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Accelerated Growth Environment
Dr. Jorna Benton is proud to be the Principal Scientist for the Climasphere, a massive, sea-going ecological nursery capable of supporting nearly every biome on Earth. On its inaugural mission to restore and re-wild collapsing ecosystems along the Atlantic coast, Jorna manages the Climasphere’s habitat and harvest, while her colleague—and inconveniently attractive commander—Ava Kaysar directs the rest of the vessel’s critical operations.
When an explosion rocks the Climasphere, Jorna’s carefully-managed world is thrown into chaos, threatening both her personal and her professional future. And she’s the prime suspect.
To clear her name, save the mission, and preserve her chance at a future with Kaysar, Jorna must finally confront the secret she’s been running from all these a family and a faith that could destroy her.
When an explosion rocks the Climasphere, Jorna’s carefully-managed world is thrown into chaos, threatening both her personal and her professional future. And she’s the prime suspect.
To clear her name, save the mission, and preserve her chance at a future with Kaysar, Jorna must finally confront the secret she’s been running from all these a family and a faith that could destroy her.
- GenresScience FictionThriller
149 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 3, 2026
1 person is currently reading
61 people want to read
About the author
Lauren C. Teffeau
26 books35 followersLauren C. Teffeau was born and raised on the East Coast, educated in the South, employed in the Midwest, and now lives and dreams in the high desert of New Mexico. When she was younger, she poked around in the back of wardrobes, tried to walk through mirrors, and always kept an eye out for secret passages, fairy rings, and messages from aliens. She was disappointed. Now, she writes to cope with her ordinary existence. Her environmental fantasy novella A Hunger with No Name will be published by University of Tampa Press in the fall of 2024. Her novel Implanted (2018, Angry Robot), mashing up cyberpunk, solarpunk, adventure, and romance, was shortlisted for the 2019 Compton Crook award for best first SF/F/H novel and named a definitive work of climate fiction by Grist. She's published over twenty short stories in a variety of speculative fiction magazines and anthologies. In addition to a bachelor’s degree in English, she also holds a master’s degree in Mass Communication and spent a few years toiling as a researcher in academia. To learn more, please visit http://laurencteffeau.com.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 23, 2026
Review originally on JamReads
Accelerated Growth Environment is a cli-fi novella written by Lauren C. Teffeau, published by Shiraki Press. A well-executed and fast-paced proposal full of mystery with a certainly interesting main character at the center of everything, and enveloped by an excellent worldbuilding that goes along with the themes of the novella.
Dr. Jorna Benton is the Principal Scientist for the Climasphere, a massive sea-going ecological nursery capable of supporting nearly every biome on Earth; its inaugural mission is to restore the collapsing ecosystems of the Atlantic coast. A series of minor glitches start to build into something bigger, and Jorna will have to discover what's going on before it's too late, especially as she's pointed as the main suspect.
Jorna is a really intriguing character, as unraveling the mystery behind the glitches also means getting to understand her past: escaped from an anti-technology cult, and a firm believer in the cause she's working on. A strong lead character, with a sidekick personal assistant AI that serves to ease a bit the tension across the narration.
The bits of sapphic romance with Commander Kaiser are also a nice touch to the novella, especially those maybe yes-maybe not moments until everything goes to hell.
In general, we have an enjoyable read, with those elements of solarpunk that help create such a unique setting as the Climasphere. While a bit short, if you like mysteries in the sci-fi genre, I would totally recommend this novella by Lauren C. Teffeau.
Accelerated Growth Environment is a cli-fi novella written by Lauren C. Teffeau, published by Shiraki Press. A well-executed and fast-paced proposal full of mystery with a certainly interesting main character at the center of everything, and enveloped by an excellent worldbuilding that goes along with the themes of the novella.
Dr. Jorna Benton is the Principal Scientist for the Climasphere, a massive sea-going ecological nursery capable of supporting nearly every biome on Earth; its inaugural mission is to restore the collapsing ecosystems of the Atlantic coast. A series of minor glitches start to build into something bigger, and Jorna will have to discover what's going on before it's too late, especially as she's pointed as the main suspect.
Jorna is a really intriguing character, as unraveling the mystery behind the glitches also means getting to understand her past: escaped from an anti-technology cult, and a firm believer in the cause she's working on. A strong lead character, with a sidekick personal assistant AI that serves to ease a bit the tension across the narration.
The bits of sapphic romance with Commander Kaiser are also a nice touch to the novella, especially those maybe yes-maybe not moments until everything goes to hell.
