Contributor Bio:Winn, Claire
Claire Winn spends her time immersed in other worlds--through LARP, video games, books, nerd conventions, and her own stories. Since graduating from Northwestern University, she's worked as a legal and technical writer. Aside from writing, she builds cosplay props and armor, tears up dance floors, and battles with boffer swords.
Kirkus Reviews (04/15/2023):
Riven, Asa, and the Boomslang's crew are back, facing new dangers in Requiem, a human colony in Alpha Centauri. It's been four months since the fateful events of City of Shattered Light (2021), when Asa saved her sister, Kaya, and Riven lost her friend Ty to Asa's all-powerful father, Luca Almeida. The duo, alongside their outlaw friends, are taking odd jobs in the crime-ridden matriarchal city of Requiem. When they become the target of a hacker, Riven and the crew join the Ascension Trial for choosing a new matriarch, a process bound by rules that can keep them safe for a time. But before they can complete the trial's dangerous tasks, a new revelation about Luca Almeida's nefarious plans for Requiem surfaces--along with the news that Ty is still alive but, just like Kaya, irrevocably changed. Asa, Riven, and now Ty (although apart from the central action) alternate perspectives as the story spirals and old enemies become allies. This sequel skillfully mixes found family and aliens with adventure and politics, with the added emotional core of romantic tension between Riven and Asa and the gang's ongoing grieving over the friend they believe lost forever. Altogether, it's a heady combination that entertains and engages while centering an overall diverse cast. An immersive sequel with higher stakes, romance, and satisfying relationship dynamics. (Science fiction. 14-18) COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Brief Description:
An unknown hacker with personal motives targets Asa and Riven costing them their latest job and turning everyone in Requiem against them, so the two enter a deadly trial for control of one of the city's crime sectors in order to protect their crew.
Review Quotes:
"This sequel satisfyingly mixes found family and aliens with adventure and politics . . . An immersive sequel with higher stakes, romance, and satisfying relationship dynamics." --Kirkus Reviews
Publisher Marketing:
For the most hated crew on Requiem, the only way out is up. It's been four months since runaway heiress Asa crash-landed on the matriarchal outlaw colony Requiem, bringing a nasty AI and a host of deadly secrets with her. Now, she runs with her almost-girlfriend Riven's smuggler crew, stealing kisses between gunfights and heists. But when a mysterious hacker sabotages their latest job, other gangs turn against them, blaming them for the destruction the rogue AI caused. Nowhere in the city is safe. The only way to protect their crew is a series of trials for control of an underworld faction-and vying for a matriarch's throne is a dream Riven can't let go. But as the trials intensify, the saboteur hounds Asa and Riven's every step, determined to kill Asa and right her father's wrongs. When the saboteur reveals a horrific conspiracy threatening all of Requiem-one involving the crew member they thought they'd lost-the girls must decide whether to risk their own skins for a city that loathes them.
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