CANR
WORK TITLE: DO YOU DREAM OF TERRA-TWO?
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1993
WEBSITE: www.theonlytemioh.com
CITY: London
STATE:
COUNTRY: United Kingdom
NATIONALITY: British
LAST VOLUME:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born 1993, in London, England; married.
EDUCATION:King’s College London, B.S., 2015; University of Edinburgh, M.A., 2016.
ADDRESS
CAREER
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Temi Oh is a British writer. She holds a bachelor’s degree from King’s College London and a master’s degree from the University of Edinburgh.
Oh’s first novel is a work in the science fiction genre called Do You Dream of Terra-Two?. This volume is set in an alternate version of contemporary Britain. The Space Agency identifies a planet they call Terra-Two, which has a climate similar to that of Earth. They send a mixed crew of adults and teens on a long journey to the planet. Along the way, they face technical and interpersonal troubles.
A Kirkus Reviews critic noted that the plot was “curiously unresolved; perhaps intentionally so but unsatisfying either way.” Reviewing the book on the Glam Adelaide website, Zoe Butler asserted: “Lovers of sci-fi, space travel and science as a whole will embrace this novel. However, while the science is strong and the technicality is there, there is a large amount of emotional storytelling that may turn off pure sci-fi readers.” Natalie Xenos, contributor to the Culturefly website, commented: “Epic in scope with compelling characters, Do You Dream of Terra-Two? is an immersive and imaginative debut. It’ll have you staring up at the stars, wondering if a place like Terra-Two actually exists, and whether you’d have that same courage and fortitude to venture into space if you had the chance.” A writer on the For Winter Nights—A Bookish Blog website, described the book as “an engrossing and, at times, exciting read.” The same writer added: “The character portraits of the teenagers are very fine…. There is also some great writing here, the descriptions of the launch, of space and of the Damocles are very well done and the mood, a good mix of despair and hope, is maintained throughout.” “Do You Dream of Terra-Two? is wonderfully refreshing and mercilessly confronting,” remarked Bronwyn Eley on the Booktopia website.
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2019, review of Do You Dream of Terra-Two?.
ONLINE
Booktopia, https://www.booktopia.com.au/ (March 12, 2019), Bronwyn Eley, review of Do You Dream of Terra-Two?.
Culturefly, https://culturefly.co.uk/ (March 13, 2019), Natalie Xenos, review of Do You Dream of Terra-Two?.
For Winter Nights—A Bookish Blog, https://forwinternights.wordpress.com/ (March 7, 2019), review of Do You Dream of Terra-Two?.
Glam Adelaide, https://glamadelaide.com.au/ (February 27, 2019), Zoe Butler, review of Do You Dream of Terra-Two?.
Greene and Heaton website, http://greeneheaton.co.uk/ (July 22, 2019), author profile.
Schloss Post, https://schloss-post.com/ (July 22, 2019), author profile.
Temi Oh website, https://www.theonlytemioh.com (July 22, 2019).
Temi Oh was born in London, to Nigerian parents. She studied at Bishop Thomas Grant and then Emanuel School, Battersea. In 2015 she graduated from King’s College London with a BSci in Neuroscience. Her degree provided great opportunities to write and learn about topics ranging from ‘Philosophy of the Mind’ to ‘Space Physiology’. In 2016, she received an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Edinburgh. Her debut novel, DO YOU DREAM OF TERRA-TWO?, will be published by Simon & Schuster on March 7th 2019.
She currently lives in London with her husband.
Temi Oh
(b.1993)
Temi Oh was born in 1993 in London, to Nigerian parents. She studied at Bishop Thomas Grant and then Emanuel School, Battersea. In 2015 she graduated from King’s College London with a BSci in Neuroscience. Her degree provided great opportunities to write and learn about topics ranging from ‘Philosophy of the Mind’ to ‘Space Physiology’. After her final year she decided to pack up and pursue her dreams. She married her high-school boyfriend, and moved to Edinburgh to study for an MA in Creative Writing and finish her book.
Genres: Science Fiction
Novels
Do You Dream of Terra-Two? (2019)
Temi Oh graduated from King’s College London in 2015 with a BSci in Neuroscience. While at KCL, Temi founded and ran a book-club called “Neuroscience-fiction”, where she led discussions about science-fiction books which focus on the brain. In 2016, she received an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Edinburgh.
