City of Stairs, de Robert Jackson Bennett, foi uma das boas surpresas que tive recentemente no género fantástico. Centrando-se na rivalidade milenar de duas culturas que terminou uma civilização arrasada e subjugada, explora conflitos pessoais e culturais com uma pitada de humor e ironia que levam o leitor a envolver-se na história. Sendo uma história com fim próprio, deixa margem para outras histórias no mesmo Universo:
The city of Voortyashtan was once the home of the goddess of death, war and destruction, but now it’s little more than a ruin. General Turyin Mulaghesh is called out of retirement and sent to this hellish place to find a Saypuri secret agent who’s gone AWOL in the middle of a mission. But the ghosts of past wars have followed her there, and soon she begins to wonder what happened to the souls in the afterlife when the gods were defeated by her people, the Polis. Do the dead sleep soundly in the land of death? Or do they have plans of their own?
Este livro teve uma primeira edição patrocionada através do Kickstarter. Entretanto, em Fevereiro deste ano, foi listado como um dos melhores “primeiros lançamentos” para o prémio Golden Tentacle, uma distinção para os livros que sejam os primeiros do autor em qualquer género, e que se destaquem por serem inteligentes. Nesse mesmo dia a autora recebeu uma proposta para vender os direitos a uma editora, uma reviravolta incomum para edições deste género. Enquanto o livro não fica disponível, eis a sinopse:
When Rosemary Harper joins the crew of the Wayfarer, she isn’t expecting much. The Wayfarer, a patched-up ship that’s seen better days, offers her everything she could possibly want: a small, quiet spot to call home for a while, adventure in far-off corners of the galaxy, and distance from her troubled past.
But Rosemary gets more than she bargained for with the Wayfarer. The crew is a mishmash of species and personalities, from Sissix, the friendly reptillian pilot, to Kizzy and Jenks, the constantly sparring engineers who keep the ship running. Life on board is chaotic, but more or less peaceful – exactly what Rosemary wants.
Until the crew are offered the job of a lifetime: the chance to build a hyperspace tunnel to a distant planet. They’ll earn enough money to live comfortably for years… if they survive the long trip through war-torn interstellar space without endangering any of the fragile alliances that keep the galaxy peaceful.
But Rosemary isn’t the only person on board with secrets to hide, and the crew will soon discover that space may be vast, but spaceships are very small indeed.
Pelo autor de The Quantum Thief surge uma colectêna de histórias no mínimo curiosa:
Inside the firewall the city is alive. Buildings breathe, cars attack, angels patrol, and hyper-intelligent pets rebel.With unbridled invention and breakneck adventure, Hannu Rajaniemi is on the cutting-edge of science fiction. His post-apocalyptic, post-cyberpunk, and post-human tales are full of exhilarating energy and unpredictable optimism.
How will human nature react when the only limit to desire is creativity? When the distinction between humans and gods is as small as nanomachines—or as large as the universe? Whether the next big step in technology is 3D printing, genetic alteration, or unlimited space travel, Rajaniemi writes about what happens after.
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