumatic happen to her, but she just came off young / inexperienced for me to really take her seriously. Do I think the book should have had their ages increased? Yes, I do. Yet, I don't know if the author could make the book have an adult tone / add more to it. (I also don't quite understand the strange firefly mesh of language going on - seemed like Spanish, Mandarin and English were used as the defacto slang.)
All in all, for a YA book? It's pretty good and it will fit that hole for YA kids looking for LGBTQ sci-fi.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
~~Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the ARC!~~
2.5/5 stars rounded down.
I so wanted to love a sci-fi LGBTQ+ retelling of Moby Dick, but there were too many things not working for me here.
First and foremost, there is so much sci-fi technical jargon that I did not care for. It was all so thick and condensed that I could barely manage to picture anything happening whenever there were space battles and the like, and the characters constantly explaining the tech made the reading experience so tedious. Granted, this is where the Melville influence shines the most, and I have to give credit to Chan for retaining that vital aspect of the original story, but it still dragged down the story so much.
The worldbuilding is bare minimum. I think I lost some of it in the technical jargon, but the only thing I got was that there were two separate star systems(?), one Ishara originated from and the current one she and all the other character inhabit. Details in between were blurred and quite vague, and anything that was somewhat explained left me with more questions than answers. It just felt so disjointed.
As for characters, Ishara was definitely the most interesting and compelling, but it's not saying much when I found the rest of the cast, including the love interests, to be quite shallow. Ishara embodying both Ahab and Ishmael presents some unique struggles throughout the story, including her fighting to restore her memories. Despite my investment in her, the banter and elements of found family she has in her crew fell flat for me. I never quite believed her bond with the others, and I had an even harder time believing she was captain because her attempts to establish her leadership were too weak and inexperienced for me to believe. The mystery behind Augustus and her relationship was interesting, though, and the outcome of that was satisfying.
All in all, this was an interesting concept but not quite what I was hoping for. I dunno if I could exactly recommend this to anyone, especially when Moby Dick enthusiasts aren't much in abundance these days. But this could be an interesting read for those who have read the original (And can easily absorb the mass amounts of whaling and shipping details).
2.5/5 stars rounded down.
I so wanted to love a sci-fi LGBTQ+ retelling of Moby Dick, but there were too many things not working for me here.
First and foremost, there is so much sci-fi technical jargon that I did not care for. It was all so thick and condensed that I could barely manage to picture anything happening whenever there were space battles and the like, and the characters constantly explaining the tech made the reading experience so tedious. Granted, this is where the Melville influence shines the most, and I have to give credit to Chan for retaining that vital aspect of the original story, but it still dragged down the story so much.
The worldbuilding is bare minimum. I think I lost some of it in the technical jargon, but the only thing I got was that there were two separate star systems(?), one Ishara originated from and the current one she and all the other character inhabit. Details in between were blurred and quite vague, and anything that was somewhat explained left me with more questions than answers. It just felt so disjointed.
As for characters, Ishara was definitely the most interesting and compelling, but it's not saying much when I found the rest of the cast, including the love interests, to be quite shallow. Ishara embodying both Ahab and Ishmael presents some unique struggles throughout the story, including her fighting to restore her memories. Despite my investment in her, the banter and elements of found family she has in her crew fell flat for me. I never quite believed her bond with the others, and I had an even harder time believing she was captain because her attempts to establish her leadership were too weak and inexperienced for me to believe. The mystery behind Augustus and her relationship was interesting, though, and the outcome of that was satisfying.
All in all, this was an interesting concept but not quite what I was hoping for. I dunno if I could exactly recommend this to anyone, especially when Moby Dick enthusiasts aren't much in abundance these days. But this could be an interesting read for those who have read the original (And can easily absorb the mass amounts of whaling and shipping details).
November 2, 2025
The Celestial Seas is a ingenious retelling of Moby Dick, a thrilling read I tore through in three days. You want fascinating, flawed by endearing characters? Read this book. I loved Ishara, her pain and obsession were beautifully written and I became deeply invested in her desire to seek revenge on Ballena, the AI powered MOBIS bio-spacecraft whale that destroyed her ship and killed most of the crew she loved.
The story keeps you hooked by revealing bits and pieces of her past like breadcrumbs as it moves along. Ishara has memory issue do to Ballena's attack. I won't say more, but certain eventual revelations are breathtaking and heart-breaking.
