Time travelling turmoil in this week's science fiction: Moss'd in Space by Rebecca Thorne, Not With a Bang by Temi Oh, The Traveler by Joseph Eckert

COSY doesn’t do this warm and witty sci-fi adventure justice.

Torian is a put-upon sort of a gal, never quite getting what she wants but not quite understanding why – to the extent that her hard-won savings buy her the worst spaceship in the used spaceship lot.

But her fortunes are on the turn. The vessel’s pelt of space moss is hiding a big secret: it’s a high-tech masterpiece and the moss is a genius intelligence with a sharp sense of humour, deep insecurities and advanced computer hacking skills.

Can Torian’s mission to save her sister’s life succeed? Hell yes. Is it easy? Hell no. And that’s the fun part.

IN this searing, rich and powerful end-of-the-world novel, Temi Oh keeps the attention firmly on the personal.

As above, so below and the push and pull of the Minton family’s emotional life is deftly mirrored in a rogue planet’s arrival and its catastrophic gravitational distortions.

But is it really a planet? Could it be a spaceship? If so, does it come in peace? Complicating matters are Minton pere’s madly expensive survival bunker, Minton mere’s decision to put work ahead of motherhood and sibling tensions ratcheted up to 11.

With catastrophe looming, there are no easy answers; and victories, big and small, must be hard-won against the forces of destruction.

A BRILLIANTLY clever, high-concept foray into time travel, The Traveler unflinchingly confronts the big issues: love, loss, hope and despair. It’s sci-fi speculation with real heart and soul.

At 7.52 every single morning, average guy Scott starts jumping forward in time: a day, then two, then four... you can see where it’s going.

Within a fortnight of his lived experience, he’s more than 20 years ahead and it’s only going to get worse.

It’s the old ticking clock gambit but in reverse, as Scott loses his wife, sees his son grow up, watches civilisations rise and fall and witnesses Earth’s history accelerating towards . . . let’s just say that things get transcendent.