“The Memory of Animals” by Claire Fuller

I can’t remember how it was that I recently heard Claire Fuller has a fifth book out (although I can hazard a guess: Instagram has just recently become A Thing for me, and I follow @writerclairefuller), but I do remember the progression of my thoughts when I realized this: first, YAY! Next, it came out in 2023 and I’m just now hearing about it?? (Notice the placement of the word "recently" in my first sentence. It doesn't modify  "has a fifth book out." It modifies the "heard.") Then, oh… it’s a pandemic novel about a vaccine trial… well, ok, it’s still Claire Fuller. And, hm, interesting cover, but OK. 

So I placed an order right away, and started reading the minute it arrived, and. Well. I absolutely loved it. I'm almost afraid to say how much I really loved it, because I want Sam to read it and I don't want him to have unrealistically elevated expectations, because I want him to love it as much as I did. So maybe I should shut up about how good it was? (Because of course, you know, Sam is one of the nine people who reads this blog.) And also there was a conversation scene which, for me, rang false, so the book isn't absolutely perfect. (Sorry, Claire!) But I just loved the shared experience (pandemic) made alien (vaccine trial) with the scifi element thrown in (which, based on Fuller's first four books, I would not have expected) AND it was a really compelling story and I just wanted to read and read and read. Plus, octopuses! Or octopi? Octopodes? Anyway, there seems to be a lot of those about these days (see Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, which I haven't read, and The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus by Emma Knight, which doesn't come out until early next year although I'm looking forward to reading it). (Three is a lot, right?)

I think if you liked Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, or Birnham Wood (yes, I'm talking directly to you, Sam--you, who loved both of those books!) you will like this one as well. I think you just need to ignore the fact that it's about a pandemic (as did I) and the fact that it's about a vaccine trial, and you will quickly recognize that it's just such a good story. Instead of reminding you of all the worst parts about COVID, this story is entirely its own thing. 

Reading this made me want to read Station Eleven (Sam read the book and thought it was great; we watched the tv series together and found it very compelling, but for me there was just too much pandemic going on in real life to think I might want to read about one). It ALSO made me want a SEQUEL! Claire Fuller seems like the opposite of an author who would write a sequel but I Just Want More.