Head peace officer Anya Savelova believed her people, living on a hostile planet in the ice-bound city of Novayarkha, were the last of humanity.
Until the day she learned they weren’t.
When a starship from an Earth thought long dead appears in orbit over her world, Anya imagines an explosion of possible futures, offering her people the freedom to transcend the limiting environment of the planet they’d thought was their last refuge. In the starship’s crew, Anya finds creativity, diversity, innovation–all things the colony has had to inhibit to survive.
Seeing her world through the eyes of the starship crew makes Anya look closer at her city’s inconsistencies, oddities she’s always been told to ignore. But the harder she pushes at the pieces that don’t fit, the more her government perceives the strangers as a threat. There are secrets in Novayarkha, hiding in plain sight, that the strangers can’t possibly understand–and Anya’s drive to uncover them risks shredding the fragile web holding together everything she’s ever known and loved.
My Thoughts
Wow. What can I say. I was completely blown away by this book. It’s one of the best things I’ve read in a long time. When I finished I felt a
chingly bereft having become invested in these characters and immersed in their turbulent world.
This is space opera at its best. The characters are fascinating, engaging and I felt an immediate connection with Anya. There is a great deal of poignancy in this story and it is beautifully written, this world and its people deftly drawn. There is a gradual unravelling of the history of these people, and a steady reveal of their plight and their struggles. The author has created a truly unique world and is clearly a master of her craft.
All in all, a truly wonderful book. I will be checking out more from this author and strongly recommend this book.
