THE ASTERIST

In the vein of Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary (2021), this emotionally supercharged tale of first contact revolves around the lone inhabitant of a remote asteroid outpost who, after an alien ship crash-lands on “his rock,” makes the decision to go against orders and save the surviving alien—even if it means losing his job and quite possibly his life.

William Jeffries is living the decidedly unglamorous life of an asteroid station commander—“an asterist, as the kids called them back home”—doing the same mind-numbing duties over and over again. With the closest human being at least 60 light-years away, there’s not much to do—except get drunk on homemade pruno. But when an unidentified object crashes near the outpost during a violent meteor shower, Jeffries quickly realizes that if the object is an alien spacecraft—and if there are survivors aboard—this could be the most significant event in human history. Not wanting the untrustworthy government to change the narrative and downplay his significance, Jeffries—very much in his own head after 18 months of isolation—decides to ignore protocol and investigate the wrecked craft. He finds two dead aliens (“barely the size of a cat”) but once he relocates the bodies to the relative safety of the outpost, Jeffries realizes he’s sadly out of his depth as one of the aliens seems to resurrect itself! The novel’s big hook isn’t the wonder-inspiring SF backdrop or the strange structure of the aliens (although both are impressive); it’s the intimate relationship that evolves between human and alien. The epilogue in particular, from the alien’s perspective, creates an unforgettable juxtaposition and will leave the reader with some deep issues to consider.

While not exactly original, Sayre creates a powerful story about compassion and sacrifice that will have readers applauding.