So, first things first: there is a total absence of sex in this story. Yes, it’s set in a sex club, but it turns out that the aliens are there for something else entirely.

This is actually a really beautiful story about a far future when the earth has been completely polluted. Suki, the main character, is a “flinger,” an artist who makes patterns by flinging glowing organisms against walls. She a bit of a misfit and a loner, surprise surprise, but when she gets dragged to see what she thinks is going to be an alien sex show, she has her eyes opened to a number of things. This is a shortish book, a sort of novella/novellette, that still manages to take a number of surprising turns. The mood is pensive and lyrical, and the writing is quite lovely. Overall this was an unusual and unexpected book, and not just because it sets you up to expect one thing and then delivers something else, but because for me it was one of those little gems you stumble upon without meaning to and find something much more thoughtful and interesting than you set out thinking you would find.