What do you think?
Rate this book
What We Are Seeking
Not yet published
Expected 7 Apr 26From Cameron Reed, the acclaimed author of The Fortunate Fall, comes a soaring novel of queer hope and transformation, perfect for readers of Ann Leckie and Amal El-Mohtar.
On the planet Scythia, plants give birth to insects, trees can drag you to your death, and armies of animals graft native plants into human crops.
John Maraintha has been abandoned here, light-years from the peaceful forests that he loves.
The desert is harsh and the people in thrall to a barbaric custom called marriage.
He must find some way to make a life here.
But on Scythia, survival means transformation―and not everyone is willing to accept change.
On the planet Scythia, plants give birth to insects, trees can drag you to your death, and armies of animals graft native plants into human crops.
John Maraintha has been abandoned here, light-years from the peaceful forests that he loves.
The desert is harsh and the people in thrall to a barbaric custom called marriage.
He must find some way to make a life here.
But on Scythia, survival means transformation―and not everyone is willing to accept change.
352 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication April 7, 2026
8 people are currently reading
4262 people want to read
About the author
Cameron Reed
3 books27 followersAuthor previously writing under the name Raphael Carter.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
Want to read
January 7, 2026I am soooooo incredibly seated for this! Can't believe the luck I have that I don't have to wait 30 years for a new Cameron Reed novel!
Read
September 3, 2025A planetary romance with deep thematic resonance, this is a book about accepting the inevitability of change and transformation, even in ourselves and those we love.
October 30, 2025
I'm not entirely sure how to review this novel. It was wonderful, it made me feel emotions that I cannot possibly describe. I read it too fast, I need to read it again to absorb everything I missed. I can't wait to listen to it as an audiobook. The summary is so simple and it explains the novel and also explains nothing of the novel. The characters are layered and complex and I love them. I love the world building, the details, the density. It throws you into the world and expects you to keep up, and I love that about a speculative fiction novel. It's about identity, gender, sexuality, and the various spectrums they take. It's about colonialism, the damage it does, the ways it can be repaired or not. It's about religion and religious truama, it's about how we carry cultures with us and how they intersect with so many aspects of our lives. It's about family and the shapes family can take.
I highly suggest picking this up, the marketing has a good go of it. If you like Leckie, Le Guin, and similar authors, I think you'll enjoy this.
I highly suggest picking this up, the marketing has a good go of it. If you like Leckie, Le Guin, and similar authors, I think you'll enjoy this.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I received a free copy from Tor Books via Netgalley in exchange for a fair review. Release date April 7th, 2026.
I've heard excellent things about Reed's previous novel, The Fortunate Fall, so I was excited to get a chance to read her latest book. In What We Are Seeking, ship's doctor John Maraintha is unexpectedly assigned against his will to serve on an isolated new colony. Scythia has just discovered a possible new intelligent alien species, and John must navigate the tumultuous first contact while enduring both the colony's very different culture and permanent exile from his home planet.
I was immediately captivated by the strong, confident prose and the anthropological SF bent of the plot, which both reminded me strongly of Ursula Le Guin. Of course, Le Guin would do the same story in a exquisitely spare novella of a hundred-something pages, but that's Le Guin for you. There's a half-dozen odd cultures in What We Are Seeking, and Reed does an excellent job making them feel distinct. From John's fixation on poisons to the Ischnuran three-gender system, the ship-crew's overbearing paternalism, and the Zandahean post-Christ Christianity, cultural differences are the backbone of the story. And of course, it's hard to go wrong writing a first-contact story, the SF answer to the murder mystery. John and his fellow exile, the linguist Sudharma, slowly puzzle out the mystery of who the basket-men are and how their culture works amid the wildly different biology of Scythia. On Scythia, all plants metamorphosize into an animal, which in turn plants the seed of a tree or shrub.
Although What We Are Seeking is set among alien scenery, at its heart the story is about themes closer to home: sex and gender. John comes from a culture that finds marriage an abhorrent, unnatural tie, but his perspective is not entirely validated by the narrative. Yes, the Christian-based marriage as performed on Scythia is restrictive, but mostly due to the confines of patriarchy and heteronormativity. John's culture comes with its own lack of choice—the total separation between father and child, the taboo on reciprocal exchange in specifically sexual relationships, the way a man can't rent an apartment without everybody assuming he's a bottom. Sex is freer, but convention is just as binding.
While John is our only viewpoint character, my favorite character was by far Iren, who is in many ways more central to the fight to shape Scythia's budding culture than John himself. Iren is what we'd probably call asexual nonbinary, but their identity is discussed in terms of Ischnuran culture, where they're a jess, a gender non-conforming person who traditionally swears a vow of chastity. Iren is a lovely character, messy and nuanced and with complex feelings about the traditional celibacy. I do wish they weren't always filtered through John's point of view, though—John does not have a cultural understanding of any of this, and I feel we spend most of the time learning about Iren's experience through John asking insensitive questions. Iren carries a heavy narrative weight as effectively the only trans character who has to constantly explain their experiences, but on some levels that's a deliberate choice Reed has made. As the plot advances, it's slowly revealed that specific prejudices that kept jesses from being included as colonists, and Iren explicitly sees themself as the founder of what it will mean to be a jess on Scythia.
Slow, meditative, and thoughtful, with an excellent touch for writing a wide range of cultures. Reed thoroughly earned the comparison to Ursula Le Guin, and I need to read her earlier novel, The Fortunate Fall, immediately. Highly recommended.
I've heard excellent things about Reed's previous novel, The Fortunate Fall, so I was excited to get a chance to read her latest book. In What We Are Seeking, ship's doctor John Maraintha is unexpectedly assigned against his will to serve on an isolated new colony. Scythia has just discovered a possible new intelligent alien species, and John must navigate the tumultuous first contact while enduring both the colony's very different culture and permanent exile from his home planet.
I was immediately captivated by the strong, confident prose and the anthropological SF bent of the plot, which both reminded me strongly of Ursula Le Guin. Of course, Le Guin would do the same story in a exquisitely spare novella of a hundred-something pages, but that's Le Guin for you. There's a half-dozen odd cultures in What We Are Seeking, and Reed does an excellent job making them feel distinct. From John's fixation on poisons to the Ischnuran three-gender system, the ship-crew's overbearing paternalism, and the Zandahean post-Christ Christianity, cultural differences are the backbone of the story. And of course, it's hard to go wrong writing a first-contact story, the SF answer to the murder mystery. John and his fellow exile, the linguist Sudharma, slowly puzzle out the mystery of who the basket-men are and how their culture works amid the wildly different biology of Scythia. On Scythia, all plants metamorphosize into an animal, which in turn plants the seed of a tree or shrub.
Although What We Are Seeking is set among alien scenery, at its heart the story is about themes closer to home: sex and gender. John comes from a culture that finds marriage an abhorrent, unnatural tie, but his perspective is not entirely validated by the narrative. Yes, the Christian-based marriage as performed on Scythia is restrictive, but mostly due to the confines of patriarchy and heteronormativity. John's culture comes with its own lack of choice—the total separation between father and child, the taboo on reciprocal exchange in specifically sexual relationships, the way a man can't rent an apartment without everybody assuming he's a bottom. Sex is freer, but convention is just as binding.
While John is our only viewpoint character, my favorite character was by far Iren, who is in many ways more central to the fight to shape Scythia's budding culture than John himself. Iren is what we'd probably call asexual nonbinary, but their identity is discussed in terms of Ischnuran culture, where they're a jess, a gender non-conforming person who traditionally swears a vow of chastity. Iren is a lovely character, messy and nuanced and with complex feelings about the traditional celibacy. I do wish they weren't always filtered through John's point of view, though—John does not have a cultural understanding of any of this, and I feel we spend most of the time learning about Iren's experience through John asking insensitive questions. Iren carries a heavy narrative weight as effectively the only trans character who has to constantly explain their experiences, but on some levels that's a deliberate choice Reed has made. As the plot advances, it's slowly revealed that specific prejudices that kept jesses from being included as colonists, and Iren explicitly sees themself as the founder of what it will mean to be a jess on Scythia.