In general, we have an enjoyable read, with those elements of solarpunk that help create such a unique setting as the Climasphere. While a bit short, if you like mysteries in the sci-fi genre, I would totally recommend this novella by Lauren C. Teffeau.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This book is ideal for a short, no-nonsense action read when you don’t have the bandwidth to commit to a longer scifi novel. Featuring eco-terrorism, cults, and a little romance, it’s a perfect palate cleanser after a heavier read. Perfect for fans of books like To be Taught, If Fortunate and Full Speed to a Crash Landing.
The plot heavily focuses on the two female leads, both strong, smart, powerful women. While I think that the character arcs and romantic subplot would have benefitted from a longer, more complex book, the novella does what it sets out to do: gives the reader lots of action with a side helping of yearning. I greatly enjoyed the AI robot assistant, which is hardly a surprise with my affinity for robots in fiction. If you enjoyed The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport, the robot here has similar vibes.
Short, fast-paced, and ultimately enjoyable, this was a good book to take a break with after some recent emotionally heavy reads.
Thank you to Netgalley and Shiraki Press for generously providing me with a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
The plot heavily focuses on the two female leads, both strong, smart, powerful women. While I think that the character arcs and romantic subplot would have benefitted from a longer, more complex book, the novella does what it sets out to do: gives the reader lots of action with a side helping of yearning. I greatly enjoyed the AI robot assistant, which is hardly a surprise with my affinity for robots in fiction. If you enjoyed The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport, the robot here has similar vibes.
Short, fast-paced, and ultimately enjoyable, this was a good book to take a break with after some recent emotionally heavy reads.
Thank you to Netgalley and Shiraki Press for generously providing me with a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Shiraki Press are a small independent publisher of hopepunk short-form fiction; Accelerated Growth Environment is their first release and, at 115 relatively fast-paced pages, it is a lovely quick read.
Dr Benton, our protagonist, is principal scientist on the Climasphere, a massive ocean-going nursery-ship to help restore and rewild Earth’s ravaged ecosystems; she is responsible for all the biology/ecology stuff and Commander Kaysar is in charge of everything else. The two women are beginning to work out how to navigate their mutual romantic attraction when there’s an explosion and Dr Benton appears to be the obvious culprit. From this setup, and with the involvement of a wonderfully cranky chief engineer and a delightfully naïve AI/robot, we see the two women try to find out what’s actually going on and how to make sure the Climasphere’s inaugural mission doesn’t end up in a major disaster.
Given the raison d’être of the publisher is to provide “stories of hope, in spite of everything”, we know going in that everything is going to end up broadly ok, but this doesn’t impair the thriller-ness of the book. And, while the book could perhaps benefit from a little tightening around the edges, it’s a good solid entertaining read. I enjoyed seeing the story play out and appreciated the guns that I hadn’t noticed Chekov put on the mantlepiece. I’m pleased to see that Shiraki’s début title was far from disappointing and I’m looking forward to the second ARC of theirs that I have in my queue and what the future will bring for both Shiraki Press and Lauren Teffeau.
I received an advance copy from NetGalley in the expectation of an honest review.
Dr Benton, our protagonist, is principal scientist on the Climasphere, a massive ocean-going nursery-ship to help restore and rewild Earth’s ravaged ecosystems; she is responsible for all the biology/ecology stuff and Commander Kaysar is in charge of everything else. The two women are beginning to work out how to navigate their mutual romantic attraction when there’s an explosion and Dr Benton appears to be the obvious culprit. From this setup, and with the involvement of a wonderfully cranky chief engineer and a delightfully naïve AI/robot, we see the two women try to find out what’s actually going on and how to make sure the Climasphere’s inaugural mission doesn’t end up in a major disaster.
Given the raison d’être of the publisher is to provide “stories of hope, in spite of everything”, we know going in that everything is going to end up broadly ok, but this doesn’t impair the thriller-ness of the book. And, while the book could perhaps benefit from a little tightening around the edges, it’s a good solid entertaining read. I enjoyed seeing the story play out and appreciated the guns that I hadn’t noticed Chekov put on the mantlepiece. I’m pleased to see that Shiraki’s début title was far from disappointing and I’m looking forward to the second ARC of theirs that I have in my queue and what the future will bring for both Shiraki Press and Lauren Teffeau.
I received an advance copy from NetGalley in the expectation of an honest review.
March 21, 2026
What a fun cli-fi story! Well executed, fast paced, and an overall hopeful vision for the future. I liked the interplay between religious cults, eco-terrorists, and those working to create a better future. The banter was well done, and had me snickering along. I don't want the environment to be destroyed, but living in a climasphere surrounded by growing plants sounds pretty ideal to me!
