M. R. Carey’s Only Here Only Now Follows a Dangerous Discovery on an Alien Planet

Subterranean Press plans to publish the 152-page science-fiction novella in January 2027 as a signed, numbered hardcover.

Azadeh Malik has few people she can turn to when she arrives at an internment camp on the planet Voltaire. Then she discovers something on the mountain slopes above the camp, and the decision to tell one person puts the entire camp in the path of what follows.

That’s the premise of Only Here Only Now, a science-fiction novella by M. R. Carey, author of The Girl With All the Gifts. Subterranean Press announced the book on October 12, 2026, and lists the signed hardcover for January 2027. The publisher is taking preorders for the $40 edition, which is limited to 1,000 copies.

What is Only Here Only Now about?

Azadeh, who goes by Deh, is stateless and arrives at the USIC internment camp carrying the trauma of her past. She sits near the bottom of the camp’s social order, but she has resources that the other internees don’t know about. When she makes her discovery above the camp, she asks harbor master Tiruji Ekdoulayo for help. He’s a possible ally, and the publisher’s synopsis makes that request the turning point of the story.

Carey’s setup gives the discovery two kinds of stakes. There’s the mystery of what Deh finds, which the publisher’s synopsis leaves open. Then there’s the more immediate question of who will listen to her. Deh may know something that matters to everyone at USIC, but knowing it and having enough standing to act on it are different problems. By putting the discovery above the camp and making Deh bring it to someone below, Carey gives the story a reason to return to the very place where she has the least power.

What might appeal to fans of The Girl With All the Gifts?

One of the most interesting shifts in The Girl With All the Gifts is watching people who initially see one another as prisoners, guards or research subjects become responsible for one another’s survival. There’s a similar tension in this premise. Deh’s position in the camp tells us how other people see her, while the discovery gives her a reason to find out how far she can trust one of them. That’s the part of the setup I’m most curious about. Read our review of The Girl With All the Gifts

When does Only Here Only Now come out?

Subterranean Press lists January 2027 as the publication window. As of November 3, 2026, its preorder page gives a month without a specific day and lists a single signed hardcover edition.

See the official preorder listing.

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If you’re new to Carey, find The Girl With All the Gifts on Amazon for a post-apocalyptic story about a girl whose abilities unsettle the adults holding her. For more of Carey’s science fiction, find Outlaw Planet on Amazon, a space Western about a former teacher caught up in an interdimensional war.

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