A bittersweet science fiction novel for fans of Becky Chambers and Ted Chiang’s Arrival that contemplates civilization, determinism, and friendship as a scientist is forced to decide whether to intervene and help a dying species.
THE LAST DAYS OF GOOD PEOPLE
by A.T. Sayre
JAB Books, February 2025
(via JABberwocky)
On a small corner of a doomed world, where the capricious laws of nature can’t be reversed, a civilization arrives at the end of its days.
Warin is one of a small team charting the demise of the last few inhabitants of Retti 4, a distant planet in the throes of an extinction-level virus. It’s not Warin’s job to intervene in natural evolution or to question the whims of a cruel universe. He is only to observe and report. Until Warin actually steps foot on Retti 4.
Not the primitive species Warin believed them to be, the rettys are an industrious and ethical lot working together in a close-knit farming village. Lacking the human traits of fear, suspicion, and aggression, they are welcoming, curious, and eager to share their traditions—even in the shadow of a tragedy that they, and Warin, are powerless to stop.
As they embrace Warin into their fold, his compassion grows. So does his own self-discovery. For Warin, far away from Earth, comes a deeper understanding of friendship, civilization, and the true meaning of humanity. And above all, the peace and profound strength it takes to accept the inevitable.
A.T. Sayre has been writing in some form or other ever since he was ten years old. From plays to poems, teleplays to comic books, he has tried his hand at pretty much every medium imaginable. His work has appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Haven Speculative, Aurealis, Andromeda Spaceways, and StarShipSofa. His first short story collection, Signals in The Static, was published in May 2024 by Lethe Press.

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