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Engadget
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Engadget
What to read this weekend: When the world spins out of control
These are some recently released titles we think are worth adding to your reading list. This week, we're diving into Alex Foster's futuristic debut, Circular Motion, and the return of Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees . I'm still chipping away at my summer reading backlog over here, and this week finally made it to Alex Foster's Circular Motion , which came out in May. And, wow, I wasn't quite ready for the emotional journey this one took me on. It's set in a near future — people ride OneWheels and going viral on social media is still a thing some strive for — where the megacompany CWC has created an extreme form of high-speed travel that allows people to zip across the world in no time flat. But, it soon becomes pretty clear that there's a consequence for this. Earth is spinning faster and faster… and faster, and protestors blame CWC and the orbital circuit its travel system relies on. The days grow shorter, the climate events become more extreme and everything is hurtling toward disaster. Circular Motion follows Tanner, a kid from smalltown Alaska who lands a job at CWC, Winnie, a girl who has truly been through it, and Columbia professor Victor Bickle, who shot to viral fame after predicting a public infrastructure catastrophe. They're all connected, as we piece together through multiple POVs. This is a book that very blatantly has something to say about capitalism, climate change and everything in between, and a beautiful exploration of human connection in a crumbling world. $15 at Amazon Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees is a series that genuinely lives up to the hype surrounding it. I'd heard so much praise for it before picking it up, and once I finally did, I was completely on board. The series follows brown bear Samantha Strong, who lives in the cozy Vermont town of Woodbrook in the '80s and happens to be a serial killer. (All of the characters are anthropomorphic animals). But one day, someone else starts killing people around town, making things pretty complicated for Sam. There's an undeniable Dexter feel to it, and I was dying for more after finishing the first six issues. Now — hurray! — it's back with a followup limited series, Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring. Rite of Spring picks up eight years after the events of the previous story, with a duck who is determined to find out what really happened to her missing brother (who we know Sam murdered). A tip on the internet leads her to Woodbrook, and this first issue really leaves you with that "things are about to get interesting" feeling. I'm so excited for the return of this one, and it's off to an expectedly great start. $5 at Amazon
Washington Post
18-05-2025
- Washington Post
‘Circular Motion,' a debut both wildly imaginative and deeply emotional
Alex Foster's debut novel, 'Circular Motion,' is precisely 360 pages long, an appropriately exact total for a story about a near future in which international travel has been revolutionized by the 'westward circuit,' a vast collection of 'circuit vessels' that constantly orbit Earth without landing. Built and operated by a giant corporation, the westward circuit cuts down travel time by so much that it's possible, for instance, for the narrator and his friends to do a 'world crawl,' a pub crawl of the whole planet.
