Frontier is advertised as a sci fi/western crossed with a heartfelt sapphic romance. Sci fi/western it is, romance it is not. Instead, Frontier follows an unnamed woman from space who traverses the Earth in search of a way to communicate off-world. It is written in a fragmented way and shows each section of her journey and a brief insight into the lives of those she meets, those left behind on Earth post-apocalyptic event. Some characters are more interesting than others, but my favourite was the young girl who had to have her insulin delivered via tortoise mail so bandits wouldn’t steal it to re-sell.

The religious over-tones were unsettling at times, and overtook the sci-fi vibes, so all in all I’m not sure how to rate this. I couldn’t get invested in the characters since their appearances were so fleeting, other than the protagonist who is not even named until roughly eighty percent through. This definitely has a specific audience who will adore it, however expectations should be tempered if they include a wishing for any sort of developed romance.

My thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In a dystopian future, most of humanity has fled a ravaged Earth, with only a small lawless number remaining who worship the planet as ‘Gaia’, and think that anything technological or from space is heresy. Into this world, an escape pod crashes. Its lone occupant must travel across a hostile world to find her ship – and the woman she loves.

This was a hugely enjoyable read for me. It’s fast-paced and easy to digest, uplifting, and also has some interesting features stylistically.

The structure of the novel was one such feature. The protagonist meets various characters along her journey almost in the way of a fairy-tale quest. Many of them are point of view characters, both the good and the bad, which is an excellent way of giving depth to the world in a small amount of time. We meet, for example, the son of a preacher of Gaia, who is party to what appears to be a cult-like deception in a religious town; an uppity and unsociable – but very clever – seamstress, who witnesses a murder; and a rather lovable thief.

In each point of view, the protagonist is called something different – ‘the Stranger’, ‘the Courier’, or ‘Darling’ – as she fits herself into whatever story she finds herself in, and it’s only later in the book that we get a little more of her backstory and she solidifies into a named character. For a while, it’s almost like a series of short stories, the protagonist weaving them together into a whole.

The tone of the novel is also interesting. There are some stories and scenes of absolute whimsy and childish delight – a tortoise plays an important part, and there are the strange musical people who live in the guts of a huge crashed spaceship. But then there’s an element of grit. It is, after all, an Earth ravaged by climate disaster, where society is lawless, and sometimes cruel. Not all of the point of view characters to whom we are so lovingly introduced have happy endings. Ultimately though, I’d say it gravitates towards hopefulness. I’ve seen this book compared to Becky Chambers’ Wayfarer novels, and I absolutely get the comparison, in that it somehow lifts your heart despite its rather desolate and at times cruel setting.

If I had a very small quibble, it would be that the pace is so fast and the writing so efficient that at times I felt momentarily wrong-footed – for instance, a character is in a spaceship and then in an escape pod and I miss how the transition occurred – but this in no way detracted from my enjoyment of the story. I would also say that if you are after deep or lift-off-the-page characterisation, this is not so much what this novel is going for – but honestly that does not matter. What this novel sets out to do, it does superbly.

At its heart, this is a lovable, queer, romantic spaceship-western… (what’s not to love?) It breezed past me in its delight of vignettes, and the characters were endearing and efficiently drawn. I would absolutely recommend this for anyone who wants a pacy, imaginative and uplifting read.

The book was fantastic, I enjoyed the way it was told via a series of short stories, the world was incredible to read about and Gaia was fantastic. The characters were very strong for a book this short as was the world building. As with all short stories there are always some you prefer to other, none are weak but nana and the priests son were so strong I was sad to leave them.

This was a great debut! I’ve not read a sci-fi in a while and this was a great place to get back into it. This is such a fun, fast paced book which is ideal for anyone looking for a fun quick read!

Even though it’s fairly short, there’s a lot packed into this book. I enjoyed the religion created of people worshipping the earth, in a future where majority of people have left the planet to find new life in space. This was a kind of future world I’ve not read about before and I really enjoyed it!

I liked that our main character remains mostly anonymous through the book, being referred to by different names in each chapter, such as ‘the stowaway’ or ‘the stranger’. We get to know her and her background when it’s revealed but I liked that it was withheld for a lot of the book.

The structure of the book was also really interesting and original. Each chapter sort of reads like a short story, introducing characters and their stories with our main character being the connecting thread through all of them. This is until the story all starts to come together at the end where the chapters read more like normal book chapters. We follow the main character’s aim to get a communicator so she can get back to the woman she loves. We see her journey by following it through a lot of other people’s eyes which was fun.

