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A Wall Is Also a Road
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Expected 6 Oct 26From bestselling author Annalee Newitz, A Wall Is Also a Road is a thought-provoking science fiction adventure about the meaning of life and love, seen through the many eyes of an alien grad student studying a familiar backwater planet. Perfect for fans of Becky Chambers, Ryka Aoki, and Martha Wells.
Gardenpath is a graduate student in biology who desperately wants to pass their exams with the highest honor possible: a prize given to scholars who discover something truly novel in the universe. Gardenpath also happens to be an amoeba–a slime mold, to be exact–from an ancient civilization that dwells in a vast network of towers between the stars. Seeking their prize, Gardenpath heads to a remote, dangerous planet that other researchers have dismissed as dead and uninteresting. There, they are surprised to discover a complicated ecosystem unlike anything they've ever encountered–including some peculiar, multicellular animals who seem to have language and culture.
To learn more about these animals, Gardenpath changes their shape to resemble one of them. And that's how they meet a creature named Murtis, who lives in a city she calls Pompeii and works in a brothel known to locals as "the lupanar." Unfazed by a visitor who says she's from the stars, Murtis takes Gardenpath into her care, introducing her to the seaside tourist town full of immigrants and shopkeepers who are just trying to get by.
A Wall Is Also a Road is a story about what happens when the alien becomes familiar–and beloved. Gardenpath expected to finish their research, present their discovery, and take their place among the decorated scholars of the floating cities. But when they look at their wild new friend Murtis’s sensor bulb, attached to a bizarre electro-chemical control system, they begin to realize there’s more to life than academic achievement. They're not sure what it is, but they're going to use science to find out.
Gardenpath is a graduate student in biology who desperately wants to pass their exams with the highest honor possible: a prize given to scholars who discover something truly novel in the universe. Gardenpath also happens to be an amoeba–a slime mold, to be exact–from an ancient civilization that dwells in a vast network of towers between the stars. Seeking their prize, Gardenpath heads to a remote, dangerous planet that other researchers have dismissed as dead and uninteresting. There, they are surprised to discover a complicated ecosystem unlike anything they've ever encountered–including some peculiar, multicellular animals who seem to have language and culture.
To learn more about these animals, Gardenpath changes their shape to resemble one of them. And that's how they meet a creature named Murtis, who lives in a city she calls Pompeii and works in a brothel known to locals as "the lupanar." Unfazed by a visitor who says she's from the stars, Murtis takes Gardenpath into her care, introducing her to the seaside tourist town full of immigrants and shopkeepers who are just trying to get by.
A Wall Is Also a Road is a story about what happens when the alien becomes familiar–and beloved. Gardenpath expected to finish their research, present their discovery, and take their place among the decorated scholars of the floating cities. But when they look at their wild new friend Murtis’s sensor bulb, attached to a bizarre electro-chemical control system, they begin to realize there’s more to life than academic achievement. They're not sure what it is, but they're going to use science to find out.
304 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication October 6, 2026
About the author
Annalee Newitz
63 books2,129 followersAnnalee Newitz is an American journalist who covers the cultural impact of science and technology. They received a PhD in English and American Studies from UC Berkeley, and in 1997 published the widely cited book, White Trash: Race and Class in America. From 2004–2005 they were a policy analyst for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. They write for many periodicals from 'Popular Science' to 'Wired,' and from 1999 to 2008 wrote a syndicated weekly column called 'Techsploitation.' They co-founded 'other' magazine in 2002, which was published triannually until 2007. Since 2008, they are editor-in-chief of 'io9,' a Gawker-owned science fiction blog, which was named in 2010 by The Times as one of the top science blogs on the internet.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I received a free copy from Tor Books via Netgalley in exchange for a fair review. Release date October 6th, 2026.
I've read some of Newitz's work before and I've always loved books set in alien cultures, so I was happy to get a chance to read this new release. In A Wall is Also a Road, Gardenpath is an alien slime mold studying for their graduate degree in a distant part of the galaxy. Their controversial thesis threatens the scientific orthodoxy—and a key piece of their data is the city of Pompeii on our own Earth.
