Dear Stupid Penpal - Paperback

by Rascal Hartley (Author)

Atticus "Finch" Davani does not want to be an astronaut. He hates space, he hates the ship, and he strongly dislikes his fellow crew members. He makes that painfully clear in his letters to Aku, his corporate-assigned penpal back on Earth.

Soon, Aku becomes much more than a penpal. But when the crew engage hyperdrive, Aku's punctual letters start coming at random intervals, and Finch and his shipmates realize that time, for them, is moving all wrong.

As everyone else's penpals rapidly die of old age, Finch turns, heartbroken, to Aku; who, more than a century later, is still there.

DEAR STUPID PENPAL is an entirely epistolary exploration of cosmic dread, the passing of time, and the lifelines we cling to against the vast endlessness of space.

"A joyously weird tale of unexpected genre mashups, overwhelming odds, quotable lines, and queer romance that even the most jaded cynic can't help but get swept up in."

• Íde Hennessey, "Sequoia Point", Split Scream: Off the Map

"Veers from funny to dread-inducing and back again...sits alongside This Is How You Lose the Time War as a blueprint for compelling, propulsive, epistolary [fiction]."

• Emma Cole, Love Never Dies, editor at Harlequin Books