WATCH: BLOOMs are filled with energy at the TikTok Entertainment Centre as they await soundcheck for the Sydney stop of the “Signals” world tour. (📹: Cassie Acevedo) | via Brie Ancheta, ABS-CBN News - Facebook

One of science fiction’s oldest themes is its insistence that the future isn’t inevitable. Few contemporary authors embody that idea more than Becky Chambers, whose stories imagine alternative futures—not through grand revolutions or galaxy-spanning battles but through ordinary people trying to care for one another. As a defining voice of the “hopepunk” genre, Chambers has built a reputation for science fiction that prizes empathy as much as imagination. Her latest novel, As You Wake, Break the Shell, brings us to the hostile, unpredictable world of Fortune, where acid rain falls and billowing volcanoes shroud the horizon. The story follows a reclusive botanist and a spacefaring pilot across alternating timelines as they search for connection and purpose, attempting to navigate a life where Fortune has never favored the bold. We caught up with Chambers to discuss a toxic planet’s world-building, scientific accuracy in storytelling and the motivational merits of unrelenting spite. On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing.

See more of our coverage in your search results. Jenny McCarthy claims Tom Cruise tried to “lure” her and her ex-boyfriend, Jim Carrey, into Scientology at his 2006 wedding to Katie Holmes.