Colony

How it reads

Colony is science fiction (alien horror science fiction, specifically), and its dominant mood is eerie. It's atmospheric and uncanny, with a sense that something is wrong. It moves fast: plot-driven and hard to put down, the kind of book that carries you along even when you're tired.

It's set in the wilderness or at sea, in the future, told in the third person across several viewpoints. Its central concerns are survival, nature and identity. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.

It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending is dark — no rescue, no neat bow. At 17 pages it's a single-sitting book. It's moderately known: read by plenty of people, but not a household name.