Part of the 2021 Novella Series. July 2021. 8”x5”. 72 pages.

Plagued by the creeping loss of her memory, diplomat Bréone Hemmerli continues to negotiate peace in an increasingly climate-devastated world. The Necessity of Stars by E. Catherine Tobler brings the alien Tura to Bréone’s Normandy garden, a place removed from the world’s ruin. Within the garden’s shadows, Tura will show Bréone a way forward, even if she can’t remember it.

Shortlisted by the Sturgeon Award and Utoria Award. Nominated for the Nebula Award.

PRAISE

“A Necessity of Stars is a lush story about memory and the games it plays, luring you further and further into Bréone’s beautiful, tangled world. An alien contact tale that is as charming as it is clever, Tobler gives the concept a gorgeous and tender new spin.”
—Anya Ow, author of Cradle and Grave

“The Necessity of Stars is a many-splendored and profoundly moving science fiction novella. It’s a love story, deftly woven into a tender and subtly shaded alien invasion story. It’s also a poignant tale about aging, with Tobler delving deep into the fears that haunt many in old age: that we might lose the people and the life we love, that we might lose our memories, and ultimately even our own selves.”
—Maria Haskins, writer and reviewer

“Tobler’s prose is always stunning, her characters rich, and her worlds immersive. The Necessity of Stars is no exception with its beautiful exploration of memory, perception, what we choose to see and what we choose to ignore, and our responsibility to each other and to the planet.”
—A.C. Wise, author of Wendy, Darling

“In prose just as slippery, glimmering, and strange as the arboreal aliens it describes, Tobler probes the nature of memory and humanity’s impact on planet Earth.”
—Publishers Weekly

“In her characteristic lush and intricate prose, E. Catherine Tobler highlights the necessity of change and the inherent hopefulness in vulnerability.”
—Selena Middleton of Stelliform Press

“...a dreamlike, beautifully haunting meditation on memory, being, and the transcendence we might find where the earthly self and the cosmic other meet, here in the shadow of the slow end of the world.”
—Elly Bangs, author of Unity

“The Necessity of Stars is a story for anyone who wishes to feel necessary regardless of setbacks or struggles or the state of the world.”
—Marie Croke, Apex Magazine

You can find the ebook here.