Welcome to Boy.net

Earth's Shadow #1

by Lyda Morehouse

Lucia Del Toro and Independence ‘Hawk’ Hawking are a pair of happy-go-lucky bounty hunters, united in their passion for adventure and each other. Hawk grew up on a hippy science commune on the Earth’s Moon and has always been rootless and carefree. Del Toro, however, has a more complicated past, which is about to come back to haunt her.

Politics in the Solar System are always fraught. A key player is the UN’s crack regiment of space marines, the ENForcers. They are as hardcore and testosterone-fuelled as military units come, and proudly all-male. Being cyborgs they are all connected through a bioware network known as boy.net. Lucia’s link to that network is one of many things that Del Toro thought she’d put behind her when she got out of the military and changed her life. But, with the security of the Solar System at stake, she will soon have a choice to make.

Genres: LGBT, Science Fiction

355 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 25, 2024

About the author

Lyda Morehouse writes about what gets most people in trouble: religion and politics. Her first novel Archangel Protocol, a cyberpunk hard-boiled detective novel with a romantic twist, won the 2001 Shamus for best paperback original. Apocalypse Array was awarded the Special Citation of Excellence (aka 2nd place) for the Philip K. Dick award.

This author also writes paranormal under the name Tate Hallaway.

Reviews

[Victoria Janssen]

Welcome to Boy.net (Earth's Shadow Book 1) by Lyda Morehouse is set in Earth's solar system a good while after the Archangel books, long enough that most people thing Earth is largely abandoned; also, you don't have to have read (or remember) the prior books to enjoy this. Mars is now the dominant power, and the people farther out avoid their area of influence, and their ENForcer space marines, as much as possible. This book follows a lesbian couple, one from the science-focused and culturally progressive Moon, the other a trans defector who fled the ENForcers, who want her back to reprogram both mentally and physically via nanobots and her cybernetic enhancements. Though the opening felt like a held breath, the plot swiftly starts rolling and doesn't really stop through a sequence of different environments and encounters with fun, quirky secondary characters. It's a very inclusive book, with disabled characters who use cybernetic enhancements, a character with dyslexia, a Deaf character, and people with a range of genders and sexual preferences. Also, at a key moment activists show up and I love that for this story. We need more books showing activism happening in different ways. This is from a small press, so I hope it gains traction and we get more in this series!

[Rachel Ashera Rosen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this. It's a rollicking space opera with plenty of pew-pew-pew, but it's also a heartfelt, realistic take on body dysphoria, disability, and queerness that never feels glossed over or didactic. The story of a badass cybernetic space marine turned bounty hunter and accidental anarchist, it's cool as hell and a delight from start to finish. I can't wait to see where she takes it from here.

[Naomi Kritzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got to read this pre-publication, and it's GREAT. The thing about Lyda Morehouse's worldbuilding is that she builds her stuff around the rule-of-cool, then flips it all over to show you the underside and the price. You see the place that was built with the Rule of Cool two decades later, as the employees are still trying to keep the air from leaking out and the cold from leaking in.

This is very much a found-family story, where by "family" I mean a pair of lesbian space pirates and the communist baristas, rogue scientists, and fellow military deserters they meet along the way.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun, action-packed space opera while simultaneously being a story about identity, body autonomy, and love.

The ENForcers are a testosterone-fueled cyborg army, all-male, anti-queer, anti-trans, and Lucia is AWOL… and a transwoman. She and her girlfriend Hawk are bounty hunters, but after a job goes wrong Lucia has to fight not only for her life, but also for the right to control her own body.

And is that an AngeLINK Easter Egg I see?

[Richard Pearce-moses · Rating 5 out of 5]

A rollicking space opera filled with adventure and romance (although I'd never describe it as a romance novel). Plus some great characters that are struggling with what it means to be non-binary (and lots of other ideas). The relationship between Lucia and Hawk is really well developed. Amazing world building.

Plus, there's a hook at the end for a sequel! Can't wait to read that!

[dragonhelmuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic! I wasn't sure I would like this but it is so well-written and has such beautiful sentiments about transness, as well as just diverse characters using sign language, being poly, eating Vietnamese food, visiting anarchist communities. I was expecting grimdark but this is more futurepunk - loved it!

[Siobhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a sucker for a found-family story and this is definitely one of those. It is also wild adventure, a political intrigue, and a queer romance. I genuinely loved this book and I can't wait for the sequel.