Temi Oh
Agent: Judith Murray
Temi graduated from King’s College London in 2015 with a BSci in Neuroscience. Her degree provided great opportunities to write and learn about topics ranging from ‘Philosophy of the Mind’ to ‘Space Physiology’. While at KCL, Temi founded and ran a book-club called “Neuroscience-fiction”, where she led discussions about science-fiction books which focus on the brain. In 2016, she received an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Edinburgh. Her first novel, DO YOU DREAM OF TERRA-TWO?, will be published by Simon & Schuster in spring 2019.
Temi Oh was born in London, to Nigerian parents. In 2015 she graduated from King’s College London with a BSci in Neuroscience. She is working and writing about topics ranging from “Philosophy of the Mind” to “Space Physiology”. Her first novel, Do You Dream of Terra-Two?, was published by Simon and Schuster in 2019.
Temi Oh graduated from King’s College London in 2015 with a BSci in Neuroscience. While at KCL, Temi founded and ran a book-club called “Neuroscience-fiction”, where she led discussions about science-fiction books which focus on the brain. In 2016, she received an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Edinburgh.
QUOTED: "curiously unresolved; perhaps intentionally so but unsatisfying either way."
Oh, Temi: DO YOU DREAM OF TERRA-TWO?
Kirkus Reviews. (June 15, 2019):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Oh, Temi DO YOU DREAM OF TERRA-TWO? Saga/Simon & Schuster (Adult Fiction) $16.99 8, 13 ISBN: 978-1-5344-3740-1
This debut novel suggests that in space, there is always room for drama.
Even the most casual genre fan knows that a multiyear journey to a distant planet is probably doomed from the start. Unfortunately, no one sent the memo to the alternate early-21st-century Britain where this story begins. Decades after probes send back images and data from a seemingly idyllic Earth-like planet with no sentient life, the U.K. Space Agency plots a 23-year-long colonization mission to this "Terra-Two" with four adult astronauts plus six teenagers who have spent the last six years in a highly competitive academy that has trained them for space to the point of burnout, so much so that one of them, Ara, commits suicide the day before the launch in 2012. The senior crew are practically ciphers, particularly the noble and kind captain; the story focuses on the young prodigies: gifted pilot Harry, whose arrogance often tips toward cruelty; Astrid, whose devotion to the mission mingles with a religious mania; her twin, Juno, who relies on science and rules to the exclusion of tact; beautiful polyglot Poppy, whose polished exterior masks the emotional damage she suffered as an abused and neglected child; Eliot, a brilliant engineer and Ara's grieving boyfriend; and Jesse, who believes it was his destiny to go on the mission but, as Ara's last-minute replacement, never quite feels part of the crew. Despite extensive psychological testing, no one seems to have realized that this group might have some trouble getting along, which is presumably essential for a decadeslong journey in a small vessel. There's friction from the beginning, magnified by serious mechanical trouble within the mission's first year. Why was this mix of careful planning and egregious blind spots allowed to launch in the first place? Was the need for the U.K. to win the space race so important that it was worth sacrificing these people and resources even though the possibility for success was so slim? Preferring to focus on the fraught interplay among the junior crew, author Oh never provides answers to the many questions her plot raises, nor offers much hope that the ensuing 22 years will lead to a happy outcome.
Curiously unresolved; perhaps intentionally so but unsatisfying either way.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Oh, Temi: DO YOU DREAM OF TERRA-TWO?" Kirkus Reviews, 15 June 2019. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A588726895/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=0159cfd9. Accessed 12 July 2019.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A588726895
QUOTED: "Do You Dream of Terra-Two? is wonderfully refreshing and mercilessly confronting."
REVIEW: Do You Dream of Terra-Two by Temi Oh
by Bronwyn Eley |March 12, 2019
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Do You Dream of Terra-Two?
by Temi Oh
Review by Bronwyn Eley
I loved this book. I just had to start with that and, by all means, you can stop here and just go buy it because you won’t regret it. However, if you want to know why I loved it…
I am a huge science-fiction fan and have been since I was a little girl. I’ve read and watched a lot of sci-fi over the years and I’d like to think I know what to expect of the genre by now, but debut author Temi Oh really shook up my expectations with Do You Dream of Terra-Two?
