Pills And Starships: A Novel

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Description

In this richly imagined future brought by global warming, 17-year-old Nat and her hacker brother Sam are off to Hawaii for their parents' Final Week. The few who still live well now live so long that they must bow out by buying death contracts. Deeply conflicted about her parents' decision, Nat attempts to come to terms with her impending parentless future. Sam begins to discover cracks in the corporate rulers' agenda and eventually rebels against the company his parents have hired to handle their last days. Nat has to choose a side.

Reviews

I'm the first to admit that dystopia isn't usually for me, but this one got right under my skin.
--The School Librarian

[A] rare gem of a book.
--Paperboat Sails

Killer first lines are like gold dust and this is a doozy: There was a time, not long ago, when it was illegal to kill people.
--LitReactor

Pills and Starships offers a vision of the future as frightful as it is prescient.
--Mandatory, included in 13 Dystopian Worlds from Fiction We'd Rather Live in Than This One

By no means is [dystopia] composed of only novice authors. We can't wait for Pulitzer Prize-nominated Lydia Millet's upcoming novel, Pills and Starships, set in a world where babies are illegal.
--Glamour

A YA novel that runs counter to nearly every YA trend...You'll laugh--until you realize it's too late, and the world has crumbled around you.
--Brazos Bookstore

Millet presents environmental issues she's dealt with before, but embeds them in engaging story, and sympathetic characters, lively voice, and a little, satisfying 'ick.'
--Tuscon Weekly

We recommend checking out this novel--which manages to be both frightening and hopeful--whether you're young or old.
--Endangered Earth Online

Included in Teen Librarian Toolbox's list of forthcoming CliFi (climate fiction) titles

Gripping...how the future is likely to be for our younger generation if the current situation of environmental degradation is allowed to continue.
--Greener Ideal

In this too-possible dystopia, global warming has changed weather patterns, babies are now illegal, and new diseases mutating weekly make face-to-face contact rare...I loved the book.
--Books YA Love

Millet's prose is strong, her neologisms are fun, and the story caught me right up.
--M. Fenn

An engaging epistolary novel that's part science fiction and part cautionary tale.
--Joe Follansbee

Millet's YA debut is a gem: unnerving and luminous in equal measures....Pitch-perfect...This is a smart, soulful book.
--The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia

This is a fantastic futuristic dystopian novel that every teen and adult should read!
--Jenn's Review Blog

Lydia Millet has constructed a landscape of horror against a typically beautiful backdrop, making the Huxley-esque society all the more disturbing...Sci fi readers looking for a new twist on classic themes are sure to enjoy this new novel.
--Write All the Words!

A good, worthy book...with a memorable voice and an important message.
--Christopher East

If you want to think, and you want to know what it truly would be like living in a realistic dystopian society, read this novel.
--With Her Nose Stuck in a Book

Wow. Just wow...If you like postapocalyptic, dystopian, or just beautiful writing, check this book out. It will blow your mind.
--Cherry Blossoms & Maple Syrup

A dystopian novel that paints a horrifying realistic future by exploiting the truths of today.
--Becoming Books

Pills and Starships feels very much like the spirit of our time.
--Online Eccentric Librarian

Nat and Sam were both characters that were a joy to read....Can be enjoyed by people of all ages.
--Twin Spin

This is not a slow book and is very hard to put down.
--Pub Writes

Fascinating and thought provoking! Pills and Starships is a chilling look at an ecologically damaged future where big business and the government have not only seized control of the surviving population through drugs, but have taken charge of death itself. Lydia Millet has raised questions that will resonate with readers for years to come.
--Joelle Charbonneau, author of The Testing

A beautiful glimpse of a dark and outrageous future--utterly confident and terrifying and exciting for readers of any age. You'll read it with the lights on and then you'll turn them off because you're wasting electricity.
--Adam Rex, author of The True Meaning of Smekday

Author Bio

Lydia Millet is the author of seven novels for adults as well as a story collection called Love in Infant Monkeys (2009), which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her first book for middle-grade readers, The Fires Beneath the Sea, was one of Kirkus' Best Children's Books of 2011, as well as a Junior Library Guild selection. Millet works as an editor and writer at a nonprofit in Tucson, Arizona, where she lives with her two young children.