Overall, I found this to be a light and charming novel. Gardenpath's people have a culture similar to ours—after all, they have universities and tenure—but their body language is convincingly alien slime mold based. There's lots of extruded appendages and flattening out. The alien culture is a good medium ground for a sendup of university culture where a student goes against prevailing orthodoxy to prove life is possible on Earth. Also, genuine props to Newitz for taking a sincere shot at the slime mold sex scenes. I won't name names, but many respected scifi authors have chickened out at this critical point. Glad to see an author with convictions.
On the worldbuilding side, the scenes set in Pompeii are strongly written, and it's clear that Newitz has done their research. It's a nice touch that Murtis, the human Gardenpath is closest to, was a real courtesan who did actually exist in the period. A lot of the Roman cultural nuances go right over Gardenpath's head, but that just serves to accentuate the alienness of their POV. Gardenpath in general is naive and rulebound, which keeps the story relatively light. A different perspective character might fixate more on the nuances of a corrupt university engaging in war profiteering. But while Gardenpath engages with these elements of the plot, their primary focus is always their research and their degree.
I don't think this story would have worked for me if it featured a human time traveller, but grounding the plot in strength of the alien POV worked well. Overall, A Wall is Also a Road is a light and very readable story in the line of John Wiswell's sweet stories from a monstrous perspective.
I've read some of Newitz's work before and I've always loved books set in alien cultures, so I was happy to get a chance to read this new release. In A Wall is Also a Road, Gardenpath is an alien slime mold studying for their graduate degree in a distant part of the galaxy. Their controversial thesis threatens the scientific orthodoxy—and a key piece of their data is the city of Pompeii on our own Earth.
Overall, I found this to be a light and charming novel. Gardenpath's people have a culture similar to ours—after all, they have universities and tenure—but their body language is convincingly alien slime mold based. There's lots of extruded appendages and flattening out. The alien culture is a good medium ground for a sendup of university culture where a student goes against prevailing orthodoxy to prove life is possible on Earth. Also, genuine props to Newitz for taking a sincere shot at the slime mold sex scenes. I won't name names, but many respected scifi authors have chickened out at this critical point. Glad to see an author with convictions.
On the worldbuilding side, the scenes set in Pompeii are strongly written, and it's clear that Newitz has done their research. It's a nice touch that Murtis, the human Gardenpath is closest to, was a real courtesan who did actually exist in the period. A lot of the Roman cultural nuances go right over Gardenpath's head, but that just serves to accentuate the alienness of their POV. Gardenpath in general is naive and rulebound, which keeps the story relatively light. A different perspective character might fixate more on the nuances of a corrupt university engaging in war profiteering. But while Gardenpath engages with these elements of the plot, their primary focus is always their research and their degree.
I don't think this story would have worked for me if it featured a human time traveller, but grounding the plot in strength of the alien POV worked well. Overall, A Wall is Also a Road is a light and very readable story in the line of John Wiswell's sweet stories from a monstrous perspective.
May 16, 2026
I highly recommend this book. Go in to this book cold if you can.
I’m not quite sure where to start my review except to say that A Wall Is Also A Road explores everything I love about sci-fi. It is challenging, it is weird, it puts a spin on familiar concepts, it explores foreign concepts, and it inspires hope for the present and the future.
I would love for everyone to read this but don’t think this book is going to be a good fit for everyone. This book challenges established norms, explores gender and sexual fluidity, and provides a non-monogamous perspective on love and relationships. But if you go into this book with an open mind and a desire to engage with the content in this book, I think you will find something special within these pages like I did.
This story is about a blob/amoeba/slime-mold/single-cell person named Gardenpath. Gardenpath is part of a space faring society of amoebas, is studying at their most prestigious university, and is seeking their highest accolade - to pass the “Fifth Exam” and earn the title of Investigator. The object of their research is to examine a biological ecosystem on a planet across the other side of the galaxy and so we get two parallel intersecting stories; Gardenpath the student who is navigating university politics, and Gardenpath the researcher who gathers data by living amongst the subjects of their research.