This book was beautifully written. Temi Oh has a way of exploring emotions that is so raw and moving that it ripped straight through my chest and into my heart. Her characters felt so real to me. Their pain and fear, their uncertainties and desires, all seeped into me as I read, to the point where it felt like I was the one going off into space and leaving everything I knew behind.
So what is this story about? It’s about the hope a new planet brings. Years after a new planet is discovered, we follow the journey of the ten astronauts who are leaving a dying Earth to find it. The crew is a mix of decorated space veterans and fresh, naive teenagers who have spent their lives training for this mission in the exclusive Dalton Academy.
This isn’t Star Trek. This isn’t Stargate. There are no wormholes. No light-speed. No short cuts. The mission these astronauts embark on is one that will define and consume their entire lives. The journey to Terra-Two is going to take twenty-three years. They will be awake for this entire time, living in close quarters, dreaming of Terra-Two.
I was immediately overcome with a sense of utter loneliness. Perhaps it was because space, while magnificent and powerful, is endless and unknown. These brave (and perhaps foolish) people have chosen to spend the next twenty-three years drifting through space in what could very-well become their floating, metal grave.
Something always goes wrong in space, right?
But again, this is not the story I was expecting. Rather than aliens, wormholes and explosions (although there are a few of those), Temi Oh exposes what it means to be human in a brilliant and brutal way. Her characters are flawed, afraid, arrogant and hopeful – in every way they are real and complex humans.
If you loved The Martian, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet or anything by Ursula K. Le Guin, you must pick this up. Do You Dream of Terra-Two? is wonderfully refreshing and mercilessly confronting. I cannot wait to pick up Temi Oh’s next book and I will do so with extreme eagerness!
Do You Dream of Terra-Two?
by Temi Oh
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet meets The 100 in this unforgettable debut by a brilliant new voice.
A century ago, scientists theorised that a habitable planet existed in a nearby solar system. Today, ten astronauts will leave a dying Earth to find it. Four are decorated veterans of the 20th century’s space-race. And six are teenagers, graduates of the exclusive Dalton Academy, who’ve been in training for this mission for most of their lives.
It will take the team 23 years to reach Terra-Two. Twenty-three years spent in close quarters. Twenty-three years with no one to rely on but each other. Twenty-three years with no rescue possible, should something go wrong. And something always goes wrong.
QUOTED: "Lovers of sci-fi, space travel and science as a whole will embrace this novel. However, while the science is strong and the technicality is there, there is a large amount of emotional storytelling that may turn off pure sci-fi readers."
Book Review: Do You Dream of Terra-Two, by Temi Oh
A gripping science fiction about four space veterans and six highly-trained teenagers on a journey to reach the next world.
By Zoe Butler on Feb 27, 2019
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From launch day to Mars and beyond, this is what it takes to travel the stars.
Overall
5
The space-race has reached new heights in Do You Dream of Terra-Two by Temi Oh. With the advent of the technology that makes space exploration even easier, the UK takes four space veterans and six highly-trained and somewhat ambitious teenagers and launches them into a journey to reach the next world. With Earth dying and nowhere else to turn, those six teenagers are chosen from a pool of hundreds at exclusive Dalton Academy, from thousands who applied at 14 to be astronauts and have lived for nothing else their whole, short lives.
We follow these astronauts as they face the reality of leaving everything and everyone they know behind and put faith in their training and their experienced teachers – even when it all falls apart and they have no one but themselves to turn to. It leaves no-one unchanged.
Temi Oh has magnificently laid out the tale of what it takes to launch into space. The emotions are real and palpable as we follow the astronauts from recruitment day to launch, and then to Mars and beyond. The characters are flawed, with the hopes and ambitions of the young amplified by their incredible skills and knowledge that would otherwise make them foreign to the average reader.
The magic with which they are brought to life is based on the excellent depth with which Oh writes, leaving just enough to the imagination that the reader is able to bring these characters to life without having it all laid before them. My biggest gripe lay with the pace of the novel, but in order for the magic to take place, the reader must be given time and space to absorb all the information that is being given to them. In this way, the most frustrating components of the story are made essential and the excellent storytelling and editing has left this novel a work of art that must be enjoyed in its entirety.
