Book Review: "Zoi" by Jane Mondrup
Publication Date June 2025
I am grateful to Spaceboy Books & Jane Mondrup for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
“Amira and three other astronauts have taken residence in a Zoi, a huge, cell- like creature that has arrived in orbit around the Earth. Previous visits allowed astronauts to travel to and engage with the Zoi as it orbited the Earth, before it departed again on its voyage in space.
The astronauts are now passengers. Communication with their non-sentient host is limited to signals of physical needs. The Zoi meets those needs and also exposes its passengers to hormonal and even genetic alterations.” Publishers note, slightly paraphrased.
This is a new book from a Danish author; her first in English. In a heartfelt dedication she describes it as “…a book about strangeness, connection and love.” An excellent description ! A book I thoroughly enjoyed reading and one that will remain in my memory for a long time.
It is a wonderful story of a “First Encounter” with an alien being, set some time in the late 21st Century. It is one of those books I read slowly towards the end, not wanting it to finish, extending my pleasure for as long as possible.
There are four main characters in this book, the astronauts onboard the Zoi; their host, habitat and spacecraft. Although they have some human technology available, there is a realisation they will probably not return to Earth. Any insights or knowledge they gain from their travels and engagement with the Zoi are periodically transmitted back to Earth. At least this is the case some two years into the voyage.
The characters are a diverse group of distinct personalities. All scientists of one kind or another, with different ambitions, backgrounds and worldviews. Amira is the narrator of the book so we experience the voyage and events mostly through her eyes. They do not communicate directly with the Zoi and although it appears to be a living, powerful and complex being, they are uncertain if it is sentient or if it is merely reflexive, reacting instinctively to whatever it encounters.
In alternating chapters, taking place on the Zoi and on Earth in the past, we learn about the history of previous Zoi visits to Earth as well as Amira’s family, friends and upbringing. Before the Zoi appeared, Amira explains:
“If humanity’s dream of populating space wasn’t exactly dead, it at least lay dormant. Only a few romantics still believed it would happen”
This book is a fascinating take on an Alien encounter, with much of the human population uninterested or ambivalent about the visitor once they realise no danger is imminent. However for Scientists, this is an unparalleled opportunity for enlightenment, education and discovery. So much so that the four astronauts have chosen to voyage with the Zoi, perhaps never to return, maintaining only periodic and tentative communications with Earth.
The Chapters about people and events in the past provides a context to the voyage and especially to Amira’s personality. Earth is not a dystopia. The future Earth is largely intact, societies are complex but seemingly thriving. Over-population is not a concern and the excitement of a Mars or any other colonisation is no longer of great interest to mankind. While these chapters are important, I enjoyed them less than the chapters set on the Zoi. The Earth characters are necessary, but developed less than the more important characters on the Zoi. After each Earth-based chapter, I looked forward with great interest to what was happening on the Zoi where the author was building an ominous tension as life for the astronauts slowly changed.
On the Zoi, the characters evolve in different ways, some positive, some negative, all with an uncertainty about what was happening to them and how the Zoi is perhaps influencing their mental and physical health. The astronaut characters are realistic and relatable. They are portrayed as modern people, thoughtful and caring, with strengths and flaws, emotions good and bad; and moods. Relationships evolve, some becoming closer others less so. Besides the excitement of space-travel and the wonder of potential discovery there is a growing sense of, if not horror, then uncertainty or a slight dread as to what was happening to them as individuals, changing and reacting in different ways to their environment. One completely controlled by the Zoi, a being largely unknown or understood. There is a sense that the Zoi, once benign and nurturing is changing. Issues of trust and goodwill are becoming more unsure as the four travellers wonder about their host, its benevolence and sentience. They also worry deeply about each other.
Over time, the astronauts begin to avoid each other, are more isolated and strangely uncomfortable with the proximity of their colleagues. Then things get really interesting…
I loved how this story unfolds. The character development, what they think, feel, do and react. With each other, with the Zoi, with their changing predicament, lack of control and uncertainty.
Human issues come to the forefront. Friendship, love, concern, happiness, illness, death. A wonderful story of human emotions in an alien environment, in turns frightening and life-affirming. The conclusion is apt. Sobering and thoughtful. Satisfying. Leaving the reader with thoughts of what might happen next.
The science involved is nicely presented. The elements of physics, biology, evolution and astronomy are not overly complex but have a ring-of-truth. The Science ’feels’ right. I understand that translation is not just a skill but almost an art and certainly not a mechanical process. Although this is the authors first book in English, I think the language is particularly well done. Or perhaps inconspicuous is a better description. Noting seems clumsy or awkward in the text, the science, feelings, emotions, thoughts and voices. The characters are authentic. You can imagine they exist. Or will exist one day.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Science Fiction, particularly those books with authentic, human and sometimes no-so-human characters with whom we can identify and engage with from well written and intelligent prose. This is one of those books. I wish the author and publisher every success with Zoi. They deserve it.
The photo above is not directly related to Zoi. I recently visited Germany and saw several examples of GDR Public Art in Magdeburg. The figures in this stained-glass window reminded me of the characters and the environment portrayed in Zoi.