A Wall Is Also A Road

by Annalee Newitz

'A revolution is happening in speculative fiction, and Annalee Newitz is leading the vanguard' Wil Wheaton, actor on Star Trek and Big Bang Theory

Gardenpath is a graduate student in biology who desperately wants to pass their exams with the highest honor 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.

From 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 Ann Leckie, Everina Maxwell and Martha Wells.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Queer, Fantasy, LGBT, Adult, Science Fiction Fantasy

Kindle Edition

Expected publication October 6, 2026

About the author

Annalee 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.

Reviews

[Kat]

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.

[Ryan Lawler]

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.

[anna b]

hmmmm

review to come, after pub day maybe

[Miranda]

Before I get to my review of A Wall is Also a Road, I need to review the marketing. For me, the marketing copy for this book gets an F. There was almost nothing in the marketing copy that prepared me for this book. In particular the comps are malpractice. The marketing copy says “Becky Chambers, Ryka Aoki, and Martha Wells.” I can somewhat see the Becky Chambers from a found family point of view, but I’m sorry the other two are marketing malpractice. Those comps imply a somewhat whacky but ultimately wholesome character focused drama.

However, at its core A Wall is Also a Road is fundamentally a dark academia book. Dark academia is not typically combined with a space based setting, but there’s no reason other than convention for that. But if you consider that our main character is an outsider at a prestigious and highly competitive university, where they have to work on secret projects to play academic politics, and there’s a sexy romantic slimemold love interest--we’re certainly hitting a lot of dark academia sounding tropes (though the sexy romantic slimemold love interest is a new one for me).

Gardenpath is a slime mold, and is a new student at the Memory, the most prestigious institution of higher learning in the space between the stars. Gardenpath wants to study life on a small planet down on one of the outer arms in the galactic core--an area where the academic consensus says there cannot be any life. As Gardenpath discovers, academic politics can be bare knuckle, and not everyone is just here to learn. But as Gardenpath explores Pompeii, its tavernas, and its brothels, they learn about more than foodwebs and biology. They learn about friendship, culture, and love.

I really liked this book--I particularly enjoyed the unique and freshness of the slimemold alien culture. It did not feel at all like Newitz was just porting over bits of human culture--the trappings of Memory really felt like they’d been created by aliens with a completely different biology to humanity. Some of the pacing at the end felt a little rushed, and there were a few things that maybe could have been paid off better. Readers should be prepared that this book has a lot more sex scenes than the marketing copy prepared me for--not bad, just something to know if you’re going in.

So here’s my attempt at some better comps for this book, recommended for fans of Ninth House, Becky Chambers, and T. Kingfisher Hugo Acceptance Speeches.

I received an ARC in exchange for this honest review.

[Aimee]

This is a weird and wonderful book.

We follow Gardenpath, an alien slime-mold amoeba graduate student, as they work to pass the highest-level exam "Fifth Exam" and earn the prestigious title of Investigator at a university in the stars. This can only be achieved by finding something truly new and undiscovered in the universe, and so they travel to a remote planet that has previously been deemed of no value by other researchers. Here they find themselves in ancient, pre-eruption Pompeii and set about taking on a local form and learning about the biology and culture they find there.

The parts set in Pompeii are well written and it's obvious that Newitz has done their research when constructing these parts of the story. In saying that, I think they pale in comparison the alien culture and relationships between Gardenpath and their follow academics. These sections were the standout highlights of the book for me.

This book does touch on some serious themes and subjects that have the potential to be quite dark and bleak (e.g. gender-issues, the patriarchy, relationship dynamics, research ethics, life in a Pompeii brothel, academic scheming and corruption, warmongering and profiteering), but Gardenpath is such a naive and innocent character, and approaches things with such curiosity, that the story remains lighthearted. In saying that, although it doesn't necessarily always dig deep into these issues, it also doesn't trivialise these subjects at all and really challenges the reader to think.

Overall, this is a really inventive, charming, and heartwarming story. It won't be for everyone (slime-mold sex isn't shied away from), but I would give it a strong recommendation to anyone interested in an imaginative, strange and fun little sci-fi.

Thank you to Little, Brown Book Group UK | Orbit and NetGalley for the ARC!

[Michael Godwin]

A Wall Is Also a Road is an imaginative and thought-provoking science fiction adventure that approaches familiar questions about life, love, knowledge, and connection from a wonderfully unfamiliar perspective. Gardenpath, an alien graduate student and slime mold from an ancient civilization, begins the story driven by the pursuit of academic achievement, hoping to discover something sufficiently extraordinary to earn the highest honor among scholars. Instead, their research on a supposedly uninteresting planet introduces them to an ecosystem and a culture far more complex than they expected.

The relationship between Gardenpath and Murtis gives the story much of its emotional appeal. What begins as scientific curiosity gradually becomes a deeper encounter with another form of life, challenging Gardenpath's assumptions about intelligence, culture, achievement, and what makes a life meaningful. The contrast between Gardenpath's academic ambitions and the relationships they develop creates an engaging foundation for exploring larger questions about purpose and belonging.

