Thrilled to announce that Marcus Gipps, Publishing Director of Gollancz, has acquired two science fiction novels from Dr Lucy Kissick. The first novel, Plutoshine will be published in February 2022.

You can read the full press release here:

GOLLANCZ ACQUIRES NOVEL EXPLORING LIFE ON PLUTO BY PLANETARY SCIENTIST

Gollancz is thrilled to announce the acquisition of Plutoshine and an untitled second novel from Doctor Lucy Kissick, a planetary geochemist and nuclear scientist. The book, which has already won an award, is a compelling look at human life on the edge of our solar system, as the plan to transform Pluto into a habitable world is rocked by unknown accidents – genuine mistakes, intentional sabotage, or something more?

 Gollancz Publishing Director, Marcus Gipps, bought the rights from Julie Crisp of The Julie Crisp Literary Agency. The deal is for World excluding North America, and includes audio and translation rights. Gollancz aim to publish in hardback in February 2022.

 Plutoshine was the winner of the inaugural Bloomsbury Writers & Artists Working-Class Writers' Prize, with comments from the judges including ‘Plutoshine draws you into the story with precise tension from the start’ and ‘I was struck by its uniqueness; it’s a story that only Lucy could tell.’

 Marcus Gipps said: ‘It was a delight to first read Lucy’s magnificent book – hard, accurate science but with a beating core of emotional truth and character development. Even when we reach the outer planets, humanity will have lost none of its defining attributes and its ability to thrive in the face of unimaginable danger. I can’t wait for everyone else to visit Pluto in, sadly, the only way possible at the moment.’

 Lucy Kissick said: ‘There’s so much in Plutoshine I can’t wait to share: colossal solar mirrors; sabotage and subterfuge; deadpan scientists and chipper terraformers. But mostly it’s the gorgeous, frosted worldlet of Pluto itself: smaller than our moon but with a wispy blue sky of its own. Growing up, Gollancz brought me stories that shaped my view of our world and beyond, and now they’re helping me bring Pluto down to Earth. I’m tremendously grateful and so excited for what’s yet to come.’ 

 Julie Crisp said: ‘Lucy’s story of characters trying to survive on Pluto, and the challenges they encounter, is both emotionally impacting and incredibly exciting. I’m thrilled that Gollancz are publishing this original new voice in science fiction.’

 About the Book:

A mysterious accident on Pluto has left one girl mute, her father comatose, and her brother changed beyond all recognition. But their barren world is changing around them, and secrets can't be kept forever...

Terraforming - the megascale-engineering of a planet's surface to one more Earth-like - is now commonplace across the Solar System, and Pluto's is set to be the most ambitious transformation yet. Four billion miles from the Sun and two hundred degrees below zero, what this worldlet needs is light and heat. Through captured asteroids and solar mirrors, humanity's finest scientists and engineers are set to deliver them.

What nobody factored in was a saboteur - but who, and why?

From the start, terraformer Lucian is intrigued by nine-year-old Nou, traumatised to muteness after a horrifying incident that shook the base and upended her family into chaos. If he could reach her, perhaps he could understand what happened that day - and what she knows about the secrets of Pluto.

For Nou possesses unspoken knowledge - something that could put a stop to the terraforming. But crippled by her fears, and unable to trust her family, there is no one she can talk to. Only through Lucian's gentle friendship will she start to rediscover her voice - and what she has to say could transform our understanding of the Universe.

 About Lucy Kissick: Dr Lucy Kissick has a PhD in planetary geochemistry from the University of Oxford and now lives in Cumbria, UK, as a nuclear scientist. Plutoshine is her first novel and won the inaugural Bloomsbury Writers & Artists Working-Class Writers' Prize