Circular Motion

One of The Guardian's Best Sci-Fi Books for 2025

By: Alex Foster

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Paperback | 14 October 2025

At a Glance

Paperback
368 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
23.3 x 15.3 x 3.0

Paperback

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The acceleration of Earth''s spin begins gradually. At first, days are just a few seconds shorter than normal. Awareness of the mysterious phenomenon hasn''t reached Tanner, a young man who flees his Alaskan hometown to work at CWC, a corporation which runs a network of massive aircraft that orbit the Earth, allowing people to visit Paris for an evening or order sushi from Japan. But a wave of social unrest presents challenges for CWC.

That unrest sweeps up Winnie. A high school outcast, she falls in with a group of teen activists who blame the company for the planet''s acceleration. As days on Earth quicken to twenty-three hours, then twenty, the sun rising and setting ever faster, causing violent storms and political meltdowns, Tanner and Winnie''s stories spiral closer together.

Three-hour days. Two-hour days . . .

A propulsive exploration of capitalism, technology, and our place within a system that dwarfs us, Circular Motion is one of the most ingenious debut novels of our time.

About the Author

Alex Foster received his MFA from New York University, where he served as fiction editor of Washington Square Review. Previously, he studied economics at the University of Chicago and conducted research for the U.S. government and for the World Bank’s Gender Innovation Lab in West Africa. Circular Motion is his first novel.

Industry Reviews

'An impressive debut. Foster is a writer of imaginative daring and narrative dexterity' - Jeffrey Eugenides

'Circular Motion is a gift: every paragraph offers something to make you think, laugh, feel or simply look up from the page and sigh in awe or recognition.' - Jonathan Safran Foer

'I'm a sucker for doomsday novels, but Circular Motion sucker-punched me right in the heart. Brilliantly written and utterly absorbing. Who needs gravity when Alex Foster keeps you absolutely grounded in his prose' - Gary Shteyngart

'A deep investigation of how time is valued in contemporary society, while also being a deftly plotted page-turner. I read it in just a couple of sittings; time flew' - Vauhini Vara, Pulitzer Prize finalist for the Immortal King Rao

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