The Expanded Earth is a fantastic and evocative idea for a novel, and excellently explores the idea of a ‘Microcalypse’, a new flavour of extinction-threatening disaster I didn’t even think to worry about! If like me, the idea of all humans shrinking to a tenth of their current height leaves you with many questions, then never fear! The Great Descent is incredibly well thought out and explores the many ramifications of such a disaster. With a very punchy opening tinged with a little horror and bleak humour, this book sets its stall early for what to expect.

The greatest success of this novel in my opinion is how well this new world was brought to life. The writing is incredibly evocative and captures the imagination, particularly the opening segments on a campsite with the newly diminished humans struggling through the long grass, and eyeing the local wildlife with a newfound trepidation. Each chapter is concluded with a beautiful linocut illustration that keeps reminding you of the new scale of the world our protagonists are trying to navigate. The story made me burst out laughing at several points with the darkness and absurdity of it all - it’s not a ‘funny’ book that goes for cheap jokes, but I found myself caught off guard at times.

The exposition was really well managed in The Expanded Earth, with the multiple storylines unfolding at once leaving you to piece the wider plot together. The ‘elsewhere’ chapters scattered throughout were a wonderful glimpse into how the Microcaplyse is panning out around the world, and provides some great clues to working out what’s going on. Not all threads necessarily have a conclusion, though as the start of a planned trilogy I imagine several of these plotlines will be continued in future books.

The Expanded Earth is the first in a trilogy of spec fic novels with a terrifying premise; all at once, (almost) every human on Earth is shrunk to one tenth their former size. Only flesh, blood and bone resize; people with implants, fillings or even contact lenses die very quickly, and others drown in their own expelled fat or are crushed under the heavy items they were carrying at the time. The narration estimates that one in nine people survived the moment of shrinking, a number skewed heavily towards younger people and soon reduced by the secondary effects; people driving cars or on planes, in rooms with closed doors, or sharing their space with cats or dogs. Hair explicitly doesn't shrink and some people become entangled in it or trapped by it.

The newly small people are constantly hungry and cold as their metabolisms struggle to adjust. They are now less vulnerable to falls and seem stronger for their size; most are only starting to realise that as the novel concludes, as they're still locked into old ways of thinking. However, everyday life is now an unrelenting struggle; literally nothing is sized for their use, and every animal is now a huge danger. When one character is injured, they have to wrap a plaster around him because they can't stitch it, and they have to break open an antibiotic to feed him the granules inside in an attempt at care.

The book did look at a lot of the problems that would come with being suddenly so small, but ignored a few that I thought of as I read - though they may be mentioned in later books! For instance, the narration had a throwaway mention that some of the characters were riddled with insect bites. At that size, insects would be a deadly problem! Ants could easily overpower and carry the characters away, mosquitoes could drain them in seconds, and spiders would likely see them as a food source. Granted, the story only covers the first few days immediately after the event, with a few interludes covering longer time spans, so hopefully the next ones will really dig into the implications. (Rats!)

The story is told in two timelines; one immediately post-Event, and one starting a week before it and running up to it. There are occasional interludes that cover different time periods - a couple of days, an adult lifetime, hundreds of years - but the main story focuses on those two weeks. The constant jumps back and forth might not suit everyone, but most of the problems ironed themselves out as the story moved on. There's one point where a character says three or four days have passed, while the narration has only referred to two nights, but that could easily be confusion on the part of the characters, who have after all been through something fairly traumatic.

This is one of those novels that ends on genuine cliffhangers - not just unresolved threads but real, proper, immediate threats. This is not my favourite way for a story to end, but I will be watching for the next one - I would have anyway as this kind of story is right up my alley, but I definitely will now!

A quick note; the cover suggests that this is an illustrated novel. The illustrations are only at the end of chapters, at least in my proof copy, so I don't think that 'illustrated novel' really applies; to me that implies something closer to a graphic novel, but of course others may understand it differently. The images themselves are lovely, though they were hard to see in my ebook format; I'm looking forward to seeing them in person.

