Pangu’s Shadow

Gr 8 Up–In the Pangu Star System, research is brought to a halt when the lead researcher is found collapsed in his lab. Two assistants, Aryl from G-Moon 2 and Ver from G-Moon 3, struggle unsuccessfully to revive him. It is soon revealed a lethal injection was delivered to his neck. Fingers point at the two young women who were present at his death...and they each suspect the other. A frantic search is on to uncover the murderer in this sci-fi whodunit. The book is told in alternating chapters narrated by the lab assistants. G-Moon 1, where the research takes place, is the definite first world. Residents have way more resources and a significantly longer life expectancy. Another assistant, Ford, who is white and from G-Moon 1, leads a ridiculously privileged life. Aryl, who has bronzy skin, is an athletically gifted dancer. Her parents are hardworking domestic servants who have struggled to make sure their daughter has had opportunities for success. Ver, on the other hand, has a degenerative disease that causes her immense pain. Her family is Asian, her moon riddled with poverty, and her mother struggles with addiction. Ver was working closely with the lead researcher—enough that everyone suspected they were having an affair. Initially, the story seems to only be science fiction in setting only, but as the plot accelerates, the futurism becomes a lynchpin in the entire conundrum. As the young women work together to prove their innocence, romance sparks between them.