There is so much to say but I’m mindful of this review becoming unwieldy and potential spoiling some big moments, so I’ll go with a bunch of thoughts presented as dot points.
- There is a steep learning curve that doesn’t really level out until the end of Part 1.
- The sex scenes are fascinating and weird but focus on shared joy, pleasure and experience rather than the eroticism of it.
- There is some excellent exploration and commentary on ethics in research.
- I love the way Newitz explores student naivete, especially how it’s complicated by respect for prestige and authority figures.
- There is a deep examination of relationships and connection, with a focus on the interplay between attachment and insecurities.
- The ending was exactly what this story needed, and what I as a reader needed.
Finally I want to mention the title of the book - I couldn’t find any previous uses of this title as a quote anywhere else so I this might be original from Newitz (someone please let me know if I’m wrong, I’m clearly not as good at researching as Gardenpath is). This is not just an apt title for the book but also an amazing piece of advice for living your life. The challenges in your life and roadblocks you come up against might seem to halt progress in one direction, but they are also giving you the pathway to continue your progress in other directions, to embrace change, to find comfort in the unfamiliar, to be curious.
I’m not quite sure where to start my review except to say that A Wall Is Also A Road explores everything I love about sci-fi. It is challenging, it is weird, it puts a spin on familiar concepts, it explores foreign concepts, and it inspires hope for the present and the future.
I would love for everyone to read this but don’t think this book is going to be a good fit for everyone. This book challenges established norms, explores gender and sexual fluidity, and provides a non-monogamous perspective on love and relationships. But if you go into this book with an open mind and a desire to engage with the content in this book, I think you will find something special within these pages like I did.
This story is about a blob/amoeba/slime-mold/single-cell person named Gardenpath. Gardenpath is part of a space faring society of amoebas, is studying at their most prestigious university, and is seeking their highest accolade - to pass the “Fifth Exam” and earn the title of Investigator. The object of their research is to examine a biological ecosystem on a planet across the other side of the galaxy and so we get two parallel intersecting stories; Gardenpath the student who is navigating university politics, and Gardenpath the researcher who gathers data by living amongst the subjects of their research.
There is so much to say but I’m mindful of this review becoming unwieldy and potential spoiling some big moments, so I’ll go with a bunch of thoughts presented as dot points.
- There is a steep learning curve that doesn’t really level out until the end of Part 1.
- The sex scenes are fascinating and weird but focus on shared joy, pleasure and experience rather than the eroticism of it.
- There is some excellent exploration and commentary on ethics in research.
- I love the way Newitz explores student naivete, especially how it’s complicated by respect for prestige and authority figures.
- There is a deep examination of relationships and connection, with a focus on the interplay between attachment and insecurities.
- The ending was exactly what this story needed, and what I as a reader needed.
Finally I want to mention the title of the book - I couldn’t find any previous uses of this title as a quote anywhere else so I this might be original from Newitz (someone please let me know if I’m wrong, I’m clearly not as good at researching as Gardenpath is). This is not just an apt title for the book but also an amazing piece of advice for living your life. The challenges in your life and roadblocks you come up against might seem to halt progress in one direction, but they are also giving you the pathway to continue your progress in other directions, to embrace change, to find comfort in the unfamiliar, to be curious.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
The summary of this book drew me in like a moth to a flame. It was such a fascinating take on alien lives, and I've never read anything quite like it. It was beautiful! Gardenpath's world felt so real for all that it was also deeply alien to me. Mixing ancient Rome with sci-fi was such an excellent premise. I love Gardenpath's circle of friends in both locations, and loved to see them grow as a person throughout the series.
Want to Read
April 9, 2026A thought-provoking science fiction adventure about the meaning of life and love, seen through the many eyes of an alien grad student studying a familiar backwater planet. Perfect for fans of Becky Chambers, Ryka Aoki, and Martha Wells.
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Want to Read
March 19, 2026PHOTOCOVER just announced on socials.......
Obsessed with Newitz. Their Automatic Noodle was one of my favorite reads last year....
Obsessed with Newitz. Their Automatic Noodle was one of my favorite reads last year....
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews