"isolation"

2009 · Duncan Jones · 97 min · Sci-Fi / Drama

Moon is the kind of small-scale science fiction that proves you don't need a massive budget to ask massive questions. Duncan Jones built his directorial debut around a single actor, a single location, and a premise that unfolds with devastating precision. Sam Rockwell delivers a career-best performance that somehow makes you feel the weight of three years of lunar isolation in under 100 minutes. The low budget shows in spots, the pacing demands patience, and the central mystery reveals itself earlier than some viewers would prefer. None of that diminishes what Jones accomplished here. This is smart, humane sci-fi that trusts its audience completely and rewards that trust.

2018 · Delia Owens · 370 pages · Literary Fiction

Delia Owens' debut novel combines a coming-of-age story with a murder mystery set in the marshlands of coastal North Carolina, and the nature writing is the best thing about it. Owens brings a naturalist's eye to the landscape, making the marsh feel as much a character as anyone in the book. The mystery keeps pages turning, and the ending delivers a twist that kicked up strong reactions in both directions. The romances are thin, some plot elements require significant suspension of disbelief, and the pacing drags in the middle, but the atmospheric setting and Kya's resilience carry the book through its weaker stretches.