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On the frozen frontier of Europa, the mysteries are as thick as the ice.
Areina never quite fit in with her peers, and her glowing skin and mysterious past certainly don't help. When an icequake breaks crucial equipment on her research station, her adopted father must retrieve backups from the now derelict Station Beta—the very place Areina was rescued from fifteen years earlier in an incident cloaked with questions and classified documents. Then, the scavenging team loses contact with home, presenting Areina with the terrifying possibility of life alone… and a unique opportunity to learn what happened all those years ago.
Faced with a life missing the only person who ever truly accepted her, Areina makes a choice: leave the safety of home and find Terrance's missing team and the truth about her past. But her biggest bully, Bryce, insists on tagging along, and strange things start happening to her, things that should be humanly impossible. And then Bryce reveals a past connecting them more than she'd ever thought possible.
As they approach Station Beta and the answers to both their questions, can they move past their history to forge a real friendship? Or will the wilds of Europa—and the truth—destroy it before it really begins?
This science fantasy retelling of the ugly duckling is part of the Seasons of Magic standalone novella series. If you love space and the stars, mysterious pasts, and unlikely friendships, you will love Selina J. Eckert's stellar tale.
Look for more Seasons of Magic
Magical Summer Heat
Fireflies & Faeries
"Carnival of Curses"
"Of the Clouds"
Crisp Autumn Magic
Pumpkins & Shades
"Pumpkin Spice Pie-Jinks"
"The Patch"
Chill of Winter Magic
Flurries & Phantoms
"Freeze Thaw"
"Cold Snap"
"Glow"
Fresh Spring In the Air
Petals & Sirens
"All That Glimmers"
"Flotsam"
"Beast and Bloom"
Areina never quite fit in with her peers, and her glowing skin and mysterious past certainly don't help. When an icequake breaks crucial equipment on her research station, her adopted father must retrieve backups from the now derelict Station Beta—the very place Areina was rescued from fifteen years earlier in an incident cloaked with questions and classified documents. Then, the scavenging team loses contact with home, presenting Areina with the terrifying possibility of life alone… and a unique opportunity to learn what happened all those years ago.
Faced with a life missing the only person who ever truly accepted her, Areina makes a choice: leave the safety of home and find Terrance's missing team and the truth about her past. But her biggest bully, Bryce, insists on tagging along, and strange things start happening to her, things that should be humanly impossible. And then Bryce reveals a past connecting them more than she'd ever thought possible.
As they approach Station Beta and the answers to both their questions, can they move past their history to forge a real friendship? Or will the wilds of Europa—and the truth—destroy it before it really begins?
This science fantasy retelling of the ugly duckling is part of the Seasons of Magic standalone novella series. If you love space and the stars, mysterious pasts, and unlikely friendships, you will love Selina J. Eckert's stellar tale.
Look for more Seasons of Magic
Magical Summer Heat
Fireflies & Faeries
"Carnival of Curses"
"Of the Clouds"
Crisp Autumn Magic
Pumpkins & Shades
"Pumpkin Spice Pie-Jinks"
"The Patch"
Chill of Winter Magic
Flurries & Phantoms
"Freeze Thaw"
"Cold Snap"
"Glow"
Fresh Spring In the Air
Petals & Sirens
"All That Glimmers"
"Flotsam"
"Beast and Bloom"
- GenresFantasy
119 pages, ebook
First published March 21, 2022
9 people want to read
About the author
Selina J. Eckert
31 books59 followersSelina is a biologist-by-day, writer-by-night native of Pennsylvania. She lives with her husband, dog, and two cats and spends her time writing, reading, creating art, and dreaming about fictional worlds. She has written two fairy-tale retelling short stories that were both finalists in Rooglewood Press short story contests and a fantasy short story, “Queen of Mist and Fog,” available through her newsletter.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 1, 2022
This story resonates with those of us who were bullyed in junior/senior high school or in life for that matter. On the moon Europa, orbiting around Jupiter, lives a girl who is different from all the other kids in that she has a glowing aura around her. This has caused her to be shunned by everyone except her adopted father. Bullying is especially bad by one boy who constantly torments her. When circumstances change that cause her adoptive father to return to where she was found 15 years ago and no one has heard from him or his team, Aerina sets out for that station to find him and maybe to finally find some answers as to who she is. Unfortunately she gets unwanted company from her tormentor on the journey. She experiences strange things in the journey she can’t explain and is finally reunited with her father to finally learn the truth of who she is.
I really liked this story and the humanist of it! It’s so easy to judge people if they are different than we are in any way but this shows how only one man made such an impact on a lonely girl’s life! It was heartbreaking to feel what she felt by being ridiculed constantly and by being told she didn’t belong. Only those who have experienced this ostracism can really appreciate what that experience is like.
I heartily recommend this book to young and adult readers as an eye opening experience and if you are guilty of the behavior displayed by Bryce and his followers, I would hope you will change your behavior today!
As a story I recommend this book as entertainment and a good read but on a much deeper level it’s a book people need to incorporate into their own lives so they won’t be “Bryce’s” anymore in their actions and words!
Selina is to be congratulated for tackling a hard subject and treating it with humanity in pointing out how narrow minded people can really have an everlasting effect on others. Only by recognizing this all too human failing and overcoming it in our own lives can we really rise up and be what we really want and should be as human beings!
I really liked this story and the humanist of it! It’s so easy to judge people if they are different than we are in any way but this shows how only one man made such an impact on a lonely girl’s life! It was heartbreaking to feel what she felt by being ridiculed constantly and by being told she didn’t belong. Only those who have experienced this ostracism can really appreciate what that experience is like.
I heartily recommend this book to young and adult readers as an eye opening experience and if you are guilty of the behavior displayed by Bryce and his followers, I would hope you will change your behavior today!
As a story I recommend this book as entertainment and a good read but on a much deeper level it’s a book people need to incorporate into their own lives so they won’t be “Bryce’s” anymore in their actions and words!
Selina is to be congratulated for tackling a hard subject and treating it with humanity in pointing out how narrow minded people can really have an everlasting effect on others. Only by recognizing this all too human failing and overcoming it in our own lives can we really rise up and be what we really want and should be as human beings!
April 2, 2022
Glow by Selina J. Eckert is a science fiction tale that feels like a fairy-tale.
This is a story about not fitting in. Ariena literally glows. People aren't suppose to do that.
She is a freak, and for someone that lives on a colony on Europa, that's saying something.
I loved reading about her journey to not only find where she belongs but to also understand her biggest persecutor.
The ending, while not what I had hoped for, was still full of hope and turned out to be just what the story needed.
This is a story about not fitting in. Ariena literally glows. People aren't suppose to do that.
She is a freak, and for someone that lives on a colony on Europa, that's saying something.
I loved reading about her journey to not only find where she belongs but to also understand her biggest persecutor.
The ending, while not what I had hoped for, was still full of hope and turned out to be just what the story needed.
January 23, 2026
A retelling of the ugly duckling story! I definitely enjoyed this one, especially since I haven't come across anyone else who's done a retelling of the ugly duckling story (at least not that I can remember). It was also a quick read, one I could have easily started and finished in a few hours if given the time to do so, but work kept getting in the way of me reading the last few days so it took a bit longer than usual for me to finish one of Eckert's books. Overall, a really good book!
March 26, 2022
So intriguing. This story captured my interest from the beginning and continued to keep it throughout. Areina follows Terrence along with Bryce to hopefully rescue him and learn the truth about her past. Great story.
I received a free copy of this book and this is my voluntary, honest review.
I received a free copy of this book and this is my voluntary, honest review.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews