Azura Ghost - (The Graven) by Essa Hansen (Paperback)

About the Book

"Caiden has been on the run for ten years with his unique starship in order to keep his adversary, Threi, imprisoned. But when an old friend he'd once thought dead reappears, he is lured into a game of cat and mouse with the one person whose powers rival Threi's: Threi's sister Abriss. Now with both siblings on the hunt for Caiden and his ship, Caiden must rescue his long-lost friend from their clutches and uncover the source of both his ship's power and his own origins in order to stop Abriss's plan to collapse the multiverse. But his old friend has changed far more than Caiden could have ever imagined, and if he wants to save her, he's going to have to call on his old crew to help him get her back. But what if she doesn't want to be saved?"--

Book Synopsis

One man and his sentient starship is all that stands between the multiverse and its total destruction in the second book of Essa Hansen's brilliant, mind-bending space opera trilogy perfect for fans of The Expanse and A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet.

Caiden has been on the run for ten years in order to keep his Graven ship out of the hands of his old adversary, Threi. But when a childhood friend he once thought dead reappears to take it, he is lured into a game of hunter and hunted with the one person whose powers rival Threi's; his sister, Abriss.

Now to have a fighting chance against the most influential siblings in the multiverse, Caiden is left with no choice. He must unlock the Azura's true potential--which means finally confronting his own mysterious genetic origins.

"Unpredictable and strikingly unique, Azura Ghost is science fiction without any limits to its imagination. Genre-breaking brilliance!"--David Dalglish, USA Today bestselling author

"A blistering crash through bubble universes, seas of the luminous dead, and sleeping alien cities. Liquid-crystal star ships, living machines, reality-cleaving swordplay, and a dynasty whose words command your synapses and cells. Heart-heavy, astonishingly inventive, with language that burns like plasma. A biomechanical sucker punch of a book. The space opera you've been waiting for."--Micah Dean Hicks, author of Break the Bodies, Haunt the Bones

"Essa Hansen is one of the most imaginative authors in science fiction today, and in AZURA GHOST she delivers a thrill ride of a story."--Michale Mammay, author of Planetside

"Azura Ghost is a magnificent achievement. Hansen juggles multiple universes as if they were fireballs, without ever dropping a single one. Like the best of science fiction, Azura Ghost asks the questions that we often fear to ask ourselves: about the extent of our responsibility in this world, what it means to choose, the limits of empathy, and the inevitability of loss; and like the best of science fiction, it asks them both at the scale of the cosmos, and at the level of a single human heart. The novel's ambition is upheld by soaring prose, which does full justice to the scope of Hansen's imagination. An instant classic." -- Gautam Bhatia, co-ordinating editor of Strange Horizons and author of The Wall and The Horizon

Review Quotes

"Intriguing metaphysicals concepts, more fast-paced action, and a climactic revelation regarding Caiden's mysterious genetic heritage will have fans eager for the next book in the Graven series."--Booklist (starred review)

"A blistering crash through bubble universes, seas of the luminous dead, and sleeping alien cities. Liquid-crystal star ships, living machines, reality-cleaving swordplay, and a dynasty whose words command your synapses and cells. Heart-heavy, astonishingly inventive, with language that burns like plasma. A biomechanical sucker punch of a book. The space opera you've been waiting for."--Micah Dean Hicks, author of Break the Bodies, Haunt the Bones--Micah Dean Hicks, author of Break the Bodies, Haunt the Bones

"Essa Hansen is one of the most imaginative authors in science fiction today, and in AZURA GHOST she delivers a thrill ride of a story."--Michael Mammay, author of Planetside

--Michael Mammay, author of Planetside

"Unpredictable and strikingly unique, Azura Ghost is science fiction without any limits to its imagination. Genre-breaking brilliance!"--David Dalglish, USA Today bestselling author--David Dalglish, USA Today bestselling author

"Nophek Gloss is one of the most vividly imaginative science fiction books I've ever read...If you love all the original, advanced technology you could possibly handle, a lovable, intriguing main cast with a lot of history and scars, and a fast-paced plot, then this is one you might want to pick up."--FanFi Addict

"An intriguing bubble universe setting, flawed characters, and advanced technology from a compelling sf story that will draw in and hold readers until the very last page ... Hansen's marvelous debut is a fast-paced, action-filled ride through the multiverse, introducing a complex found family of gender- and neurodiverse characters."--Library Journal

"Essa Hansen's debut is an intoxicating and thrilling science fiction read...Hansen creates a vivid, colorful setting that's full of strange tech, fantastic aliens, and reality-warping spaceships. It's mind-bending fun."--Apple Books, "10 Amazing Debuts"

About the Author

Essa Hansen is an author, swordswoman, and falconer. She is a sound designer for science fiction and fantasy films at Skywalker Sound, with credits in movies such as Dr. Strange and Avengers: Endgame.