Windhome

by Kristin Landon

Overview

Earth has sent out exploratory expeditions in a desperate attempt to discover the nature of the alien force that wiped out at least one extrasolar civilization and now threatens Earth itself. One of the exploratory starships is stealth-attacked by the hostile aliens. The survivors, marooned among the pre-technological inhabitants of the icy world of Windhome, struggle to survive, to understand this harsh world and its few, grim people--and, somehow, to fulfill their mission. Thrown into an unwilling alliance with a Windhome outsider faction, exiled into wilderness, two of the human crew must live by this world's bitter laws, accept the ways of its people--and eventually make a terrifying choice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781936460793
Publisher:	Candlemark & Gleam
Publication date:	12/11/2017
Pages:	346
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.77(d)

About the Author

Kristin Landon lives in Oregon with her husband Tom and an imperious Cavalier spaniel named Lucy. In addition to writing science fiction, she works as a freelance copyeditor of a wide range of scholarly and medical books. Her novelette From the Depths appeared in the highly acclaimed anthology To Shape the Dark (2016, Candlemark & Gleam). She is also the author of the Hidden Worlds trilogy-The Hidden Worlds, The Cold Minds, and The Dark Reaches (Ace Books). Visit her website at www.kristinlandon.com.

Editorial Reviews

10/16/2017
After an eight-year hiatus, Landon (The Dark Reaches) returns with a complex fourth novel that combines dystopian and first-contact themes. Vika Jai, a young female xenobiologist, wakes from 40 years of cryogenic sleep to a ravaged ship and crew. Only three humans survive to make landfall on Shothef Erau, an inhabited planet known to have been bombed by an alien force. The lightly sketched backstory hints that Earth and Shothef Erau have a shared genetic history and may share a devastated future if Vika and her crewmates cannot transmit details about the alien attack to Earth. Vika negotiates first contact with Kelru, a native drawn to the lander’s flaming entry. He’s part of an urban, progressive academia, and his community is at odds with the matriarchal pastoralists, who quickly take custody of Vika’s party. The human presence radically escalates the native conflict. This is a quiet, tense book, saturated with dread. Vika, barely out of adolescence, is convincingly depicted as maturing just a hair too slowly in an environment with little room for error. The culture of the inhabitants of Shothef Erau, however, seems crudely designed, with societal roles wholly determined by sexual dimorphism. Agent: Caitlin McDonald, Donald Maass Literary. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

After an eight-year hiatus, Landon (The Dark Reaches) returns with a complex fourth novel that combines dystopian and first-contact themes. // This is a quiet, tense book, saturated with dread.

-- Publishers Weekly

This striking tale of survival and fortitude in an icy, alien world by the author of the "Hidden Worlds" trilogy is recommended for readers who enjoy character-driven stories.

--Kristi Chadwick, Library Journal

...Landon's worldbuilding skills shine. While the action is strictly between the humans and the natives, the setting is easy to envision and believe...// Overall, this isn't a necessarily happy story, but it is satisfying and leaves wide the possibilities for the next book.

--Karen Sweeny-Justice, Romance Times

Windhome delivers a page-turning epic journey of human survival through a maze of alien politics and environmental challenges. Its cultural worldbuilding is fascinating, detailed, and nuanced in a way that may remind readers of George R. R. Martin, Poul Anderson, or C. J. Cherryh. We should see more from Kristin Landon.

-- G. David Nordley, author of After the Vikings

From the Publisher

11/15/2017
Vika, Anke, and Pierre wake from their cryogenic sleep to find the rest of their team missing or dead, but their mission must go on. Sent to learn more about the aliens that already destroyed one civilization and now threaten Earth, the trio is now marooned on the planet Windhome and must somehow survive among its pretechnology inhabitants. However, these descendants of a previous attack do not trust humans and fear the mission will bring the Destroyers back. Forced to align themselves with a party of outsiders, the human crew face a strange world, harsh rules, and must adjust to survive—or die. In their struggle, the protagonists reveal their inner strengths and weaknesses. VERDICT This striking tale of survival and fortitude in an icy, alien world by the author of the "Hidden Worlds" trilogy is recommended for readers who enjoy character-driven stories.—KC

Library Journal