A Fire Born of Exile: A Xuya Universe Romance

by Aliette de Bodard

Overview

The Scattered Pearls Belt is a string of habitats on the edge of a huge galactic empire—a glittering, decadent society rife with corruption. Now, one of its victims—Quỳnh, a scholar betrayed and left for dead—has come back for her revenge, under the guise of the glamorous and enigmatic Alchemist of Streams and Hills.

Quỳnh’s path intersects that of Minh, the daughter of one of her oldest enemies, who chafes at her own lack of freedom; and of Hoà, a near-destitute engineer who poses a threat to all Quỳnh’s careful plans. Quỳnh finds herself inexorably attracted to Hoà, even as her plans upend the fragile political equilibrium of the Belt.

Falling in love wasn’t part of Quỳnh’s plans; but will she be able to grasp this second chance at happiness, or will she cling on to a revenge that may well consume her whole?

A poignant, heartwarming romantic space opera about love, revenge and the weight of the past.

Praise for Aliette de Bodard:

“Intricate and emotional... a touching sci-fi romance that will delight fans and new readers alike” —Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

“It took my breath away!” —Stephanie Burgis

“So romantic I may simply perish” —Tasha Suri

“Really fresh” —Katee Robert

“Confident, sexy and touching” —Max Gladstone

“Dazzling” —Everina Maxwell

“Swoon-worthy” —Susan, Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

“A sumptuous, romantic experience” —The Financial Times

“Fizzingly inventive” —Alastair Reynolds

“A treasure” —Gareth L Powell

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781625676528
Publisher:	JAB Books
Publication date:	10/12/2023
Series:	Xuya Universe Romances
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	406
Sales rank:	519,897
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Aliette de Bodard lives and works in Paris, where she has a day job as a System Architect. She studied Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, but moonlights as a writer of speculative fiction. Aliette has won three Nebula Awards, a Locus Award, a British Fantasy Award and four British Science Fiction Association Awards, and was a double Hugo finalist (Best Series and Best Novella).

Most recently she published Fireheart Tiger (Tor.com, Nebula Award finalist, British Science Fiction Association finalist), a sapphic romantic fantasy inspired by pre colonial Vietnam, where a diplomat princess must decide the fate of her country, and her own.

She is the author of the Dominion of the Fallen trilogy, set in a turn-of-the-century Paris devastated by a magical war–which comprises The House of Shattered Wings (Roc/Gollancz, 2015 British Science Fiction Association Award, Locus Award finalist), The House of Binding Thorns (Ace/Gollancz, 2017 European Science Fiction Society Achievement Award, Locus award finalist), and The House of Sundering Flames.

Her short story collection Of Wars, and Memories, and Starlight is out from Subterranean Press.

She is also the author of The Tea Master and the Detective (2018 Nebula Award winner, 2018 British Fantasy Award winner, 2019 Hugo Award finalist), a murder mystery set on a space station in a Vietnamese Galactic empire, inspired by the characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson; and In the Vanishers’ Palace, a dark Beauty and the Beast retelling, where they are both women and the Beast is a dragon.

Visit her website www.aliettedebodard.com for free fiction (including further short stories set in the same universe as this one), Vietnamese and French recipes and more.

Editorial Reviews

★ 08/28/2023

In this intricate and emotional standalone space opera set in Nebula Award winner de Bodard’s Xuya Universe (last visited in The Red Scholar’s Wake), three women struggle to balance self-respect with family obligation against the backdrop of a dazzling far-future universe full of mind-bending technology and government intrigue. Far from the center of the Empire, Minh, the daughter of the Prefect of the Scattered Pearls Belt, chafes against her mother’s plans for her future. After she’s saved from kidnappers by scholar Quỳnh, Quỳnh’s attention and approval awakens a tentative self-confidence and new suspicions about her mother’s government. However, Quỳnh isn’t what she seems—and she’s on a quest for revenge against those in power in the Belt. Meanwhile, technologist Hoà takes over an enormous project from her ailing sister: fixing a damaged mindship, or sentient spaceship. Quỳnh’s revenge plans are disrupted by whirlwind romance after she meets Hoà and agrees to teach her about mindships. As the vulnerable characters reckon with the past and find the strength to grasp the future, de Bodard’s worldbuilding dazzles, complete with cute toddler mindships and technology that can generate immersive new worlds in an instant. The result is a touching sci-fi romance that will delight fans and new readers alike. Agents: John Berlyne, Zeno Agency and Joshua Bilmes, JABberwocky Literary. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly