From the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Brotherhood
A Best Of pick and Most Anticipated Sci Fi and Fantasy novel, as selected by Goodreads • Buzzfeed • BookRiot • The Portalist • IO9 • BookBub • SheReads • BiblioLifestyle • Den of Geek • GeekDad
“A rich backstory… a highly satisfying ending… All the stars for Chen's warmhearted space-travel story.” –Kirkus, starred review
Every family has issues. Most can’t blame them on extraterrestrials.
Evie Shao and her sister, Kass, aren’t on speaking terms. Fifteen years ago on a family camping trip, their father and brother vanished. Their dad turned up days later, dehydrated and confused—and convinced he'd been abducted by aliens. Their brother, Jakob, remained missing. The women dealt with it very differently. Kass, suspecting her college-dropout twin simply ran off, became the rock of the family. Evie traded academics to pursue alien conspiracy theories, always looking for Jakob.
When Evie's UFO network uncovers a new event, she goes to investigate. And discovers Jakob is back. He's different—older, stranger, and talking of an intergalactic war—but the tensions between the siblings haven't changed at all. If the family is going to come together to help Jakob, then Kass and Evie are going to have to fix their issues, and fast. Because the FBI is after Jakob, and if their brother is telling the truth, possibly an entire space armada, too.
The perfect combination of action, imagination and heart, Light Years from Home is a touching drama about a challenge as difficult as saving the galaxy: making peace with your family…and yourself.
"With heart and insight...Chencrosses the stakes and imagination of a space opera with the emotional depth and intricacy of a family drama." —Erika Swyler, bestselling author of Light from Other Stars
Genre: Science Fiction
A Best Of pick and Most Anticipated Sci Fi and Fantasy novel, as selected by Goodreads • Buzzfeed • BookRiot • The Portalist • IO9 • BookBub • SheReads • BiblioLifestyle • Den of Geek • GeekDad
“A rich backstory… a highly satisfying ending… All the stars for Chen's warmhearted space-travel story.” –Kirkus, starred review
Every family has issues. Most can’t blame them on extraterrestrials.
Evie Shao and her sister, Kass, aren’t on speaking terms. Fifteen years ago on a family camping trip, their father and brother vanished. Their dad turned up days later, dehydrated and confused—and convinced he'd been abducted by aliens. Their brother, Jakob, remained missing. The women dealt with it very differently. Kass, suspecting her college-dropout twin simply ran off, became the rock of the family. Evie traded academics to pursue alien conspiracy theories, always looking for Jakob.
When Evie's UFO network uncovers a new event, she goes to investigate. And discovers Jakob is back. He's different—older, stranger, and talking of an intergalactic war—but the tensions between the siblings haven't changed at all. If the family is going to come together to help Jakob, then Kass and Evie are going to have to fix their issues, and fast. Because the FBI is after Jakob, and if their brother is telling the truth, possibly an entire space armada, too.
The perfect combination of action, imagination and heart, Light Years from Home is a touching drama about a challenge as difficult as saving the galaxy: making peace with your family…and yourself.
"With heart and insight...Chencrosses the stakes and imagination of a space opera with the emotional depth and intricacy of a family drama." —Erika Swyler, bestselling author of Light from Other Stars
Genre: Science Fiction
Praise for this book
"I love a book about siblings, and this one combines a clever sci-fi plot with a moving and deeply relatable depiction of a family in crisis. Propelled just as much by the complicated feelings Kassie, Evie, and Jakob have for each other as by Jakob's quest to win an intergalactic war, the novel asks the wrenching question: is it worse to be the one to leave your family, maybe forever, or to be the ones left at home? Light Years from Home is science fiction with heart, and reminded me in the best possible way of The X-Files - not just because an alien abduction is at the center of the story, but also because of how attached I became to its compelling, funny, and flawed characters. Right now I think we're all yearning for stories that either offer an escape or warm our hearts; Mike Chen's novel does both." - Kate Hope Day
"Mike Chen delivers another perfect blend of sci-fi and heart, turning sweeping space opera inside out to examine real, intricate human emotions and complicated family dynamics. Honest, warm and insightful, with wry humor and gut-punch emotion by turns, Light Years from Home was a joy to read." - Rowenna Miller
"So good, sweet and funny and dark and weird, Light Years from Home is a tense family melodrama wrapped inside a wild alien abduction story. Nerve-jangling and heartbreaking, it explores the traumas of mental illness, the annoyances of sibling rivalry - and the dangers of an interstellar war whose fingers are slowly reaching for Earth. I could not put this book down. I wanted to know more about the aliens, sure, but mostly I was desperate to find out how the Shao family would come back together." - Annalee Newitz
"A beautifully realized deep dive on the meaning of family told within an alien abduction framework... The Shao family feels real and lived in, so I can only assume Mike Chen has insider knowledge on intergalactic warfare as well." - Sarah Pinsker
"Achingly real sibling dynamics and tense action combine in a moving portrait of the human cost of a cosmic adventure. With heart and humor, Light Years from Home explores how grief and trauma scatter a family across time and space, and what happens to the ones left behind." - Catriona Silvey
"Fast-paced, funny, and strung with as much love as there are stars in the sky, Mike Chen's Light Years from Home re-invents the alien abduction story, recast here as an adrenaline-filled adventure about persevering and belonging. His heart-filled characters shine as they search for their place in the galaxy - and with each other, finding hope, new beginnings, and above all else, family." - Alison Stine
"Stakes and imagination...emotional depth and intricacy...an absolute joy to read." - Erika Swyler
"Mike Chen delivers another perfect blend of sci-fi and heart, turning sweeping space opera inside out to examine real, intricate human emotions and complicated family dynamics. Honest, warm and insightful, with wry humor and gut-punch emotion by turns, Light Years from Home was a joy to read." - Rowenna Miller
"So good, sweet and funny and dark and weird, Light Years from Home is a tense family melodrama wrapped inside a wild alien abduction story. Nerve-jangling and heartbreaking, it explores the traumas of mental illness, the annoyances of sibling rivalry - and the dangers of an interstellar war whose fingers are slowly reaching for Earth. I could not put this book down. I wanted to know more about the aliens, sure, but mostly I was desperate to find out how the Shao family would come back together." - Annalee Newitz
"A beautifully realized deep dive on the meaning of family told within an alien abduction framework... The Shao family feels real and lived in, so I can only assume Mike Chen has insider knowledge on intergalactic warfare as well." - Sarah Pinsker
"Achingly real sibling dynamics and tense action combine in a moving portrait of the human cost of a cosmic adventure. With heart and humor, Light Years from Home explores how grief and trauma scatter a family across time and space, and what happens to the ones left behind." - Catriona Silvey
"Fast-paced, funny, and strung with as much love as there are stars in the sky, Mike Chen's Light Years from Home re-invents the alien abduction story, recast here as an adrenaline-filled adventure about persevering and belonging. His heart-filled characters shine as they search for their place in the galaxy - and with each other, finding hope, new beginnings, and above all else, family." - Alison Stine
"Stakes and imagination...emotional depth and intricacy...an absolute joy to read." - Erika Swyler
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