A vanished scientist, a daughter unwilling to accept the official story, and an American Southwest transformed by catastrophic drought give Everything That’s Left Behind an intriguing mystery at its center. Kelly Lydick’s first novel begins with a deeply personal question—what really happened to Nichola Rodale’s father?—then sends Nichola across a desolate landscape in search of an answer that may overturn everything she believed about his death. The combination of family mystery, scientific legacy, and a drought-altered setting makes this science fiction story one to watch.
Fiction/Science Fiction
Date Published: June 28, 2026
Publisher: Sapphire Stories
When Nichola Rodale stumbles upon information suggesting her father—a renowned scientist and brilliant puzzle maker—may not have died during The Great Drought, she embarks on a perilous journey across the desolate American Southwest to discover the truth.
The mystery surrounding Nichola’s father gives this science fiction novel a particularly personal engine. He was not only a renowned scientist but a brilliant puzzle maker, a detail that adds another layer to the information Nichola uncovers and the questions she must pursue. Her search also unfolds across a desolate American Southwest after The Great Drought, placing an intimate family mystery inside a dramatically altered landscape. For readers who like speculative fiction anchored by a concrete question that must be solved, those elements create a compelling reason to follow Nichola into the unknown.
Everything That’s Left Behind belongs on the radar of science fiction readers who prefer their speculative settings tied to a personal mystery. The Great Drought and the desolate Southwest provide the larger backdrop, but Nichola’s reason for crossing that landscape is intensely specific: evidence that her scientist father may still be alive. Readers especially interested in stories involving hidden information, puzzles, family secrets, and a search for truth should find plenty here to pique their curiosity.
Kelly Lydick’s writing has appeared in Natural Awakenings, Co Yoga + Life, True Blue Spirit, American Art Collector, Western Art Collector, and many others. She has been featured on NPR’s The Writers’ Block and the Word podcast, and on iHeart radio. She is the author of the experimental Mastering the Dream, a contributing author to the anthology Dreams That Change Our Lives, and the author of Dream Incubation for Greater Self-Awareness: A Handbook. Everything That’s Left Behind is her first novel.
Website
Goodreads
Universal Purchase Link
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
At the heart of Everything That’s Left Behind is a discovery powerful enough to make Nichola question a death she had accepted as fact. That gives her journey across the drought-stricken Southwest more than physical stakes: she is following the possibility that her father’s story never ended where she was told it did. Add his identities as scientist and puzzle maker, and the novel has the ingredients for a mystery in which finding the truth may depend upon understanding what he left behind. Kelly Lydick’s move into fiction offers an intriguing premise for readers drawn to science fiction where the fate of a changed world and the unanswered questions within one family intersect.
Be the first to see cover reveals, upcoming releases, exclusive excerpts, author features, and more. Join our growing community of readers and book lovers.
No comments:
Post a Comment