Basically Arrival by way of climate dread, migration politics and small-press novella culture.

On Aerth, Magnus grows up in a world moving slowly into an ice age. Around him it the land is cold, depleted and shaped by a strange virus that has reduced the population. When another planet is discovered — Urth — he imagines escape, possibility, even revelation. But Urth is not salvation. It is hot, crowded, polluted, violent, seductive and ruined in ways that feel uncomfortably familiar. What begins as interplanetary adventure turns, gradually and cleverly, into a story about exile, climate collapse, migration, fantasy, disappointment, and the brutal comedy of discovering that elsewhere is never innocent.

It has the clean strangeness of good eco-fiction, but without the usual sermon nailed to its forehead. Winner of the inaugural Weatherglass Novella Prize, chosen by Ali Smith, this is one for readers who like their dystopias quiet, literary and a little diseased around the edges. 

First published in 2025 by Weatherglass Books. Paperback novella. Near fine used condition: very light handling only, clean pages, tight binding, minimal shelf wear. A sharp, fresh copy.