Books reading recommendations Five SFF Works About Trying to Escape Massive Debt Whether they owe money, their souls, or their futures, these characters are in desperate straits… By James Davis Nicoll | Published on July 8, 2026 Kat, Incorrigible cover art by Annette Marnat Comment 1 Share New Share Kat, Incorrigible cover art by Annette Marnat As discussed in a previous essay, the power of debt is a wonderful thing. To quote a venerable fiscal advisor: “Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds nought and six, result misery.” People prefer to avoid misery. Therefore, debt can inspire them to do great things. Or at least, entertaining things. Consider these five works featuring a debt that drives plot. The Halcyon Drift by Brian M. Stableford (1972) Plutocrat Charlot requires an exceptional pilot for the cutting-edge starship Hooded Swan. Grainger is an ideal candidate. Grainger is skilled. While Grainger has little enthusiasm for working for Charlot, the pilot has something even better than enthusiasm: a spectacular lack of alternatives. Grainger was marooned on Lapthorn’s Grave for two years. Grainger emerged a changed man: for starters, he now shares his mind with an alien hitchhiker. Moreover, rescue did not come free. While Charlot has no idea about the alien, he is entirely cognizant of the debt. After all, holding that debt is the means by which Charlot compels Grainger to work for him. Grainger is admittedly a gloomy, bitter misanthrope in this volume, but he has his reasons. If you stick with the Hooded Swan series, readers will see him bloom into a slightly less gloomy, marginally less embittered misanthrope who if pressed might admit he has… “friends” may be an overstatement, but certainly people he dislikes slightly less than everyone else. Angel Station by Walter Jon Williams (1989) Some might say interstellar trader Pasco was a fool without the slightest shred of common sense. Pasco would say he was a bold visionary who refused to allow base reality to limit his ambition. At least, that is what Pasco would say if Pasco were still alive. Which Pasco is not. Pasco left his children—thirteen-year-old Ubu and eleven-year-old Maria—the legacy of homebrew genetic engineering, the rundown starship Runaway, and massive debts. Events spiral out of control almost immediately. Seeing no better alternative, the siblings make a blind jump into deepest space… where they make a discovery that will transform humanity. Given the economic systems in play at the beginning of the book, it’s arguable that “interstellar trader” is just a succinct way of saying “a fool without the slightest shred of common sense.” The engineered economic death spiral in which Pasco and his colleagues find themselves isn’t an unknown pitfall. A Most Improper Magick by Stephanie Burgis (2010) (Released as Kat, Incorrigible in the US) Kat Stephenson’s brother George’s massive gambling debts are beyond the ability of their parents to pay. Sir Neville could easily pay George’s debts and might very well do so were he to marry Kat’s sister Elissa. A Sir Neville-Elissa match will make everyone happy… except for Kat and Elissa. A dispassionate observer might say that Sir Neville’s age isn’t as much of a drawback as the sisters believe. Old husbands have a delightful tendency to become late husbands, leaving their wives wealthy widows. However, if as rumour suggests, Sir Neville murdered his first wife, Elisse might not live long enough to become a widow. The only rational solution? Many zany schemes, all centered on magic. This might very easily have been the middle-grade version of Tess of the d’Urbervilles, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” or the (non-fiction) “Prosecutorial Passions.”I cannot sufficiently express my gratitude that this novel is not any of those things. Not that the girls aren’t playing for increasingly high stakes, but at least it is not the highest stakes. Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits by Waco Ioka & Midori Yuma (2016-onward) For most who were unfortunate enough to meet him, Aoi Tsubaki’s grandfather Shiro earned his dire reputation. To Aoi, Shiro was her savior, the relative who came to Aoi’s rescue after her mother abandoned her. For Shiro, Aoi was something even more valuable than a doting grandchild. She was his collateral. Aoi makes a series of increasingly alarming discoveries after Shiro dies. Shiro owed a lot of money. This is bad. Shiro owed a lot of money to the supernatural ayakashi Ōdanna, who now demands that Aoi marry him. This is much worse. There is a way out… but only if Aoi’s unprecedented commercial venture pays off. This is a more heartwarming manga than one would expect from its “abandoned girl who discovers her grandfather only adopted her so he could pimp her out to the otherworldly monster with whom he ran up a massive debt” premise. That said, Aoi’s plan centers on food, so don’t read this if you are hungry. She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran (2024) Jade Nguyen is a good enough student to win a spot at UPenn. Jade is not good enough to win a full scholarship. Were Jade’s mother to learn this, Jade’s mother would no doubt take out massive loans to fund Jade’s education. This is why Jade is determined to make sure her mother never discovers that Jade needs money. Jade’s estranged father could pay Jade’s tuition. There is a small catch. Jade and her sister Lily will have to spend a working vacation in Vietnam, at the rambling colonial mansion that their father and his business partners are restoring. Jade soon discovers the mansion not only has a colourful history: it also has a resident malevolent supernatural entity that takes a close interest in the visitors. Weird how many of those examples feature terrible relatives. Well, I am sure that is a statistical fluke, one that will not feature prominently in the various overlooked books also featuring debt that readers will no doubt mention in comments.[end-mark] The post Five SFF Works About Trying to Escape Massive Debt appeared first on Reactor.