It's precisely Soto's refusal to be 'weighted' down by decades of
genre tradition, to instead turn the trope on its head and in doing so
remind us that no-one but ourselves is coming to save us, that makes
This Weightless World such an exciting and radical novel. --Ian Monde,
Locus
Set in Silicon Valley and Chicago, This Weightless World considers
questions of morality in a world where people feel powerless in the face
of formidable systemic forces. --Laura Adamczyk, A.V. Club
A literary debut subverting classic sci-fi tropes set in gentrified
Chicago, Silicon Valley, and across the vastness of the cosmos.
From the streets of gentrified Chicago, to the tech boom corridors of
Silicon Valley, This Weightless World follows a revolving cast of
characters after alien contact upends their lives.
We are introduced to Sevi, a burned-out music teacher desperate for
connection; Ramona, his on-again, off-again computer programmer
girlfriend; and Sevi's cello protégé Eason, struggling with the closure
of his high school; after a mysterious signal arrives from outer space.
When the signal--at first seen as a sign of hope--stops as abruptly as
it started, they are all forced to reckon with its aftermath. In San
Francisco, Sevi fights to find meaning in rekindled love; and
Ramona-determined to build an AI to prevent mankind's
self-destruction-begins to feel the weight of past mistakes. And in
Chicago, Eason measures his commitment to an estranged childhood friend
against the chance of escaping neighborhood troubles.
A dazzling deconstruction of science-fiction tropes, This Weightless
World looks to the past for a vision of the future.