I read at the end in the ‘about the author’ section that Curtis writes about video games which I can see reflected in the book. This book could make a really cool story-based video game!!

Overall this was a really solid debut which I’ve rated 4 stars! I will definitely be reading more from Curtis in the future!

Frontier was a debut fantasy story take place at post apocalyptic Earth story with dystopian Wild Western vibes only it. Actually this story intrigued me and brimming with all components I normally loves.

The story started with strong kicked and I truly engaged when the stranger from outer space whom suppose become MC come. But then this mysterious MC isn't share much about herself or her mission at most part of the plot. We navigated this rich worldbuilding from her eyes and some people who come along her ways. This people have their own pov and sharing stories. Some important some like small fragments at plots. I found this type of storytelling isn't suited me. The journey plot feel dragging, little to offer and take too much time to get straight into the mission. It is confusing and make me easy to lost my focus to gather information pieces by pieces. The mystery was take very long time to revealed.

This book isn't for me but maybe suitable for readers who love journey sci fi story with multiple pov and slow burn mystery.

Thank you Netgalley and Hodder&Stoughton for provided my both copies. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

An enjoyable read. The first half was very strong, with beautiful descriptions, lyrical moments and engaging scenes. The second half, although satisfying, felt slightly rushed and too perfect — but then maybe I’m so used to ‘bury your gays’ that happiness was a jarring but welcome relief in queer literature. Overall would recommend, and will be buying to give to friends.

2.5/5 Stars rounded up to 3 Stars

I want to thank Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. I have to preface this by saying that I had some technical issues with the eBook that may have caused some confusion and frustration on my end, but these are issues that will surely be fixed very soon.

Frontier is a multi-POV sci-fi story that follows a stranger from space as she searches for her lost lover on a post-apocalyptic Earth. In short, I enjoyed the lighthearted prose and the way the world was presented, but felt like the execution of the unique way the story is told was lacking.

The story does not pick up any kind of pace or set a clear goal until very late. The first two thirds of the book contain chapters with plotlines from different perspectives in which the unnamed MC appears, and we get to know her through these many "side quests" or little adventures before we can piece together what is truly happening. It was a very different and interesting strategy, although oftentimes confusing in a way that frustrated rather than let me try to figure it out myself. It felt like a lot of prologues stitched together, and for more than 50% of the book I thought its entire goal was to present an idea of this post-apocalyptic world rather than a plot. There ended up being a story that vaguely tied everything together; however, this came a little too late for my taste.

On a very positive note: the world was intriguing, and nothing I have seen in the genre up until now. The culture on this Earth is based on a religion centered on Gaia and gave major Wild West vibes, which made it fun to follow the protagonist along as she and the reader (re)discover this planet.

All in all, Frontier presented a sketch of a fascinating sci-fi setting and I would be thrilled to read more about the world itself in the future.

I received an email inviting me to read this book, and with phrases like “gay space western” and “for fans of Becky Chambers” it immediately got my attention. They weren’t wrong. It is a gay space western for fans of Becky Chambers—I absolutely flipping loved it.

The story follows the Stranger (the Courier, the Stowaway, the Traveller…) as she journeys across Earth in an attempt to contact someone. At first very little is given away about who she is, where she is from, or who she is looking for and why. These details trickle through the more places she goes and the more people she meets.

We get a lot of small glimpses at such a wealth of world building throughout the book. A divide between the humans that left Earth many years ago and those who stayed behind. A post-climate catastrophe Earth and how humans have adapted to the world. A new religious world order and how and why it sprang from previous events. The tip of an iceberg of the larger world beyond the reaches of Earth in outer space. And so much more. It’s so rich and vivid and there is still so much left to be explored.

This book is most comparable to Chambers’ first book, The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet, due to its episodic nature. Each chapter is a like a little self-contained short story, all building a bigger picture of this Earth and those who were left behind. Threads and elements from all the previous chapters come back to add depth and plot and detail to the story in later chapters. I ate that shit up, it was so satisfying.

Every character we meet, for no matter how briefly, felt real and whole. That’s so often the key, for me, to a great book, and I envy writers who seem to accomplish it so easily. The first three characters we meet, especially, I seemed to know so quickly, in barely the first few pages of the book. And I remember them so clearly, because… well, spoilers. But every single character was so well-crafted, complex, and unique. There are my favourites who I love dearly (Hattie, Byker, Nana, Ken). There are the characters I love to hate (Seawell, mostly). And there are all the other characters in between, all adding to the world and the narrative and development of each other.

