Moonbound

Sloan’s (Sourdough) thought-provoking novel explores the limits of what it means to be human. The story begins in the distant future, when humanity takes its first halting steps into the void, only to find itself at the mercy of monsters. Humanity’s foray into space is brief, bringing back terrible dragons that lock down Earth and devastate humanity. But all is not lost. The novel’s main character is an artificial intelligence, a chronicler and counselor living in a small bit of cells that functions as a narrator for its host body. The chronicler sleeps for 11,000 years, then wakes to find a new host in the boy Ariel. The novel’s plot is a predictable one, with Ariel’s coming of age proving to be the twist of fate that allows humanity to return to the stars. However, Sloan’s world is far from standard, being a captivating meld of fantasy and science fiction tropes that are both startling in scope and impressive in their concepts.