Celestial Lights is the story of ambitious British astronaut Ollie Ines. A dual-timeline story, the perspective jumps back and forth between Ollie’s upbringing and training as an astronaut and his present-day mission log on his journey to a distant (and fictional) moon.
Although the book is framed around space travel, it’s really an exploration of the personal cost of ambition and discovery. And it’s a timely look at the price we may all pay for letting billionaires lead the way in space exploration.
Beautifully written, very readable in a way that much literary fiction isn’t, and short (clocking in at just 256 pages), I’d recommend this book to any reader who enjoys literary character studies and is looking for something they can quickly devour this summer.
PS: Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt Co. for providing me with an Advanced Reading Copy.
