The Last Gifts of the Universe

About this book

AN AUDIBLE BEST OF THE YEAR PICK for 2024!A Waterstones August Book of the Month Pick!"A quietly profound story about grief, purpose, and our place in the universe...Come for the cat, stay for the story."--Sunyi Dean, internationally bestselling author of The Book EatersA dying universe. A search for answers. An adventure at the end of a trillion lifetimes.When the Home worlds finally achieved the technology to venture out into the stars, they found a graveyard of dead civilisations. What befell them is unknown. All Home knows is that they are the last ones left - and whatever came for the others will one day come for them.Scout is an Archivist who scours the dead worlds of the cosmos for their last gifts: interesting technology, cultural rituals - anything left behind that might be useful to Home and their survival. During an excavation on a lifeless planet, Scout unearths something unbelievable: a surviving message from an alien who witnessed the world-ending entity thousands of years ago.Now Scout, their brother and their sometimes-fearless, space-faring cat, Pumpkin, must race to save what matters most."The Last Gifts of the Universe is a meditation on grief and meaning disguised in the spacesuit of a thrilling, beam-me-up galactic treasure hunt. Riley August has written a quietly wonderful, hopeful novel that heals the parts of you that you didn't know were hurt." --Julie Leong, author of The Teller of Small FortunesFor readers who love: Cozy sci-fi by T.J. Klune and Becky Chambers Hope-core space stories such as Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary LGBTQ+ representation Healing stories about grief and second chances Cats in space