Earth 7
A Novel
by Deb Olin Unferth
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Pub Date Jun 09 2026 | Archive Date Jul 15 2026
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Description
An end-of-the-world love story, an epic full of pathos and humor, asking what can be saved of our planet
Well, that’s about it for the story of planet Earth, poor Earth, reduced to not much more than a piece of burnt coal. But, as Deb Olin Unferth shows in her latest electrifying novel, life and love persist, even in the most unexpected, inhospitable places.
Two women meet on a beach of artificial sand. One was raised in a pod in the ocean and the other may or may not be a robot. Their love—or any love—seems so unlikely. Earth is severely depopulated. Some people have given up, gone off to Mars. Others pursue eternal life as digital code. And yet others, like Dylan and Melanie, are holdouts—and some of those holdouts are constructing a vast molecular collection in hopes that a future person may be alive to make a new Earth. Foolhardy? Misguided? Quixotic? Probably. But what can a human (or a robot) do?
By the end of Unferth’s wild, poetic, revelatory, and slyly philosophical novel, the reader has traveled to the very edges of the cosmos as a “soul globule” and between grains of sand as a microscopic tardigrade. A slim book tackling big questions (is all matter conscious? will we tech ourselves into salvation, or out of existence?), Earth 7 is a poignant inquiry into death, mourning, and indefatigable life, the most exhilarating work to date by one of our most original and beloved writers.
Advance Praise
“[Earth 7 is] about love—between two people, yes, but also the broader, more universal love their work entails. After all, preservation of what was and hope for what will be are both acts of immense care for the world.”—Ilana Masad, NPR
“Unferth shines in her ability to craft relatable characters in extraordinary circumstances. . . . [Earth 7] explores deep ontological questions about the nature of life. This is profound.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Unferth’s prodigious worldbuilding unfolds magically. . . . Profound, funny, alarming, and imbued with love and sorrow for our lost world. . . . [A] masterpiece of climate fiction.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“Unferth follows her madcap present-day econovel, Barn 8, with a crystalline, poetic, witty, and haunting post-depopulation tale of loss, adaptation, unexpected beauty, and surpassing love. Every moment is enrapturing, every twist heart-seizing in this keenly imagined, ravishing, and profound celebration of life in extremis.”—Donna Seaman, Booklist, starred review
“Earth 7 is an elegy to the world we have now, already disappearing, and at the same time, it’s a message in a bottle, an offering of hope for some far-off future. Intimate and wistful and hypnotic, full of rich detail and beautiful writing.”—Charles Yu
“With humor and unmatched imagination, Deb Olin Unferth writes about humanity in all its facets—our destructiveness and our failures, but our capacity for love, too (however imperfect). Exhilarating and original.”—Rachel Khong
“Earth 7 has knocked me out of kilter in all sorts of strange and haunting and wonderful ways. A work of desperate and loving imagination that follows its own impulsive logic and treads where most of us fear to go. Terrifying and life-affirming all at the same dizzying time. Throw yourself into Deb Olin Unferth’s world; you won’t regret it”—Jon McGregor
“Earth 7 is an epic sci-fi masterpiece and a love letter to the totally lush, and shockingly diverse, life-forms of our planet. I adore this book. Everyone who lives on planet Earth should read it.”—Rita Bullwinkel
“Is it a love story? A dystopian novel oddly suffused with brightness, tenderness, and philosophy? Is it sci-fi or realism? It’s all of these things, and it’s like no other book you’ve ever read, by a writer like no other.”—Elizabeth McCracken
“I'm a Deb Olin Unferth stan forever—she is the master of the exacting and luminous. Earth 7 is the friend you want after the end of the world. It will reinvigorate your love for our planet.”—Marie-Helene Bertino
“Deb Olin Unferth is one of my favorite writers, and Earth 7 confirms her talent for being one of the best storytellers working today. It is a brilliant feast of wisdom and imagination, virtuosic and urgent, full of humor and love. Don't miss this beautiful, strange novel!”—Brandon Hobson
“An electric, hilarious, and harrowing story of fractured technological identities and interdimensional exile in a shattered future. With her signature absurd genius, Deb Olin Unferth has created a shocking and moving speculation that I suspect breaks new ground in climate fiction.”—Jessica Anthony
“What a remarkable book! Having recently tried and failed to write about climate change in Earth’s far future myself, I know how hard a task Unferth has set for herself. Yet her story enfolds the reader like a dream—so much beauty, so much wisdom, such feats of imagination. I am in awe.”—Karen Joy Fowler
Marketing Plan
National publicity campaign
Author tour: Austin, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Chicago, New York, and more
Bookseller, library, and academic outreach
Social media promotion
Targeted digital advertising
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781644453940 |
| PRICE | $27.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 240 |
Links
Available on NetGalley
Average rating from 17 members
Featured Reviews
I know it's only February, but I'm going to go ahead and say this is one of my favorite books of 2026. I was absolutely blown away from page one. The writing style is poetic and philosophical, giving shades of books like A Psalm for the Wild Built and Station Eleven. The character-driven story is immediately immersive, starting out with a scientist taking her young daughter to live in isolation in a pod beneath the sea. That section is pretty difficult to read as someone who grew up in an isolating, abusive environment, but it also rang extremely true to life, and we get a reprieve when the daughter, who becomes the story's central character, escapes the pod to make her own life in the sand. The only criticism I could make is that I wish it were longer, only so that I could spend more time in this world and with these characters.
"In fact, some beings say the flaw is not of the flesh at all, but is instead the belief that you can isolate a "you" in this mad flicker...the flaw is that we even thought up the word "flaw," as though there might be something wrong with the way we exist in space. Individuality, error - these, they reject." What at tender read! I really enjoyed this. A quirky yet deeply reflective and refreshing "dystopian" story about the horrors and hopes of what life, our planet, our existence holds.
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