Readers who enjoy inventive science fiction, queer speculative fiction, alien perspectives, philosophical storytelling, imaginative world-building, and character-driven adventures should find A Wall Is Also a Road particularly appealing. Its unusual premise, emotional core, and exploration of what happens when something alien becomes familiar and beloved give it strong potential to reach readers looking for science fiction that is both intellectually curious and deeply human.

[Kristen]

Netgalley provided me a DRC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

I adored Automatic Noodle, so I was excited to get an advanced copy of Newitz's new sci-fi adventure. An interstellar slime-being falling in love with a human? Sign me up.

Unfortunately, the story felt a little disjointed. Gardenpath, a slime-like being fighting their way through the competitive academic world on their planet, discovers life on a distant planet in an area that their people consider dead. Spoiler alert (but not really): It's Earth. But this is not a modern-day time traveling adventure...we're talking the rowdy brothels, bars, and parties of pre-Vesuvius Pompeii.

And that SOUNDS so interesting. But reading about two cultures that are SO alien (no pun intended) to one another was jarring at times. Trying to wrap my head around a blob-like-creature with crazy technology wearing a fancy human suit and interacting with an actual human 2000 years ago made my head spin at times.

I kept reading because despite the story feeling a little clunky, everything happening--both in Gardenpath's world and on Earth--was quite interesting. Unethical and corrupt academia on one hand, the looming threat of a volcanic eruption on the other.

[Kylee Smith]

*4.75

I absolutely adored this book! There's so much packed into it, and I couldn't get enough.

We follow Gardenpath, an alien slime mold, as they work towards their graduate degree, and research a planet called Tentacle, which is presumed to be void of life. They soon discover that Tentacle is actually full of life, including multicellular beings they call the Unnamed. Gardenpath takes on their form to blend in and begins immersing themselves in their environment.

While on Tentacle, Gardenpath meets an Unnamed called Murtis. She helps Gardenpath learn their language and understand their culture, and the two eventually form a deep relationship. Throughout the book, we go between Gardenpath working on their dissertation, dealing with the politics of academia on their homeworld, and conducting research and gathering data on Tentacle with the Unnamed.

A Wall Is Also a Road explores queerness and otherness, research ethics, academia, and language and culture in such a fluid way that nothing ever felt out of place. I would love to tell everyone to read this, but I know this won't be for everyone. If you enjoy sci-fi rooted in alien cultures, unique perspectives, and complex relationships, I truly think you should give this one a try!

Thanks to the publisher for a copy to read and review!

[Erin || erins_library]

Gifted via Netgalley

My first Annalee Newitz book and it was such a lovely surprise. I loved it. The story and world was so creative. I love that our main character is a being from another planet. The author did an amazing job of fleshing out the world and all the little details of their anatomy and society. And I think it was especially difficult considering the story is set in a university and the lead is a research student taking exams. I really admire the author's level of work that was put into this book. And then to also create characters that we are still able to empathize and connect with even though they're so completely different from us in a lot of ways.

This is the kind of story that allows the reader to get some distance from our world to draw those parallels and reflect on our lives. Reading this book I thought a lot about gender and sexuality and love in all it's forms. And I also thought about the othering of people who come from communities outside of yours and about the university system and how that can form a type of elitism.

This story is so fun, I loved all the character relationships, and I would read it again!

[Jessica Arnold]

I have to admit, it took me a little while to get into A Wall is Also a Road, which introduces us to Gardenpath, a slime-mold amoeba graduate student researching life in a galaxy previously thought to be extinct and not worth exploring. But once I settled into the story, I was hooked!

As we follow Gardenpath through their research, the story explores questions about what makes an alien being legitimate or conscious, who gets to decide, and what happens when the emotional boundaries of scientific research are crossed. Once again, Newitz had me sitting in that uncomfortable space where I wasn't entirely sure who I was rooting for or whether there even was a right side to root for. The story challenges our assumptions about consciousness, intelligent life, ethics, and humanity's place in the universe. I found myself thinking about it long after I finished, which is honestly one of my favorite things about Newitz's writing.

[Monica]

I loved Automatic Noodle so I was very excited to get the eARC for this book (thanks NetGalley!). I found it quite similar in tone and themes (acceptance, found family, etc). There is a lot going on here, possibly a bit too much? We’ve got a cozy scifi story with Gardenpath the grad student encountering a whole new way of thinking about the world. First in their home world as they meet new students and professors. They confront the cutthroat nature of academia for the first time and see the possibilities of profit over people. They learn how to fight back against a system that seems too large to battle. And then we have a lot of time in yes, that Pompeii. Lots of fun to see ancient Italy through alien eyes and reimagine how the power structure might appear. We also get a good bit of spice here as well. So a spicy scifi historical fiction? I loved the characters and their growth and how it all fit together but maybe it was one genre to many. I did give it four stars because there was so much I enjoyed so maybe it's perfect the way it is.

