The Space Between Us: This year's most life-affirming, awe-inspiring read – Selected for BBC 2 Between the Covers 2023 (Volume 1) (The Enceladons Trilogy)

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These three are special for reasons they don’t understand, and they are drawn to a strange octopus-like creature on a beach outside Edinburgh, where the meteor was seen crashing into the sea. To save its life, they have to go on a road-trip across the Scottish Highlands, dark forces chasing after them all the way. I jokingly told my publisher the elevator pitch: ‘ ET meets Thelma and Louise’. But there’s a kernel of truth in that. As they are coming to terms with this bizarre situation, they hear a huge cephalopod has been found on Yellowcraig Beach. All three are drawn to it, as they are to each other. Lennox calls the creature "Sandy", but it's not a single entity, more part of a hive mind - when he touches Sandy, he finds out they are telepathic. They want to reconnect, they tell Lennox - with themselves.

All the drive, curiosity and wonder of his crime and mystery novels … science fiction gains a new author' Derek B Miller This book reminded me of a cross between the movies ET and Alien. ET because the alien was kept hidden and was pursued by the authorities, and Alien because of the physicality of the lifeform and its ability to “talk” to humans using rudimentary language. I also liked the fact that Sandy was a refugee of sorts, a homeless being washed up on a shore, looking for a place to live without fear. How timely. This book has a lot of layers to it and it all worked for me. Recommended. Set in Edinburgh, The Space Between Us is the story of three people who become connected in the most bizarre fashion. Lennox, Ava and Heather are all facing challenges in their lives that appear to be insurmountable. On the same evening, all three are in the midst of possible life-changing events when they sense something in the air and see an extraordinary scene in the skies above them. The next all three know is that they wake up in a hospital ward, all having suffered a stroke, but all now remarkably unaffected and fully recovered. Many others are left affected by this strange phenomenon but for Lennox, Ava and Heather, life is going to get very very strange. But they aren’t the only ones with an interest in the alien … close behind are Ava’s husband, the police and a government unit who wants to capture the creature, at all costs. And Sandy’s arrival may have implications beyond anything anyone could imagine… [ My Review ]

What you need to know before your trail

I don’t normally go for science/ alien fiction, but as a child I was pretty obsessed with The X-Files, and this book felt like an episode of my childhood’s favourite series. The main characters, their lives and their struggles, are portrayed very vividly. I was straight into this, just like a thriller' Ivo Graham on Between the Covers

Even if you are not a science fiction aficionado, you will enjoy this book. I highly recommend you give it a try. However, when it comes the realistic elements within a sci-fi novel, I want them to actually be rooted in reality. For that reason I was immediately annoyed with the first few chapters of this novel, especially with the ridiculous depiction of the hospital-scenes. Since it’s mentioned in the synopsis, and happens in the first few chapters, I don’t consider this a spoiler; the inciting incident involves our protagonists suffering a simultaneous, unexplained stroke and waking up within the hospital afterwards. What follows is a scene in which they’re all in a multi-patient open room, having woken up not 5 minutes earlier, only for a doctor (read: walking-plot-vehicle-of-exposition) to walk in and explain in detail what happened. This involves exposing patient-sensitive medical info to other patients (hello HIPAA violations!!), discharging patients mere minutes after suffering massive strokes and potential brain-damage, and quite a few medical inaccuracies that can’t be explained by “magic-alien-stroke”. The entire sequence reads incredibly amateurish on an exposition level, and feels written by someone who has never experienced a hospitalization themselves. As a chronically ill, cancer-survivor and MD: this stuff bothers me personally more than it might most. Johnstone's mesmeric story artfully puts Scotland centre stage in a sci-fi drama that is as much about the smallness of mankind and the importance of kinship … Pay attention, Steven Spielberg! This could be your next film’ Marnie Riches So readable and accessible … I was really rooting for the characters’ Alan Davies on Between the Covers It finally made sense, the idea that Sandy was plural. We all are. And the human idea of being singular, apart, alone, was a ridiculous way of looking at life."Lennox is a troubled teenager with no family. Ava is eight months pregnant and fleeing her abusive husband. Heather is a grieving mother and cancer sufferer. They don’t know each other, but when a meteor streaks over Edinburgh, all three suffer instant, catastrophic strokes... Maybe it’s the octopus like creature but there were definitely vibes of remarkably bright creatures throughout the book. I find myself slowly falling in love with these remarkable sea creatures. I absolutely LOVED this book (I had to write it in capitals). I felt the storyline was fresh and exciting. Was Johnstone sending a veiled political message? Well, maybe not. But I think I would happily exchange some of our own political representatives for those with the hearts and souls of our protagonists.

The Space Between Us works on so many levels. It is full of humanity. I suppose technically it is sci-fi, but it is also so much more. Doug excels in looking at the human race in relation to the rest of the universe, giving a real sense of perspective as to who we are and how our actions impact on each other, as well as making us think about how we treat each other. Quite aside from the highly imaginative sci-fi element, the threat posed by both the authorities and Ava’s abusive husband means there’s almost constant tension and a lot at stake. As they criss-cross the Scottish landscape, they are faced with multiple dangers. Ava is heavily pregnant with an abusive husband on her tail, Heather is carrying a terminal diagnosis and Lennox is a lost boy without any clear purpose in life until now. A motley crew, they call on anyone they can to help them on this insane journey and start to make discoveries about themselves, each other and about an alien creature looking to find home.I loved the characters that Doug Johnstone has created, he really gets into their psyche making them relatable and people the reader care about. Lennox, Ava and Heather at first seem very different with no apparent connection apart from seeing lights in the sky and surviving a stroke. However,all three are at a difficult point in their lives; Lennox is sixteen, in a childrens home and being bullied, Ava is eight months pregnant and trying to escape her abusive husband and Heather is suicidal after the loss of her daughter and her diagnosis of terminal cancer. I loved following their stories, how they came together and put total trust in each other in their journey to save Sandy. The most endearing relationship however was between Lennox and Sandy. Sandy seems to understand Lennox and they form a close bond that is beautiful. Their journey to find out more about Sandy and his kind was fraught with obstacles, both personal and from the outside, but as they sped towards their destination with determination, they work together to get through every single absurd series of events that was thrown their way. I felt their anxiety, their fear, but also the love and understanding they were learning to find. Doug Johnstone is best known as a crime author, but with The Space Between Us he successfully moves to Sci-Fi. If you aren’t a sci-fi fan please don’t let this put you off as this is such a beautiful book that touched my heart and soul. Three very different characters, at different times in their life are brought together by Sandy, an octopus from another planet. This takes them on a road trip through the highlands of Scotland, as they try to save Sandy, a trip both physical and emotional that looks at the human condition and how we need others in our lives.