Lovers of sci-fi, space travel and science as a whole will embrace this novel. However, while the science is strong and the technicality is there, there is a large amount of emotional storytelling that may turn off pure sci-fi readers. Whilst not a romantic tale, there are also some dark and heavy themes that may be too much for younger readers. I would recommend it for older teens and young adults, especially given its length.
Reviewed by Zoe Butler
Twitter: @Zoe_Rambles
Distributed by: Simon & Schuster Australia
Released: March 2019
RRP: $35.00 hardcover, $12.99 eBook
QUOTED: "an engrossing and, at times, exciting read."
"The character portraits of the teenagers are very fine. ... There is also some great writing here, the descriptions of the launch, of space and of the Damocles are very well done and the mood, a good mix of despair and hope, is maintained throughout."
Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh
3 Replies
Simon & Schuster | 2019 (7 March) | 528p | Review copy | Buy the book
With time running out for Earth, humanity has been sent a lifeline for its future. Another planet just like Earth but without intelligent life has been discovered, Terra-Two. A new 21st-century space race is underway to reach it first. The best chance lies with the United Kingdom and, after decades of planning, the launch date has arrived and it all seems serendipitous because the year is 2012 and Britain is also hosting the Olympic Games. It’s a time for celebration. An unusual crew will leave Earth on the Damocles for the 23-year journey to Terra-Two – four are decorated veterans of the previous century’s space race, the other six are teenagers, each uniquely skilled, having been trained for years in the famous Dalton Academy.
Each crew member knows that they will never return to Earth. They’ll never see their families and loved ones again. And for 23 years they won’t see the sky, eat tasty food or feel the ground under their feet. There are some big personalities, some are dealing with powerful emotions, a strong sense of loss and, trapped within the confines of a spacecraft for such a long journey, it will not all be plain sailing. One or two of them dream of Terra-Two, with its beautiful coral seas and ancient forests, while others resent it and see nothing but a nightmare ahead.
Do You Dream of Terra-Two? begins with the days leading up to the launch of the Damocles and it’s during these pages, before the voyage begins, that we get to know our young crew members, all in their late teens, on the very edge of adulthood. The decisions they have made are life-changing and affect everything, including whether they will become parents. It’s a mighty burden for such young shoulders to bear and we see how each of them copes with it. For some there is a real sense of destiny about the voyage and this adds such a purpose to their lives. It’s not so straightforward for others. There is real conflict between the characters, particularly between the boys. Harry, the commander in training, dominates, while Poppy, the communications officer, steals attention. Among the others is a set of twin girls and this adds more tension while also continuing the theme of family which plays such a strong part in the novel.
The focus of the book is actually not on Terra-Two, or even really the voyage. It’s on the dynamic of the young crew – their dreams and aspirations, their fears and doubts, their youth. The launch itself happens a quarter of the way into the book but by then much has happened to our young crew. I must admit that I was expecting more science fiction than I was given but I was nevertheless drawn into the story of these young lives, with their squabbles and affections, rivalries and brave deeds. The narrative moves between them, which means that we’re brought into their small circle. We see different perspectives on the same event. It helps us understand a little more about how they behave.
I did find the premise a little unlikely, that teenagers would be given such stress, such a burden to carry and would be left to prepare a planet for the next arrivals, having spent so many years in such a confined social space. It seems unlikely to succeed. But, as I mentioned, the voyage isn’t what really matters here, it’s the teenagers who count. The novel also takes place in a slightly adjusted reality – we learn that rockets were first used during the Napoleonic Wars, Mars and the Moon have been colonised, there are other ships travelling in the solar system. Countries are more competitive than ever. But while the UK, China and Russia are prominent, the USA barely gets a mention. I did find this alternate history slightly under developed and a bit strange. I wondered why the story couldn’t have been set a little into the future instead, avoiding the need for it. Also, the adult crew members receive very little attention and are very much fixed in the schoolteacher mode. This is because the author’s focus is elsewhere, but it did contribute to my feeling that this is a novel mostly intended for young readers.
