Synopsis:
It’s been seventeen years since the internet crashed and left the world broken…
On the Bellwether, a huge floating college safe from the politics and war of the mainland, Auli is part of a research team studying the Oracle – a strange, uncanny girl who channels dangerous ghosts. The scientists notate everything she says, using her to piece together maps, weather forecasts, and anything else that might make the region’s hazardous waters a little safer for shipping cartels and local fishermen alike.
Auli is horrified when her beloved mentor, Boudain, reveals his scheme to create more human Oracles, seeking to leverage the power of this unique girl into security for the Bellwether and perhaps even a return to a new, warped digital age. The very next day, she finds him dead.
Reluctantly promoted to lead her team, Auli begins an investigation into Boudain’s death. Her scrutiny reveals the corrupt heart of the institute she has dedicated herself to, and as the ghosts and even the very seas around them start to mutate, she is forced to wrestle with a life-changing decision: save the Oracle or save the Bellwether – and all the lives that depend on it.
Genre: Science Fantasy
Publisher: Solaris Books
Pub Date: 6 November 2025
I received an ARC of this book from the publisher.
Review:
The world broke seventeen years ago when the internet became ghosts. There is a girl who can channel these dangerous ghosts, and she is The Oracle. Held on a research vessel floating in an angry ocean, she is studied by a small group of researchers, including Auli. Auli begins to question everything when faced with a new project that shakes her moral compass, and what she discovers has implications far wider than their small boat.
I adore Wilson’s writing. Her previous book, We Are All Ghosts in the Forest, was one of my favourites of 2024. They are both lyrical and thoughtful in their prose, and heavy with atmosphere, which is a recipe for perfection for me.
Storytelling is at the heart of this book. The internet still haunts us, hurts us and kills us, and we don’t want to understand that we made it that way. The stories we tell have shaped it, and not all for the better. There are stories too that affect the people. The Oracle is kept aboard, docile, to be studied. They say it is for the greater good. But what is her story? What is it she is really trying to say?
This story is complex and layered, the characters all with their own agendas. Friendships are tested, and corruption sits alongside love. It is a story set in a world that will be familiar to you, but twisted with dystopia and a dash of climate issues.
I recommend reading the first book for more context, but you can absolutely go straight into this one if you want to.
Thank you SO much to @solarisbooks for sending me an ARC of this one. You can bet I’ll be reading everything Lorraine Wilson writes from now on.
Pages of Emma 
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