Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters - by Aimee Ogden (Paperback)

About the Book

"Gene-edited human clans have scattered throughout the galaxy, adapting themselves to environments as severe as the desert and the sea. Atuale, the daughter of a Sea-Clan lord, sparked a war by choosing her land-dwelling love and rejecting her place among her people. Now her husband and his clan are dying of a virulent plague, and Atuale's sole hope for finding a cure is to travel off-planet. The one person she can turn to for help is the black-market mercenary known as the World Witch--and Atuale's former lover. Time, politics, bureaucracy, and her own conflicted desires stand between Atuale and the hope for her adopted clan"--

Book Synopsis

A 2021 Nebula Award Nominee!

One woman will travel to the stars and beyond to save her beloved in this lyrical space opera that reimagines The Little Mermaid.

Gene-edited human clans have scattered throughout the galaxy, adapting themselves to environments as severe as the desert and the sea. Atuale, the daughter of a Sea-Clan lord, sparked a war by choosing her land-dwelling love and rejecting her place among her people. Now her husband and his clan are dying of a virulent plague, and Atuale's sole hope for finding a cure is to travel off-planet. The one person she can turn to for help is the black-market mercenary known as the World Witch--and Atuale's former lover. Time, politics, bureaucracy, and her own conflicted desires stand between Atuale and the hope for her adopted clan.

Review Quotes

"Absolutely gorgeous and deeply moving, this novella is familiar and strange at the same time, like a new interpretation of a beloved recipe."--Seanan McGuire

"A taut, heartfelt intergalactic fairy tale, with cosmic and personal vision."--Max Gladstone

"Familiar and fresh, intimate and expansive -- a fairy tale flung into the future."--Kerstin Hall

"Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters draws you in with its fascinating look at families, gender, and biology in a hauntingly alien far future, before breaking your heart with aching nostalgia and then putting it back together with a bittersweet hope." --Lina Rather

"A feast of worldbuilding and creativity fills this novella, which explores the ways in which tribalism and bias can affect human culture, even though humanity has mastered its own genetic destiny. Aimee Ogden crafts powerful imagery and themes that linger in your thoughts long after you read the last word."--S.B. Divya, Hugo and Nebula nominated author of Runtime, and co-editor of Escape Pod

"As breathtaking as a journey through the stars."--Kate Heartfield

"Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters is a short page-turner that feels epic in its world-building craft and the depth of its protagonists. At once a fairy-tale retelling and a lyrical space opera, it straddles many genres to tell one nostalgic yet utterly new story." -- Booklist, starred review

"Poetic, emotional prose and a science fiction setting give an original twist to an old fairy tale. VERDICT Ogden (Frozen Fairy Tales) takes "The Little Mermaid" to outer space and imagines the desires beyond love and land. This novella will tug at the heart of every reader." -- Library Journal

"This novella will leave readers eager for more from Ogden." -- Shelf Awareness

About the Author

Aimee Ogden is an exciting emerging author with more than two dozen short story publications in venues such as Analog, Shimmer, Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show, and The Dark. Aimee is a former science teacher and software tester; she now writes stories about sad astronauts, angry princesses, and dead gods. She's also the co-editor of Translunar Travelers Lounge, a new speculative fiction magazine devoted to fun, optimistic stories. She lives in Madison. Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters is her debut novella.