However, I found Do You Dream of Terra-Two? an engrossing and, at times, exciting read. Despite my issues with the novel I did get carried along by its tension and pace and there are moments of real emotion. The character portraits of the teenagers are very fine and I definitely cared for them. There is also some great writing here, the descriptions of the launch, of space and of the Damocles are very well done and the mood, a good mix of despair and hope, is maintained throughout.
QUOTED: "Epic in scope with compelling characters, Do You Dream of Terra-Two? is an immersive and imaginative debut. It’ll have you staring up at the stars, wondering if a place like Terra-Two actually exists, and whether you’d have that same courage and fortitude to venture into space if you had the chance."
Book Review: Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh
Natalie XenosMarch 13, 2019
Book ReviewsBooksFeatured
What kind of person chooses to leave everything and everyone they’ve ever known behind? That’s the question Temi Oh ponders in her first novel Do You Dream of Terra-Two? – a thought-provoking sci-fi drama about humanity, survival, sacrifice and hope.
The year is 2012 and Britain is leading the space race. Ten astronauts – four veterans and six teenage scientists – are preparing to set off on a twenty-three year journey to Terra-Two, an earth-like planet they hope will eventually sustain the world’s population. Whilst the older astronauts take the mission in their stride, the atmosphere between the younger crew is tense. They’ve all been specially primed for this mission and yet they’re inexperienced and anxious. They’ll never return to earth; never see their families or friends again; they don’t even know if their mission will be a success. Everything relies on their individual mental strength and, most critically, their unity as a group.
Jesse is the standby who unexpectedly finds himself joining the other teenagers on their mission into space. He’s had the same training as the other teens and yet his arrival is met with hostility. The most hostile towards Jesse is alpha male Harry – a determined, overconfident and competitive commander-in-training. Harry makes no attempt to hide his contempt for Jesse, his aggressive behaviour escalating as they launch into space and try to settle into their respective roles.
Harry is the public face of the mission alongside Poppy – the ship’s linguist and translator. She’s tasked with documenting the voyage and live-broadcasting on-board footage to earth. Yet early on she’s stricken with a melancholia she struggles to shake as the gravity of leaving earth hits home. The remaining teenagers are twins Juno and Astrid, who have very different reasons for journeying into space, and robotics whizz-kid Eliot, whose own sorrow is causing him to hallucinate. As the saying goes, a team is only as strong as its weakest link, and there are plenty of weak links to break this particular team.
“They planned the journey to Terra-Two and when they named the six of us how could we say no? We were young. They had hauled us from obscurity to hurl us at the stars, and we were dizzied by shallow fantasies of being the first, of leaving our footprints on the land, pushing our flag down into the dirt, giving it a name, dividing and taming it.”
As with all space-set stories where quarters are close and stakes are high, things don’t exactly go to plan. There’s space sickness, psychological breakdowns, unexpected technical glitches and devastating malfunctions. Yet this isn’t a CGI-fuelled action movie prioritising interstellar melodrama over character development. Temi Oh is more concerned with exploring her young characters’ internal struggles and how their setbacks affect their mental states. Those who waver at the beginning of the mission find hidden wells of strength in the face of panic-inducing calamity. And those who believe they’re invincible will eventually discover the hard way that they’re not.
This is a very human tale, driven by its characters, their losses and their faith. These astronauts have nothing but time and infinite space to contemplate their existence, to think about what they’re heading towards, and to reminisce over everything they’ve left behind. It’s an incredibly powerful and compelling book, with Oh drawing from a range of inspirations, from her own feeling of melancholy on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, to her grandparent’s relocation from Nigeria to the UK in the 70s, to the Mars One project application process in 2013. It all works together to build a multi-layered, intense and intelligent story that will resonate with anyone searching for meaning or mourning a lost part of their lives, whether that’s in the shape of a place, a person or a feeling.
Epic in scope with compelling characters, Do You Dream of Terra-Two? is an immersive and imaginative debut. It’ll have you staring up at the stars, wondering if a place like Terra-Two actually exists, and whether you’d have that same courage and fortitude to venture into space if you had the chance.
★★★★
Do You Dream of Terra-Two? was published by Simon & Schuster on 7 March 2019