It was an easy read, always leaving me wanting more, but I paced myself in order to really make the book last. I didn’t want it to be over too quickly. By the time I reached halfway I was completely in love with the book and just hoping for a ending that did it justice. I wasn’t disappointed. The ending wasn’t too stressful or dramatic, but wasn’t underwhelming either. It was perfect, and continued to pull details from throughout the story to tie it all together.

I am more than a little excited for Curtis’ words to be out in the world and already can’t wait to read more of them!

Frontier is a story of exploration and gritty determination in an unfamiliar world. Our main protagonist for most of the book is known by various descriptors depending on the situation she is in - the stranger, the courier, the traveller etc. We discover who she is slowly, through how she reacts in different situations. This mystery may appeal to some readers but unfortunately for me, I struggled to connect with her. It took far too long for me to get a sense of her and care about her motivations. A lot of secondary characters came and went without much impact as well so that in some places it felt like reading disconnected short stories. The setting was really interesting, though, and I enjoyed the small bits we got to learn about this almost abandoned, dying planet Earth and the unusual ways the remaining humans have adapted.

Where the story picked up was in the final quarter. We finally learned the backstory of our main character; who she was, why she was here, and why she was desperate to find her love. I really enjoyed the glimpse back into the character's history and the final action sequence.

A bit of a mixed bag here with some writing choices that didn't click for me, but may for others. Overall, enjoyable sci-fi/space opera story.

Overall I liked this - it reminded me of The Outer Worlds video game in the best ways, with the way characters are written being very reminiscent of it.

It’s very quick and light and fun, which isn’t a bad thing but it left me wanting something with a bit more depth to it, a problem I also kinda had with Becky Chambers.

Having the first chunk of the book be told through the eyes of people meeting the main character is an interesting idea and I definitely liked it, but it also didn’t feel like I really *knew* the character that well and the chapters from her point of view didn’t connect with me as well as they should have.

I’d recommend it as a quick fun sci-fi fix though!

Thoroughly enjoyed this, it had a wonderful western style that worked really well especially as it wasn’t heavy on the sci-fi vibe.
We follow a mysterious stranger on a mysterious quest and I had so many questions, but the slow reveal was well worth the waiting. The whole thing came together to make an amazing love story, because obviously love is the best motivation for doing anything.
I think fans of Becky Chambers will adore this, I know I did!

This was a great sci-fi romance. I really enjoyed it. Huge thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review. I hope there’s a follow up.

A novel with the strapline 'Love, loss and laser guns' certainly had my attention; and while it did deliver on all of those claims, it was not at all in the ways I expected. With some immediate hostility and gun fare, we follow the story of The Stranger who has crash landed onto a future planet Earth, desolated by the climate crisis beside those who have reclaimed the old ways before technology in worship of Gaia. This rebuke of tech is somewhat detrimental to The Stranger who has only one mission - to find the woman she loves and get a signal out to her, in a world that hates tech. I really enjoyed the narrative arc and the way past documents and flashbacks were fed over the course of the novel so we got to meet all facets of The Stranger. Especially after she becomes identified as Captain Kei; this is when I knew I was hooked and couldn't put this story down. I think the only mild let down was its length. I would have liked a few more beats of rest in chapters to explore the environment, or how Earth became this way, or just to be in Kei's head more. It was just allow the action to settle a little more and for me to feel more bonded to the characters. Despite this, a thoroughly enjoyable read and a lot of fun!

Lots of great ideas but also feels like it was decided to just add them all in. A huge cast of characters, some of whom come back in leaving me occasionally feeling like I needed a chart to keep up! There is a lot of classic gaming structure, go here, get this thing, do this quest and a lot of it does feel like padding - better in a game when there is a reason to do it. Adding in the different settings, western etc was kinda fun and I did like the killing on the train but overall, a hodge-podge.

A mysterious spacewoman crash lands on a rather post-apocalyptic Earth where the locals worship Mother Earth and view those who abandoned the planet in its dying days as heathens. The place has become like the frontiers of old where people are trying to survive on little but Faith and whatever they can salvage for themselves. The nameless woman is searching for something/someone so the story’s a quest and I found this first half of the book entertaining and interesting with a few side stories and quirky characters. I liked the main character, she was fierce and determined to succeed despite all the odds. I guess it’s a sci-fi western with a queer love twist. I loved the community of musical people who lived in the bowels of New Destiny, they were hilarious, and the baddy Deputy Seawall was absolutely despicable! Lots of lucky coincidences and some amazing comebacks from almost certain death but otherwise a pacy story with lots of action and humour.

