The Rainseekers - by Matthew Kressel (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Burned out and looking to put her past behind her, a former addict and recovering influencer interviews her fellow travelers en route to witness the first rain on Mars.

Sakunja Salazar had it all. Money, toys, women, and all the drugs money could buy. A breakout Holo influencer, seemingly overnight she lifted her family out of their tiny Mexico City apartment and into the world of the rich and famous. That all changed when she hopped on a rocket and blasted into the cosmos, never to hawk lavender moisturizer again.

What goes up must come down, and when Sakunja finally crashed back down on Mars an alcoholic, addict, and has-been she thought her life was pretty much over. That is, until a magazine editor discovered her photography and offered her a job. Now, she's the resident documentarian on a barebones expedition seeking to be the first humans to witness rain on Mars. For the first time in her life, Sakunja is turning the spotlight on someone else-interviewing her fellow travelers about what brought them to join this incredibly foolhardy crew of souls adrift in a world unseen.

Review Quotes

"Like some space-age Chaucer decamped to the stars, Matthew Kressel weaves tales of humor, heartbreak, and high adventure under a changing Martian sky. The Rainseekers is a stirring tribute to human resilience and ingenuity--and simply a whole lot of fun." --Jedediah Berry, author of The Naming Song

Praise for The King of Shards

"A surreal and exotic adventure in a unique mythological setting. Scary, exhilarating fun!" -N.K. Jemisin, multiple Hugo Award-winning author of The Broken Earth trilogy

"A radical reinvention of faith and folklore, not to mention the portal fantasy...majestic, resonant, reality-twisting madness." -NPR

"An imaginative, intelligent, and soaring debut...A hell of lot of fun." -Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Cabin at the End of the World

"With surprising twists and a deep and detailed universe, King of Shards, the first in a trilogy, is likely to be remembered." -Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog

"In this prismatic tale of demons, righteous warriors, and multiple universes, Kressel plumbs the depths of Kabbalistic lore to create a unique fantasy cosmos... [An] engaging new epic fantasy." -The Huffington Post

"A robustly imagined fantasy world... pleasingly unpredictable. His skill at extrapolating traditional religious lore into the stuff of fantasy bodes well for future books in the series." -Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Matthew Kressel is a multiple Nebula, World Fantasy, and Eugie Award Finalist. His more than fifty works of short fiction have appeared in Tor.com/Reactor, Lightspeed, Clarkesworld, Analog, Asimov's, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and many other publications, including multiple Year's Best anthologies. He co-hosts the Fantastic Fiction at KGB reading series in Manhattan with Ellen Datlow. And he is the creator of the Moksha submissions system.