The City in the Middle of the Night

Did You Know?

• Anders was among the founders and editors of the science-fiction website io9 before stepping down to write.
• The author's interest in tidally locked planets, informed by scientific research, inspired the novel's setting.
• Anders noted a trade-off between scientific accuracy and dramatic requirements in describing human adaptation.

Summary

The story is set on the tidally locked planet January, where humans inhabit the twilight zone between extreme heat and cold. Most live in either Xiosphant, an authoritarian city with strict controls, or Argelo, a lawless anarchy ruled by criminal gangs. Traveling groups like the Citizens roam the roads between them. The narrative follows Sophie, a student from Xiosphant who is expelled after taking blame for a theft by her crush Bianca. Left in the frozen wilderness, Sophie is rescued by the crocodiles, an intelligent native species that communicates telepathically. She learns to interact with them and covertly returns to Xiosphant. The other protagonist is Mouth, a former Citizen disturbed by her group's violence, who becomes a trader. Their stories converge when Bianca seeks help for political plans, leading to dangerous journeys across the planet.

Reception

Rebecca Evans, writing for the Los Angeles Review of Books, described the alien setting as a critical form of defamiliarization for discussing climate change, comparing the urban dichotomy to Le Guin's The Dispossessed. She noted the raw honesty of the characters and their diversity in portraying social and environmental issues. Jason Sheehan of NPR called the book a fable-like tale of how grand social ideas break, examining contemporary history through intimate relationships.

Adam Roberts of The Guardian termed it a millennial's novel, with characters who are sometimes judgmental but ultimately sophisticated and passionate. He observed that the story diverges from genre works by focusing on living meaningful lives amid devastation rather than cautionary tales, and praised the rapprochement between humans and aliens, though he found it not particularly original, comparing it to Star Trek episodes.