On December 18, 2023, Candlemark & Gleam will release Melissa Scott’s riveting mythic space opera Fallen, companion to her highly acclaimed Finders in the unfolding series Firstborn, Lastborn. Set in a fully imagined universe with vividly delineated protagonists, the novel is a cinematic, seamless fusion of adventure, myth, and science so advanced as to have become magic—a bold, original re-imagining of the tales of the Atreides, Daedalus, Prometheus, Pandora, and the Titans.
Fallen boasts a stunning cover by Eleni Tsami, and received high praise from genre legends Gwyneth Jones, Pamela Sargent and Jo Graham, and Hugo-nominee reviewer Paul Weimer. The digital version is available for pre-order at Amazon, B&N and Kobo; and if all goes as it should, the paperback pre-order should also go live within a week. Here’s its synopsis to whet appetites:
Nic en Doroney was promised an education and an academic career in exchange for sharing the nanite burden she carries in her bloodstream. Instead, the Novilis family broke that bargain, and now Nic is captain of a small starship, competing with larger businesses by using illegal Ancestral technology to chart her way through the adjacent possible. But when Rejane Novilis re-enters her life, Nic is unable to resist the chance to work with her again, even if it means challenging the malevolent AI who have already destroyed human society once before.
Melissa Scott is from Little Rock, Arkansas, and studied history at Harvard College and Brandeis University, where she earned her PhD in the Comparative History program. She is the author of more than thirty original science fiction and fantasy novels, most with queer themes and characters, as well as authorized tie-ins for Star Trek: DS9, Star Trek: Voyager, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Star Wars Rebels, and the anime series gen:LOCK. She won Lambda Literary Awards for Trouble and Her Friends, Shadow Man, Point of Dreams (written with her late partner, Lisa A. Barnett), and Death By Silver with Amy Griswold. She also won Spectrum Awards for Shadow Man, Fairs’ Point and Death By Silver, as well as the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Her latest short story, “Sirens”, appeared in Retellings of the Inland Seas, and her text-based game for Choice of Games, A Player’s Heart, came out in 2020. Her most recent solo novel, The Master of Samar, came out in June of 2023.
Because GoodReads giveaways are no longer free and our coffers are of the usual size for indie micro-presses, we will be doing a direct giveaway for Fallen. You can enter it by leaving a comment to this post or by sending an email (with subject line “Fallen Giveaway”) to our website address. Please rest assured that your email will only be visible to the site admin.
The giveaway will run from 00:01 am, November 20, to midnight of December 17 EST, and random winners will be picked to receive copies of the novel. For up to 20 requests, there will be one award copy. For up to 50 requests, two copies; and beyond that, three copies. Because the pandemic and the USPS slowdown have caused significant shipping problems, the giveaway will only award digital copies (it will include the PDF that contains all the print flourishes).
We can hardly wait to share this remarkable work with the world. Until then, watch the sensor scans, keep fingers on the engine buttons, and visit the title at GR!
Note added on December 18: the giveaway is now closed. We’ll pick winners and contact them within a week.
I’ve read several of Melissa Scott’s excellent novels because of Candlemark & Gleam, and her name is a guarantee, so I’m throwing my hat in the ring for this one.
Melissa’s stories are always excellent, I’m looking forward to reading this one. Love the cover art!
Melissa Scott was one of the first authors I found in my library’s SFF section whose books drew me in and wouldn’t let me go. Her fully imagined worlds captivated me and her queer themes spoke to me before I even recognized my own bisexuality. Nearly 30 years later, I’m still in love with her work and can’t wait for more.
(I know the winners are picked randomly so the contents of this comment don’t matter for my chances but I can’t pass up the opportunity to praise her work and explain its importance to me.)
Longtime fan of Melissa Scott here!
The cover is beautiful. I would love to win a copy.
Would love to read some of Melissa Scott’s newer works. Thanks for the giveaway chance!
I loved Finders, really looking forward to reading more in the same universe.
I really love the Finders’ Universe, so I’m looking forward to reading this novel.
I’d love to read this series and hereby volunteer to receive a giveaway copy.
Please count me in!
would love to read this book. just been introduced to this publisher so looking forward to reading more from here x
Melissa Scott is an Always-Buy!
Finders was really interesting. I would love to read another book in this universe!