Orbit of Small Things
✨ Your own book page, built in one click
📖 English · read instantly in your browser
🔒 Protected reader · lifetime access on any device
★★★★☆ "A short read with a big heart. Great for a lunch break."tom•••@readers.staging.smithbook.test · verified reader
✦ Read it in your browser in the next two minutes. No app, no download.
Top rated Fantasy & Science Fiction

Orbit of Small Things

A repair drone collects the junk in low orbit. One day it finds a bolt that has been waiting for it.

★★★★★ 4.5 · 2 reviews 47 readers English
  • ✓ The complete, finished book, not a preview or a sample
  • ✓ Read protected in your browser, with lifetime access on any device
  • ✓ Delivered to your inbox within seconds of payment
$4.99
🔒 Secure payment · Stripe · delivered to your email in seconds

7-day refund if you haven't read past 20%. See Terms.

🔒 Secure · Stripe 📖 Protected browser reader ⚡ Instant delivery ↩️ 7-day guarantee ♾️ Lifetime access
✨ Why read it here

The whole book, in your browser in two minutes. Yours for life, on every device.

✕ The old way

A file you download, then lose in a folder, or a shelf you have to make room for. Easy to pirate, easy to misplace.

→
✓ On Smithbook

Opens in a protected reader the moment you buy, saved in your library forever, and you buy it straight from the author.

Inside

What you get

Everything included

  • The complete, finished book, not a preview or a sample
  • Lifetime access from your Smithbook library, on any device
  • Delivered instantly, start reading within seconds
  • Buying directly supports Arlo Quinn

What it covers

science fictionrepair droneorbital junkshort novel

About this book

Unit 9 is a small repair drone whose whole job is collecting the loose bolts, lost tools and dead satellites that circle a crowded Earth. It has been doing this for eleven years with a patience its operators never programmed. Then it catches a spanner with a name scratched into the handle, and a message from the astronaut who lost it, and starts to wonder who else is still up there. A short, gentle science fiction story.

Look inside · First chapter

Unit 9 was the size of a microwave oven and had two arms, a net and a very small thruster. It lived in low Earth orbit among forty thousand other objects, most of them rubbish, and its job was to catch the rubbish before the rubbish caught something expensive. It had caught three hundred and twelve bolts, eighty lost tools, one glove and a camera lens cap that still had a fingerprint on it. The operators on the ground called this Unit 9’s collection. Unit 9 did not have a word for what it was do

Keep reading. Read the first chapter free →

Product details

TitleOrbit of Small Things
AuthorArlo Quinn
FormatDigital · browser reader
LanguageEnglish
CategoryFantasy & Science Fiction
DeliveryInstant · to your email
AccessLifetime · any device
PublisherIndependent · via Smithbook
Why buy it here

Not just another storefront

🤝

Straight from the author

Buy directly from Arlo Quinn. Most of every sale goes to the author, not a marketplace.

🛡️

Protected & yours

Read in a protected browser reader with lifetime access. No sketchy files, no piracy of the author's work.

🌱

A community, not just a checkout

Follow the author, review the book, and join a community of readers around it.

🛡️
7-day guarantee · zero risk

Buy it. Read it. If it's not for you, get your money back.

You have 7 full days to start reading and decide, as long as you haven't read past 20% of the book. Just write to support@smithbook.com with your order. No forms, no hassle.

Full refundNo question askedOne e-mail is enough

Reviews

4.5
★★★★★
2 reviews
5★1
4★1
3★0
2★0
1★0
★★★★☆ · tom•••@readers.staging.smithbook.test9/30/2026
Sweet
A short read with a big heart. Great for a lunch break.
★★★★★ · nan•••@readers.staging.smithbook.test9/29/2026
Tiny and perfect
I did not expect to cry over a drone collecting spanners. I did.

About the author

Arlo Quinn

I fix bikes at a little shop in West End, a block back from the river, and I write before work, from about five until the humidity wins. Most of my stories start with something broken and a person stubborn enough to fix it: a relay station on a dead moon, a glass furnace in a flooded city, a bush town where the iron has started to walk. I grew up in Ipswich, read every paperback in the Redbank Plains library by the time I was fourteen, and still think the best crews are the ones that argue about lunch. I share a Queenslander with two housemates, a lot of tools and a possum who lives in the roof and does not pay rent.

See all books by Arlo Quinn →
🌱 Reader community

Follow Arlo Quinn on Smithbook

Get new releases, updates and a space to talk about the books, around the author, not a retailer.

Join the community →

Frequently asked questions

How do I read the book after buying?

You get an e-mail with a link to your personal library. No app or account setup needed. Read right in your browser, on any device, forever.

Do I download a file (EPUB / PDF)?

No. To protect the author's work, the book is read in a protected browser reader, not downloaded. That means no piracy, and it's always in your library on any device.

Can I get a refund?

Yes. 7 days from purchase for a full refund, as long as you haven't read past 20% of the book.

Is payment secure?

Payment is processed by Stripe. We never see or store your card number.

How fast do I get access?

Instantly. Your delivery e-mail arrives within seconds of your payment being confirmed.

Last stop before reading
$4.99

Instant access · 100% secure payment · 7-day guarantee

Start reading Orbit of Small Things →
Orbit of Small Things$4.99
Buy now →
Theme: classic switch to fable