March 6, 2026
What a great novella! Lauren C. Teffeau packs a lot in these pages, from the climasphere's rich and fascinating setting to the protagonist's past and growth. The romantic subplot was adorable and fit perfectly with the rest of the story. I gobbled it up in just a few hours.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This was basically exactly what I hoped this book would be, I saw it and immediately ran to see if I could get an early copy. The story was so good and so exciting, I was shocked at all the action; it was so good, I was on the edge of my seat for literally like 70% of the whole book.
I do have to say I wish some of the terms and sciencey stuff would have been explained, maybe a better description of why the climasphere and whole ship / unit thing was needed, I also massively underestimated the size until I looked at the cover again, it’s also just hard to picture it all? I think if I was using big adult worts here, I would say that the world building needed to be worked on a little bit. I did still love the book though, I just think it’s important to explain the reduction of a star early on.
I loved all the characters and how they were written, I felt connected to them in such a short time, they all had their own individual personalities and were fleshed out well, Jorna was the main character, and who we see the book through, I loved Jorna, my little science girlie who is avoiding a whole ship just to avoid one person, she loves her job so so so much and its nice to experience someone who loves their job so much honestly, she would do anything for that Climasphere and she proves that more than she should have had to. Her whole family situation is devastating, completely devastating, but even though she can’t see it herself, she is super strong now, she is so smart and so amazing and a really good person who cares about saving the world, and is basically in charge of doing that, she IS in charge of a really important part of that.
I also LOVED SAVVY, who wouldn’t, total scene stealer, I imagined them having a total diva voice and I loved how they said ‘so’ before stuff, like ‘so acknowledged’ I would laugh each time, and how they were overly invested in Jornas personal life. The Captain was also a good character, she’s the one I feel like definitely paid for the book being shorter, I think she would have been more enjoyable if the book was longer. I understood her job is serious and she takes it seriously and whatever, but that part where she was heartbreaking, I get she was basically being a good captain by putting the ship first but still, I feel like if the book was longer we would have got to experience more of the romantic, nice, off duty Ava that Jorna sees so easily.
In short, I really did enjoy the thriller aspect of this book, and the sort of post world destruction part of it was super interesting and amazing, the book just needed to be longer. Not even by much, another 100 pages would have probably been enough, but hey it’s out now and it is what it is. It’s just left me wanting more. And the lack of descriptions of essential to understand aspects have left me unable to enjoy the book as it should have been.
I do have to say I wish some of the terms and sciencey stuff would have been explained, maybe a better description of why the climasphere and whole ship / unit thing was needed, I also massively underestimated the size until I looked at the cover again, it’s also just hard to picture it all? I think if I was using big adult worts here, I would say that the world building needed to be worked on a little bit. I did still love the book though, I just think it’s important to explain the reduction of a star early on.
I loved all the characters and how they were written, I felt connected to them in such a short time, they all had their own individual personalities and were fleshed out well, Jorna was the main character, and who we see the book through, I loved Jorna, my little science girlie who is avoiding a whole ship just to avoid one person, she loves her job so so so much and its nice to experience someone who loves their job so much honestly, she would do anything for that Climasphere and she proves that more than she should have had to. Her whole family situation is devastating, completely devastating, but even though she can’t see it herself, she is super strong now, she is so smart and so amazing and a really good person who cares about saving the world, and is basically in charge of doing that, she IS in charge of a really important part of that.
I also LOVED SAVVY, who wouldn’t, total scene stealer, I imagined them having a total diva voice and I loved how they said ‘so’ before stuff, like ‘so acknowledged’ I would laugh each time, and how they were overly invested in Jornas personal life. The Captain was also a good character, she’s the one I feel like definitely paid for the book being shorter, I think she would have been more enjoyable if the book was longer. I understood her job is serious and she takes it seriously and whatever, but that part where she was heartbreaking, I get she was basically being a good captain by putting the ship first but still, I feel like if the book was longer we would have got to experience more of the romantic, nice, off duty Ava that Jorna sees so easily.
In short, I really did enjoy the thriller aspect of this book, and the sort of post world destruction part of it was super interesting and amazing, the book just needed to be longer. Not even by much, another 100 pages would have probably been enough, but hey it’s out now and it is what it is. It’s just left me wanting more. And the lack of descriptions of essential to understand aspects have left me unable to enjoy the book as it should have been.
March 13, 2026
𝗔𝗖𝗖𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗚𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗧𝗛 𝗘𝗡𝗩𝗜𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧
✍🏽 Lauren C. Teffeau
⭐⭐⭐⭐
📚 Book #27 of 2026
⚠️ Trigger Warnings: family betrayal, religious trauma, sabotage and false accusation, explosion and physical danger
“Don’t sell yourself short, Doctor. Independent thinking is one of the hardest qualities to cultivate in a world at odds with itself.”