This is a great read for those readers who enjoy spec fic or horror - the more you think about this, the more horrific scenarios you're likely to think of! I thought of several as I was reading, which I won't list here, but I'd love to hear what you think of as you read.


Movie Recommendation: For a more lighthearted look at a similar scenario, try Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. The children end up at the far end of their own garden and it takes them a couple of days to get back to the house, though they are smaller than the characters in this novel end up.

Book Recommendation: The classic of the genre is The Shrinking Man. Scott Carey shrinks much more slowly than the characters here, but he doesn't stop, continuing to get smaller and smaller as the novel continues.

Imagine an event that causes most of the world’s population to shrink, how would you cope with only being 10 inches tall? Would you even survive your current environment?
I thoroughly enjoyed this, it was a clever concept and it worked well. Really loved the balance between the before and after, it was fascinating watching the two timelines coming together and I appreciated that I didn’t have to wait for the how.
The characters were well written, the descriptions of the new perspective were brilliant and so immersive, and I’m so excited for the second book.
The artwork is also gorgeous.

DNF at 10%. I really, really don't like this style of writing, which tried to emulate a spoken storyteller. It's so hard to do well, and within a few paragraphs I was worried at the prospect of a whole book written in this slightly pompous way. I did really like the premise, but not enough to want to continue reading.

The concept is fairly straightforward. A group of humans find themselves shrinking suddenly to just a few inches tall, and they embark on a journey to find safety and family. I liked the idea, but the manner in which the book played out did not work for me unfortunately. The way that people shrink is done in the most disgusting (but I guess realistic) way and was very visceral. The story moved along at a pretty quick pace but then ended suddenly and very confusedly. I re-read it and still was not entirely sure what had happened, and why it had happened like that.
In summary, a strange, gross, interesting but ultimately befuddling read.

I must admit, I struggled with the beginning of The Expanded Earth. The opening chapters were confusing, and it took me a while to get a grip on what had actually happened to the main character, Giles. The perspective shifts in later chapters threw me off at first, too. The book follows Giles as he navigates a world where all humans have mysteriously shrunk, but it also jumps to other key figures: Elizabeth, the scientist responsible for the event, and much later, Matilda, who has ties to Giles's past. In hindsight, the structure makes sense now that I’ve finished, but early on, I had to push myself to keep going.

That said, once the narrative threads started coming together, I found myself far more engaged. The book has a dystopian Borrowers feel, with different groups of people figuring out how to survive at this new scale. Some of my favorite parts were the little vignettes showing how people adapted, like an island where prisoners and guards, now equally small, set aside their differences and built a thriving community. There’s also a village where one normal-sized human became a benevolent protector to his tiny neighbors, and a memorable moment with an astronaut who witnessed the shrinking event from space. These glimpses into the wider world made the book feel rich and expansive.

Giles’s core motivation is to reunite with his family, and after everything he endures, we finally get that moment... only for the book to cut off just before we see how it plays out. It felt abrupt, like I was missing the emotional payoff. After so much tension and struggle, I wanted a bit more resolution.

Despite the rocky start, I enjoyed The Expanded Earth once I settled into its rhythm. It’s fast-paced, imaginative, and packed with thought-provoking ideas. I’d be curious to see where the next book in the series takes things, especially if it picks up right where this one leaves off.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group for providing me with an eARC copy of this book in exchange for this honest review.

I requested/downloaded this because it was marked as a graphic novel and the front art is really cool. It is not a graphic novel, so I won't be reading it. The concept sounded interesting though.

I really loved this. It was a bit bonkers but managed to avoid making me think too much of the Borrowers (some of the first books I owned). I didn’t see in advance how the stories would come together so it felt quite suspenseful as we led up to the descent. Definitely worth a read. Thanks to NetGalley for the early copy.

This was such an interesting read, nothing like I'd normally read but I'm glad I did (read it) because it was great!
a high-stakes adventure packed with jeopardy and life-affirming beauty: dark, witty, and wildly ambitious.