This was a very enjoyable, fast-paced quick read. I was a bit concerned that it might not be my cup of tea, as the blurb mentioned gunslingers and love – Westerns and Romance being my least favourite genres – but it also mentioned a space ship and dystopian future world, so I decided to give it a go. And, was very glad I had.
The dystopian world is Earth, populated by the religious fanatics who decided to stay on the devastated near-dead planet when everyone else was evacuated. They wanted to remain close to the Earth God Gaia, and saw space flight as a sin.
The book opens with a crashed space ship, and the rather dodgy individuals who find it. They don’t last long.
Then we meet the main character. We don’t discover her name until well into the book – she is only given a designation relating to her activity in the current chapter: Courier, Stranger, Darling, Guest, Lover. We do know she is from off-planet, and is looking for someone (but not whom) and access to a communications device. Was she on the crashed ship? Is she part of a rescue mission, or in need of rescue? Why did the ship come to Earth, where it was clearly not going to be welcome?
Each chapter is another stage in the MC’s road journey. It is not always clear how she gets from one point to the next, but that does not spoil the story. She meets a number of different and quite unique characters. Some are given names, others just a designation. Most are helpful. They appear, then disappear, and for most we never know what becomes f them after they lose contact with the MC. The exception being Deputy Seawall – the baddie of the piece.
About 70% of the way through the book, there is a flashback which answers some of the questions about the main character and her quest. But, even at the end of the book, there are still many outstanding questions. The author is to be congratulated for not padding out the book. It could have been a lot longer – but really everything that needed to be said, was.
I can fully recommend this beautifully crafted book, with no wasted words, that claims your full attention throughout.

After a disastrous climate change left the earth dry and almost uninhabitable, a mass evacuation of the population had been carried out. Only a few people are left who mainly belong to the faith of Gaia and see climate change as the earth’s punishment for their behaviour. Technology is frowned on as being part of what caused the disaster.
Hundreds of years later, a spaceship crashes down onto earth containing a woman who we only know as The Stranger. She is trying to find someone and desperate to find a way of communicating with them.
This is a very episodic book and has the feel of a TV series or video game as The Stranger travels though this dystopian wild west inspired landscape. She meets a whole range of different people and often has a task to perform before they will help her. Some of these people are more likeable than others but each encounter gives us a bit more information about The Stranger.
I did enjoy the different incidents but it felt very fragmented and almost frustrating as the story moved along so quickly. I preferred it when she finally arrived at New Destiny and in a flashback, we see her background and find out who she actually is. The story then becomes more straightforward and a lot of the details that were seemingly unimportant earlier in the story begin to make more sense.
There were a lot of things that I did love about this story, the dystopian setting especially and the hints of the galactic empire that we see in scholarly extracts were intriguing. However, the episodic character of the first part of the book really prevented me from engaging with the main character.
This was certainly an interesting debut novel and I will be interested to see what Grace Curtis comes up with next.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Frontier by Grace Curtis.
A western space opera, for fans of Becky Chambers.
For me, I found the book a bit slow to begin with but it did start to pick up and when it did I loved it. I wish some of the characters would of had bigger parts like Nana and Ken (that's just because I loved them). Overall though I throughly enjoyed it and I loved The Stranger. It was a beautiful love story full of adventure. I would definitely read more by the author and I would love a continuation of this book.

The cult of Gaia were left behind by humanity when they took to the stars. Fuelled by their belief in suffering under Earth's watchful gaze, all forms of advanced technology is officially shunned by the lawmakers and hardwordking folk of Earth. When a stranger crash lands, with a phase pistol and a highly advanced escape pod, it doesn't go without notice.

Part quest, part good old-fashioned episodic sci fi Western, 'Frontier' follows the Stranger on the search for a way to communicate. This is a warm, new take on familiar territory, that balances the horrors with a healthy dash of hope. With memorable characters, eccentric plot lines, and some great worldbuilding, this is a book I will be recommending.

I didn't like the way that this was written and put together. Our main character is referred to as many different things throughout, (The Stranger, The Courier etc) which I thought was interesting. Unfortunately, this did lead to me feeling very distanced from the main character when combined with the mystery of who she is, how she got there, who she's looking for etc etc. The first part was written like a string of short stories, which stopped at a 'background' chapter and then switched to a more continuous style. Some of the first parts were confusing or had no obvious meaning or point, particularly the dancers? That whole section was really odd. The 'love' story was very insta-love which I didn't like and was very telling, not showing. I don't think this is anything like Becky Chambers, aside from it being sci-fi, which is a shame because that is why I requested it.