Slow, meditative, and thoughtful, with an excellent touch for writing a wide range of cultures. Reed thoroughly earned the comparison to Ursula Le Guin, and I need to read her earlier novel, The Fortunate Fall, immediately. Highly recommended.
January 31, 2026
This is the kind of book that I absolutely love reading and don't get enough of these days: a book that is willing to sit me down with gender and chromosonal theory, create an absolute satire of modern religious and the absurdity of antitrans activists, and still have interesting things to say about how you find yourself through community, all while taking a tour of the stars and dealing with the absurdity of prejudice always being the one thing that makes it to the stars too. John and Iren get to make some real fun statements about the oppression of marriage while they're at it, but we also get an absolutely joyful tour of cultures, while one toys with the idea of conceiving a child. Yes, there's hate and absurdity, but there's still the possibility of the future, and knowledge being shared among the ships that travel, and the possibility of better for the future as well. I'm going to be finding this physically too, because I love the cover art. Comes out in April, preorder now and sit down with a good meal and someone you love to read this.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
It reads like a long philosophical conversation on the topics of sexual customs, transitioning, tolerance and choice. In a good way -- I liked that, and I liked it. It's a bit didactic at times, and I'm honestly wondering if the ending will change before publication -- I can't tell if that's where it's meant to end. It makes sense in some ways, and not in others.
All of that aside, the world building is fascinating and the characters are excellent. I'm particularly intrigued/freaked out by the possibilities of AI in this imagining. Long, but I kept wanting more time with it, and it's staying with me. Lots to think about. I also really loved how much care and attention is given to food preparation and enjoyment. I love the gravitas that food has when the eaters are more appreciative of how central it is to survival.
Advanced Reader's copy provided by Edelweiss.
All of that aside, the world building is fascinating and the characters are excellent. I'm particularly intrigued/freaked out by the possibilities of AI in this imagining. Long, but I kept wanting more time with it, and it's staying with me. Lots to think about. I also really loved how much care and attention is given to food preparation and enjoyment. I love the gravitas that food has when the eaters are more appreciative of how central it is to survival.
Advanced Reader's copy provided by Edelweiss.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This was excellent, thanks to the publishers for the ARC. It reminded me a bit of Karen Lord's books, though there was more action (I like Karen Lord's writing a lot, they are slow/meditative on purpose). People from a few different societies end up on one planet, their social structures/ways of understanding relationships come into conflict, though not really explosive conflict. Very good world building and character development. My only complaint is that some plot points seemed 'skipped' - a plan for action would then be something that had already happened, rather than spending the time to experience the tough part.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Cameron Reed's What We Are Seeking is slow-burn sociological SciFi of the highest order. Interplanetary colonialism, futurological sexuality, and philosophical conundrums sprouting from alien worlds make for a fascinating story that beautifully evolves seeds from Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness, Butler's Xenogenesis, Russell's The Sparrow, Card's Speaker For The Dead, and Wolfe's Fifth Head Of Cerberus. 9/10
August 25, 2025
This book is so goddamn good I want to screech. It is precisely the type of sci-fi I'm always searching for.
Review to come, because I need to get my thoughts in order.
ARC provided by Edelweiss and TOR.
Review to come, because I need to get my thoughts in order.
ARC provided by Edelweiss and TOR.
December 5, 2025
God made man in His image; Scythia holds a spore-gun to your head and says ‘transition or die’: tentacles, vine-cables, bark-tits, and pronouns included.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
November 25, 2025
I'm already planning to reread it. what a thoroughly thoroughly wonderful book that somehow managed to exceed my ridiculously high expectations.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews