#QueerLitLoft

The Sea Within is a solid entry in the climate fiction genre; stories rooted in climate science but which are often speculative in scope, and occassionally mix in themes of a dystopian or post-apocalyptic nature.

In a world where coastal cities are submerged underwater, the atmosphere is a toxic soup, and the oceans are essentially anoxic, there’s little in the way of hope for the future survival of planet Earth ad the human race beyond 2089. Luckily there remain a few stalwarts who believe it’s still possible to find a way back from the brink of no return.

Eliza (Elle) Graham is a paleobotanist; on a mission to uncover the exact species of phytoplankton which could prove to be the ocean’s saviour. The only problem is, is that any chance of phytoplankton repopulation lies not in the present day, but in the long ago primeval past.

So, exactly how do you go back a hundred and twenty thousand years? You join up with Captain Jackson Drake of the US Space Force, of course! The same dashingly handsome, sexy woman you slept with the night before…when you didn’t know you’d be working together…

I do genuinely really enjoy books of this genre, and so I appreciated wholeheartedly the attention to detail that is present throughout The Sea Within. From considerations about the realistic yet fictional presentation of the trajectory of the planet to the minutiae of time travelling to a prehistoric un-anthropogenic world, the plot and its constituents have been well thought out.

I also loved the way that Elle and Jackson initially meet up at the Green Club, and their first hook-up takes place before they know anything about each other. It leads to an interesting scene when it finally dawns on them that they are the two people entrusted to travel back in time to save the planet. No small feat!

The Sea Within is a danger-filled adventure into the unknown, where twists and turns abound as Elle and Jackson’s mission comes under fire. The romance between the two is just as hot and heavy, fitting the circumstances they find themselves in perfectly. For Jackson, romance is a journey filled with as much risk as her physical surroundings – only this time it’s her heart that’s on the line.