Anyone who even remotely follows sci-fi has come across the name Brooke Bolander in recent years, what with all the Hugo noms and Nebula noms and such. Her short story career has been fascinating to watch, culminating in last year’s visceral and powerful “Our Talons Can Crush Galaxies.”

Her first book, a novelette, is yet another shining example of the immense talents that lay within her hands. It’s a quick read at just 90pgs, but as any fighter will tell you, the quick hits often pack the most punch.

Lyrical and heartbreaking, The Only Harmless Great Thing is a book that begs to be absorbed, it’s prose glows like an irradiated warning sign you cannot help but ignore. It’s a quick read, but in it lies a wallop, one that will leave you begging, in equal parts, for mercy and for more.