Dr. Jorna Benton is the Principal Scientist aboard the Climasphere, a massive sea-going ecological nursery on a mission to restore collapsing ecosystems along the Atlantic coast. She has a plan. She always has a plan. What she did not plan for is her inconveniently attractive commander Ava Kaysar, a tampered AI assistant, a religious past she has spent years outrunning, and being the prime suspect in a sabotage she would never in a million years commit.
This book is 158 pages and it earns every single one of them. Lauren C. Teffeau packs in climate sci-fi, slow burn romance, a mystery, a family betrayal, and genuine world-building without any of it feeling rushed or shortchanged. The Climasphere itself is an absolute marvel of a setting and I am still thinking about the food printer. Someone make this real immediately.
Jorna is a delightful protagonist, deeply type A, carrying the weight of a mission she believes in completely, and haunted by a faith and a family she left behind. The mystery at the heart of this story is genuinely well constructed and the villain when revealed makes complete and heartbreaking sense. Savvy, Jorna’s AI assistant, is an absolute scene stealer and the fact that it was tampered with but still trying to leave hints broke my heart a little.
The romantic tension between Jorna and Ava is so much fun to read, every interrupted moment is both maddening and deeply satisfying, and the payoff is worth it.
My one note is that I would have happily spent another hundred pages in this world. That is not a complaint so much as a testament to how fully realized everything feels for such a compact story.
This is the debut release from brand new indie press Shiraki Press and if this is the bar they are setting, I will be watching them very closely.
✍🏽 Lauren C. Teffeau
⭐⭐⭐⭐
📚 Book #27 of 2026
⚠️ Trigger Warnings: family betrayal, religious trauma, sabotage and false accusation, explosion and physical danger
“Don’t sell yourself short, Doctor. Independent thinking is one of the hardest qualities to cultivate in a world at odds with itself.”
Dr. Jorna Benton is the Principal Scientist aboard the Climasphere, a massive sea-going ecological nursery on a mission to restore collapsing ecosystems along the Atlantic coast. She has a plan. She always has a plan. What she did not plan for is her inconveniently attractive commander Ava Kaysar, a tampered AI assistant, a religious past she has spent years outrunning, and being the prime suspect in a sabotage she would never in a million years commit.
This book is 158 pages and it earns every single one of them. Lauren C. Teffeau packs in climate sci-fi, slow burn romance, a mystery, a family betrayal, and genuine world-building without any of it feeling rushed or shortchanged. The Climasphere itself is an absolute marvel of a setting and I am still thinking about the food printer. Someone make this real immediately.
Jorna is a delightful protagonist, deeply type A, carrying the weight of a mission she believes in completely, and haunted by a faith and a family she left behind. The mystery at the heart of this story is genuinely well constructed and the villain when revealed makes complete and heartbreaking sense. Savvy, Jorna’s AI assistant, is an absolute scene stealer and the fact that it was tampered with but still trying to leave hints broke my heart a little.
The romantic tension between Jorna and Ava is so much fun to read, every interrupted moment is both maddening and deeply satisfying, and the payoff is worth it.
My one note is that I would have happily spent another hundred pages in this world. That is not a complaint so much as a testament to how fully realized everything feels for such a compact story.
This is the debut release from brand new indie press Shiraki Press and if this is the bar they are setting, I will be watching them very closely.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 10, 2026
Accelerated Growth Environment is a new Cli-Fi novella length story, one of my favorite jams. The story centers around the Climasphere, an oceangoing vessel that contains and replicates biomes from around the world. It’s one of a fleet of these new ships, intended to help replenish depleted biospheres. The plants within grow quickly in this specialized environment, hence the title.
Honestly, the title was my least favorite part of the book. I think the author was going for a metaphor here, but it fell a little flat.
That said, the rest of the book more than made up for that small issue. It’s told from the point of view of Jorna, a woman who escaped from an anti-technology cult as a child and grew up to be a specialist in biology and biospheres. It’s her job to make sure the plants keep growing and everything in the Climasphere is running smoothly.
A series of small glitches begins to build up to something larger, and she has to figure out what’s going on before it is too late.
Her past haunts her, as does a chance encounter with the captain of the ship, Commander Kayser, with whom she had a very brief romantic fling before finding out Kayser was her new boss. And when her past decides to stop haunting her and shows up in her present day life, everything goes to hell.
I loved the idea of the Climasphere, as well as her personal assistant AI sidekick Savvy. There’s a great thread of hope here, combined with tensionm as one thing after another goes wrong in the great ship and Jorna gets the blame.
