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Some Desperate Glory

ebook
1 of 2 copies available
1 of 2 copies available

Instant National Bestseller and International Bestseller!
Hugo Award Winner for Best Novel!
Arthur C. Clarke Award Finalist!
Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction Finalist!
A thrillingly told queer space opera about the wreckage of war, the family you find, and who you must become when every choice is stripped from you, Some Desperate Glory is Astounding Award Winner Emily Tesh's explosive debut novel.

"Some Desperate Glory surprised me at every turn. At once a space thriller, a tale of deprogramming, and a missive on identity and meaning, the result is a vitally refreshing addition to the SFF genre. This book has earned a permanent place on my favorites shelf."—V. E. Schwab
"Masterful, audacious storytelling. Relentless, unsentimental, a completely wild ride."—Tamsyn Muir
"This is the sort of debut novel every novelist hopes to write."—John Scalzi
"Deserves a space on shelves alongside Ursula K. Le Guin and Octavia Butler."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
National Bestseller | Sunday Times Bestseller | An Indie Next Pick | A LibraryReads Pick | a Goodreads Choice Finalist | With three starred reviews!
A Best Of Pick for The Guardian | GoodReads | Publishers Weekly | Powell's | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible | Gizmodo | Book Riot | LitHub | Financial Times | Discover Sci-Fi | Locus | NPR | Library Journal
While we live, the enemy shall fear us.
Since she was born, Kyr has trained for the day she can avenge the murder of planet Earth. Raised in the bowels of Gaea Station alongside the last scraps of humanity, she readies herself to face the Wisdom, the powerful, reality-shaping weapon that gave the majoda their victory over humanity.
They are what's left. They are what must survive. Kyr is one of the best warriors of her generation, the sword of a dead planet. When Command assigns her brother to certain death and relegates her to Nursery to bear sons until she dies trying, she knows she must take humanity's revenge into her own hands.
Alongside her brother's brilliant but seditious friend and a lonely, captive alien, Kyr escapes from everything she's known into a universe far more complicated than she was taught and far more wondrous than she could have imagined.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

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    • Library Journal

      Starred review from December 1, 2022

      Those raised on Gaea Station know their destiny is to avenge the destruction of planet Earth and to continue the human race. Kyr has excelled in her training; she and her brother Mags are two of the best warriors of their generation. Yet when Mags is placed on a suicide mission, and she is assigned to the nursery to bear sons until she dies, she knows that her best path forward is to turn traitor, in order to become the hero she knows she should be. As she journeys to destroy the Wisdom, the Majoda's reality-warping weapon, she discovers that there are truths beyond what she was told and learns that the enemy are not always those on the other side of a battle. Kyr's character arc is a monumental journey of emotional growth and understanding, grounding the changes and choices throughout her development. Queer relationships and underrepresented characters are woven into the plot and reveal the extreme ableist beliefs that are central to the station. VERDICT The first novel from Tesh ("Greenhollow" novellas) is an intriguing space opera and study of radicalization, indoctrination, and what happens when one breaks free in the most absolute way.--Kristi Chadwick

      Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from January 30, 2023
      World Fantasy Award winner Tesh (the Greenhollow duology of novellas) jumps from quiet fantasy to ambitious sci-fi in her raw and action-packed full-length debut. Raised on Gaea Station with the last of humanity, Valkyr has been indoctrinated from childhood into intense hatred of the majoda—the alien race that destroyed Earth—and thirsts for vengeance. When Kyr comes of age, however, she’s disappointed to be assigned to Nursery rather than combat, her body designated to breed future supersoldiers. Meanwhile, Kyr’s brother, Magnus, is assigned off-station to certain death. Kyr takes justice for humanity into her own hands to save Magnus—but once she’s away from Gaea Station, the principles she’s been fed her whole life are called into question. Tesh’s sweeping epic wrestles with the nature of hatred, vengeance, and radicalization. The political theme of breaking away from fascist ideology pairs beautifully with smart sci-fi worldbuilding—which encompasses shadow engine technology and time slips—and queer coming of age. This riveting adventure deserves a space on shelves alongside genre titans like Ursula K. Le Guin and Octavia Butler. Agent: Kurestin Armada, Root Literary.

    • Booklist

      Starred review from February 15, 2023
      All her life, Kyr has worked to become the perfect soldier. She believes more than anything in the mission of Gaea Station to finish the war against the majoda and its unstoppable technology, the Wisdom, which once destroyed planet Earth. But when her brother Mags disappears from the station, and her assignment goes horribly wrong, Kyr decides to go rogue. Tesh's epic space opera is bound to make waves as one of the best sf novels of 2023. Fans of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power will fall hard for this story of a girl bred to be a killer and desperate to prove herself, only to discover she's fighting for the wrong side. Tesh doesn't make Kyr's inner journey easy, and that's where the genius of this book lies: it is painful for Kyr to confront the ugliness of her world and its neat, binary values. Tesh asks us what humanity should stand for, questions what shape justice should take, and forces us to take a stark look at what Kyr has to give up in order to be better. Her growth is what powers this expansive story with an action-packed pace full of exciting battles and gut-wrenching twists.

      COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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