Booktails: “This Weightless World”

This Weightless World by Adam Soto 

“Most people are only stuck suffering because they cannot forgive themselves.”

 This Weightless World is Adam Soto’s debut novel destabilizing a classic sci-fi trope of extraterrestrial contact. A story that brings us closer to our fellow Earthlings through the story of an alien broadcast, this novel gently shakes the reader awake with moments of profound clarity sprouting from a world in chaos.

Set in gentrified Chicago, throughout the vast cosmos, and in our own tech hub backyard, This Weightless World follows a cast of characters after a mysterious signal from outer space upends their lives.

Sevi is a music teacher grasping for connection, trying desperately to find fulfillment in rekindled love. Ramona, Sevi’s on-again, off-again girlfriend, is a computer programmer living in San Francisco and working at Google. To her own detriment, she is focused on building an AI to prevent mankind’s destruction. And Eason, one of Sevi’s students, is a cello prodigy struggling to escape neighborhood troubles while navigating his relationship with an estranged childhood friend.

At first, this signal from the cosmos is seen as a sign of hope. People find themselves reaching out to those around them and believing in a future where Earth and humankind survive. But when the signal stops as abruptly as it started, they are forced to face the reality of its aftermath.

This Weightless World brings new depth to an alien contact story.

Although the novel begins with contact from extraterrestrials, the story’s heart is very much Earthbound. Heavily character driven, This Weightless World sees Earth forced to look into a mirror and analyze how it appears to the rest of the cosmos. Soto poses many questions throughout the novel, allowing the reader to become a part of the novel’s deeper conversations.

Beautiful language from a thoughtful perspective, This Weightless World is not your typical sci-fi novel. This is the perfect book to pick up if you want to challenge your expectations of science fiction and gain an intimate understanding of some vibrant, complex characters.