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Candlemark followers know I have a powerful affinity for non-clichéd space opera. So it should come as no surprise that one of the writers I’ve had my eye on is Kelly Jennings, whose Pirian/Combine stories unfold in a vast, intricate universe that begs to be explored.

Those of you who read The Other Half of the Sky may recall Kelly’s’ story “Velocity’s Ghost” that won an honorable mention in The Year’s Best Science Fiction 31. Velocity and her chosen family kept their hold in Kelly’s imagination, and “Velocity’s Ghost” expanded into the acclaimed novel Fault Lines (Candlemark & Gleam, 2018). Now Kelly is revisiting this fascinating universe with In the Deep, the sequel to Fault Lines, in what is promising to become a series appropriately titled Escape Velocity. In Deep we continue to share the adventures and stark choices of Velocity and those near her, and see the jagged cracks in their societies:

Velocity Wrachant and the crew of the Susan Calvin have been working in Pirian Space for three years, doing adjunct work for the Pirian fleet. When they are offered a mission in Republic Space, they know this is their chance to be taken in as full members of the fleet. And the job looks safe enough: they are to rescue some Pirian fleet members out of contract labor, while also learning what they can about local insurgencies.

The planet they are sent to, Durbin, is in Republic-held space. But it’s at the fringes of that space, in the seldom patrolled area known as The Deep. Velocity takes the mission, hoping to get in and out without attracting the attention of the powerful, and hostile, Combines. Once they reach the planet, however, they learn that the political situation there is far more complicated—and dangerous—than they expected.

We’re thrilled to reveal the cover for Fault Lines, by the hugely talented Melissa Capriglione. Kelly says that Velocity and Tai, her second-in-command, look exactly as she imagines them, and there’s no doubt it eloquently portrays the tension and stark setting of the story.

Raised in New Orleans, Kelly Jennings is a member and co-founder of the Boston Mountain Writers Group. Her short fiction has appeared in many venues, including The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and The Other Half of The Sky. She has published two novels, Broken Slate (2011) and Fault Lines (2018); and she co-edited the anthology Menial: Skilled Labor in SF (2012).

We expect to show Fault Lines to the world in early September of this year. Keep this frequency open, and meanwhile visit In the Deep at GoodReads!