The writing is clear and lovely and the world-building fascinating. So much intelligence and imagination went into writing this story. And one of my favourite aspects is how it explores issues we're dealing with today, specifically around technology and human being's hubris in trying to create artificial consciousness when we haven't fully explored the ethical and practical consequences.
This is a beautiful story with wonderful characters and I passionately recommend it.
The story keeps you hooked by revealing bits and pieces of her past like breadcrumbs as it moves along. Ishara has memory issue do to Ballena's attack. I won't say more, but certain eventual revelations are breathtaking and heart-breaking.
The writing is clear and lovely and the world-building fascinating. So much intelligence and imagination went into writing this story. And one of my favourite aspects is how it explores issues we're dealing with today, specifically around technology and human being's hubris in trying to create artificial consciousness when we haven't fully explored the ethical and practical consequences.
This is a beautiful story with wonderful characters and I passionately recommend it.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
2.5⭐️ I’m a bit let down that I didn’t enjoy this as much as I had hoped. There were a few aspects I liked, but also several that didn’t really resonate with me. I thought the concept of space being like an ocean and having similar descriptions was really cool, but the rest of the world-building was a bit unclear to me, which made it hard to grasp everything. This disconnect made it tough to get through the first half of the story. For characters, while Ishara is fully developed, I didn’t feel the same with the other secondary characters. There were some moments with Quinn and Augustus, but the rest didn’t really contribute much to the plot. This seems like a missed opportunity as I felt some of those characters had great potential and could have provided a stronger sense of found-family and connection. Nonetheless, thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Young Readers Group, and Viking Books for Young Readers!
November 5, 2025
A bingeable DELIGHT. The setting is so gritty and immersive, with some super fun sci-fi tech. The way the backstory is doled out is superbly done, and the romance arc is handled so well — realistic, messy, SAD, heartwarming. I love each and every character, but Leo deserves his own prequel series, just saying.
My "official" blurb:
"An action-packed, heartfelt adventure, THE CELESTIAL SEAS is a cosmic riptide of vengeance, grief, love, and hope that drags you in and refuses to let go. A glorious disaster of a captain, Ishara is reckless, scrappy, and utterly fearless. Her ragtag crew may not buy the myth she’s chasing, but they believe in the legend she's becoming -- and so will you. T.A. Chan is a bright new voice in character-driven sci-fi."
My "official" blurb:
"An action-packed, heartfelt adventure, THE CELESTIAL SEAS is a cosmic riptide of vengeance, grief, love, and hope that drags you in and refuses to let go. A glorious disaster of a captain, Ishara is reckless, scrappy, and utterly fearless. Her ragtag crew may not buy the myth she’s chasing, but they believe in the legend she's becoming -- and so will you. T.A. Chan is a bright new voice in character-driven sci-fi."
Review of advance copy received from Author
Hi! Obviously I'm a little biased being the author of the book and all that so please don't mind me... *slides a 5-star rating in*
More importantly, here's a list of all the trigger warnings I can think of for THE CELESTIAL SEAS:
More importantly, here's a list of all the trigger warnings I can think of for THE CELESTIAL SEAS:
October 1, 2025
The Celestial Seas is a clever, heartfelt sci-fi retelling of Moby Dick, and an excellent retelling, period. Chan’s worldbuilding feels wonderfully fresh, with its realistic multiculturalism and richly described interstellar vessels (Chan’s background as an aerospace engineer truly shines here). This book is epic.
October 23, 2025
The Celestial Seas takes you on the kind of high-seas swashbuckling adventure I’ve always loved, but puts it IN SPACE with SPACE WHALES. Do I even need to say more?? Also the futuristic tech is so well done. One my favorite elements in SFF is really good worldbuilding, it can make or break a book for me and the worldbuilding in The Celestial Seas delivered.
The main character Ishara was my favorite kind of messy but lovable MC and the queer romance was adorable. Thematically, this books explores identity, found family, and what it means to belong when home is worlds away. It’s the kind of book I wish I could go back in time and give to my younger self. I highly recommend!
The main character Ishara was my favorite kind of messy but lovable MC and the queer romance was adorable. Thematically, this books explores identity, found family, and what it means to belong when home is worlds away. It’s the kind of book I wish I could go back in time and give to my younger self. I highly recommend!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Space whales! Chan writes science like magic.
December 30, 2025
I got the arc version of the book from yallfest and really enjoyed it, even if I have a predisposition to male MCs. Also why is it always the golden boys, first Griffin, then Cooper, and now Augustus :[ it is very well written.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews