Tarnished Are the Stars

August 5, 2019
In this intriguing science fantasy debut, the population is divided between preindustrial settlers who live on Earth Adjacent and the aristocratic people of the Tower, a space station ruled by the enigmatic Queen Elizabeth. Successfully terraforming Earth Adjacent hinges on the society curing a congenital heart defect that some element of the planet’s environment causes in everyone born there. Although the authoritarian Commissioner has found a way to protect his Settlement, those whose lives have been saved by illegal clockwork tech have formed an outlaw village. When Nathaniel, the Commissioner’s son and heir apparent, goes on the hunt to arrest Anna, a mechanic who services illegal medical tech, his belief that technology is inherently dangerous undergoes a seismic shift, and is further rocked by his first meeting with his Tower fiancée, Eliza, who reveals that she’s been sent by the Queen herself to overthrow the Commissioner. As Eliza and Anna decide what their budding mutual attraction means, and Nathaniel struggles to choose a life not defined by his father’s expectations, they also make daring plans that will decide the future of a whole world. This is a fun and unusual blending of space-age tech and steampunk-style clockwork that readers with a love of adventure will enjoy. Ages 14–up. Agent: Saba Sulaiman, Talcott Notch Literary.