[Annie]

Gardenpath has discovered something impossible. Everyone knows that their world is the only place where life can be found. The rest of the galaxy is dead, only a source of resources to be mined. But Gardenpath is sure that they have found signs of life on a distant planet, and they are going to prove it as they work their way through the exams required to become a professor and an Investigator at Memory. A Wall is Also a Road, by Annalee Newitz, is a moving, intelligent tale of exploration. It follows Gardenpath as their discoveries do more than re-write their understanding of life and sentience...

Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.

[Lydia]

Trying to describe the plot of this book is going to make it sound goofy and funny (alien amoeba life forms from across the galaxy find life on Earth and study it as part of their graduate school dissertation) but that isn't the vibe at all. This is thought-provoking, and imaginative, and fascinating--the author does a fantastic job with world-building and writing from an unfamiliar perspective. There's university politics, romance, and tons of fascinating historical details about the city of Pompeii. It's weird but heartwarming, and highly recommended for anyone who enjoys slow-paced sci fi that makes you think.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Gaia Amman]

I do not normally read steamy alien romance and was not aware this was one from the description. That said, I loved this story. The writing flowed beautifully, and the characters felt three-dimensional and relatable. Having spent many years in academia, I found that storyline to be accurate and relatable. I enjoyed the historical aspect as well. Also, I am nonbinary and loved how gender identity was approached indirectly and with great tact, raising questions without being on the nose. Overall, this novel felt emotional, engaging, and informative at the same time. I truly enjoyed it and would highly recommend it.

[Maddie J ✨]

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this arc 🧡

Rating: 2.25 ⭐️

This is firmly in the weird sci-fi category for me. A lot of this was abstract concept which was interesting at first, but I found myself not connecting with the characters as much as I would like. It was interesting to see humanity portrayed from an outside observers perspective, but I thought more could have been done with it. This is also a very low stakes plot, which is fine, just not my preferred cup of tea.

[A]

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.

[Anita]

I’m not the best at writing reviews for books…for anything really…but I wanted to do so for this one since I won an advanced copy here on Goodreads. There is so much about this novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. Gardenpath is such a well thought out, well rounded character, and I so enjoyed getting to see their character growth. The rest of the cast were all equally entertaining, and I found myself engrossed in the story. I think if you love science fiction with heart, you’ll like this.

[Lilly Kirk]

Thank you to Tor Publishing for the advanced reader copy!

Between the detailed sci-fi moments and the developing relationship between the MC and her discovery this book has some amazingly sweet moments. There’s also a hint of poignancy that I love in a story. A unique take on an alien’s experience! Also a great pride month read!

[Nick Miller]

Thank you to Goodreads for an ARC OF THIS BOOK. What an amazing read! I didn’t think it could get better after Automatic Noodle, but this proved me wrong. I highly recommend going in with no knowledge and figuring things out on your own. The love triangles in this book still have me thinking if things were exploitative or not, but Newitz does a great job at providing all points of view.

[Tracy]

This had a very interesting premise, and great points of view from all sides. I was not expecting Gardenpath to find themselves in Pompeii, nor to develop such a different and separate sense of self while there. Gardenpath's society was hard to not grasp, but hold on to, since it seems we would think of them as very simple creatures. It was very compelling and revealing of all societies

[rachel x]

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.

say less

[Shoshana G]

Interesting and creative science fiction! I'm kind of a sucker for alien looks at earth, and Gardenpath's world is both familiar and totally different. I can get very sick of "inside academia" novels but this was creative enough that it felt different!

[Kristina Nichole]

PHOTOCOVER just announced on socials.......


Obsessed with Newitz. Their Automatic Noodle was one of my favorite reads last year....

[alison]

i was really impressed by how unique, detailed, and well-researched the world building and book in general were! those aliens are just like me fr

[Erika]

Thank you to Samantha at Tor who provided me with an ARC copy through NetGalley.

This is the second title I have ready by this author and it ended up being a mid-read for me. There were concepts that I liked – the perspective of an alien species on a historical part of Earth as they scientifically attempted to understand it, being the primary one. I liked the culture and the messy academia and enjoyed the speculative way the author explored the themes in the book. So overall, I generally was good with the worldbuilding.

Unfortunately, I didn’t like the main character at all. Gardenpath is a very take-take-take kind of character who needed to be regularly lectured into being compassionate or understanding of other being’s in her life and I just didn’t have any sympathy or grace for them and their situation. I didn’t like either of the relationships that they had, Oriel deserved better, and I didn’t like the relationship with Murtis at all.

The ending felt rushed, the university plot ending in a way that seemed more “perfect” than actually fitting in with world they’d established, and I think more time could have been spend on this instead of the number of sex scenes there were.

[me]

Tor/netgalley

highly recommend this novel take on the extraterrestrial engagement. wonderfully new; interesting exploration of politics, scholarship, love, and otherness.

and the naming convention is it ai or wild imagination? whatever it is, tickled me and works in concert with the storytelling.

genuinely enjoyed it.