Alpha

A spectacular planet. An enviable assignment. A growing doubt that anyone understands what they have found. Lamia has come to Alpha to assess its potential as a tourist destination. Lamin, her partner, has come with detailed itineraries, boundless curiosity and a firm belief that every failed plan merely requires a better alternative. With golden seas, immense canyons and extraordinary wildlife, Alpha promises more than either could have imagined. Their surveys become adventures; friends arrive; an isolated base fills with laughter, arguments and increasingly ambitious plans. But the discoveries refuse to fit the brief. Unfamiliar patterns emerge in the landscape. Animal behaviour raises uncomfortable questions. The more Lamia and Lamin observe, the harder it becomes to distinguish what they understand from what they have simply assumed. And when the planet’s unfamiliar biology puts someone they love at risk, uncertainty becomes painfully personal. As commercial ambitions gather around them, they must decide what they can responsibly promise about a world that continues to surprise them—and how to care for one another when knowledge and affection cannot guarantee safety. Alpha is a science-fiction novel of exploration, friendship and discovery, combining vivid alien landscapes with affectionate humour and the complicated business of loving people. It is the first book in Krys Dudek’s interstellar series.