There’s also a will-they won’t-they queer romance between Jorna and Ava Kayser that faces a series of speed bumps, as the two try to navigate their work relationship and their potential personal one.
An enjoyable read. I love the blending of solarpunk, and hopepunk, with just a splash of mystery. The author also does a great job with the side characters, giving each their own personalities that add texture of the story.
Highly recommended.
Honestly, the title was my least favorite part of the book. I think the author was going for a metaphor here, but it fell a little flat.
That said, the rest of the book more than made up for that small issue. It’s told from the point of view of Jorna, a woman who escaped from an anti-technology cult as a child and grew up to be a specialist in biology and biospheres. It’s her job to make sure the plants keep growing and everything in the Climasphere is running smoothly.
A series of small glitches begins to build up to something larger, and she has to figure out what’s going on before it is too late.
Her past haunts her, as does a chance encounter with the captain of the ship, Commander Kayser, with whom she had a very brief romantic fling before finding out Kayser was her new boss. And when her past decides to stop haunting her and shows up in her present day life, everything goes to hell.
I loved the idea of the Climasphere, as well as her personal assistant AI sidekick Savvy. There’s a great thread of hope here, combined with tensionm as one thing after another goes wrong in the great ship and Jorna gets the blame.
There’s also a will-they won’t-they queer romance between Jorna and Ava Kayser that faces a series of speed bumps, as the two try to navigate their work relationship and their potential personal one.
An enjoyable read. I love the blending of solarpunk, and hopepunk, with just a splash of mystery. The author also does a great job with the side characters, giving each their own personalities that add texture of the story.
Highly recommended.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I'm not a big novella reader, but picked this one up because the premise rocked: we're following the Principal Scientist, Dr Jorna Benton, on board a near-future sea-going ecological nursery. It has several biomes with plants grown in each to transplant en masse along the Atlantic coast, aiming to restore & rewild collapsing ecosystems. The external plot arises because not everyone agrees with this mission, and the internal plot arises because the ship's commander, Ava Kaysar, is attractive, highly competent, and interested back.
The story is pacy, and Jorna is an interesting character to follow. The AI-bot Savvy makes me super-glad we're not in this future yet, because climate change and ecosystem destruction is bad enough, but sassy robots would honestly end me. I would like to see a little more of Ava, but I guess that's my issue with a novella, everything needs to be kept compact. The antagonists could maybe have a little more space to antagonise, too. I liked the ending ... but maybe this could turn into a series anyway?
Constructively positive climate fiction, organised hopepunk: all in all a good time reading.
This review is based upon a complimentary advance reading copy provided by the publisher.
The story is pacy, and Jorna is an interesting character to follow. The AI-bot Savvy makes me super-glad we're not in this future yet, because climate change and ecosystem destruction is bad enough, but sassy robots would honestly end me. I would like to see a little more of Ava, but I guess that's my issue with a novella, everything needs to be kept compact. The antagonists could maybe have a little more space to antagonise, too. I liked the ending ... but maybe this could turn into a series anyway?
Constructively positive climate fiction, organised hopepunk: all in all a good time reading.
This review is based upon a complimentary advance reading copy provided by the publisher.
March 28, 2026
We need more books today that show us a future that helps us imagine ways in which we can use science and technology to find solutions for dire global problems, like climate change. This book not only offers us a compelling vision of one such solution to the problem of declining biodiversity, but it also features a character who has escaped a thought prison that would choose inaction in the face of such problems, and continues to heal throughout the course of the story. There are several compelling parallels that run throughout this taut thriller, featuring lots of cool tech and compelling romantic tension. Can recommend for anyone looking for a bit of hope in an otherwise dreary timeline!
March 3, 2026
A short sci fi sapphic story with mystery and thriller elements on a spaceship. A novella length but jammed with so much stuff going on. I wish it was a bit longer to explore more around the nursery and some of the technical terms. Both characters are strong, smart and put the nature of the mission before anything else.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher. Here’s what I had to say:
High-tech, high-ecology, and high-tension family and work relationships all combine in a stunning new story from Lauren Teffeau. This adventure for humanity’s future survival will win your heart and your mind.
High-tech, high-ecology, and high-tension family and work relationships all combine in a stunning new story from Lauren Teffeau. This adventure for humanity’s future survival will win your heart and your mind.
March 26, 2026
I adore books with bold ideas, and the Climasphere in this novella is one bold AF notion. But ideas alone make not a great read. Teffeau weaves tension aplenty with characters you can't stop following to figure out and root for (and one's a bot!).
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