by Yoon Ha Lee
First published 2023
Asala Sikou survives as a gun for hire while her star system slowly dies. She keeps her head down and looks out for herself alone. Then The Vela disappears. The refugee transport was supposed to complete a high profile rescue operation, but it vanished with all souls aboard. Asala gets reluctantly pulled into the search when she's paired with Niko, whose parent runs a wealthy core world. Their mission seems straightforward: locate the missing vessel and bring the outer system refugees home safely. But The Vela carries more than displaced people. Hidden aboard the ship lies something that could determine the survival of entire civilizations. As Asala digs deeper into the mystery, she faces an impossible choice. In a universe where moral lines blur and resources dwindle, she must decide which lives matter most when not everyone can be saved.
Genres: science-fiction, adventure, space-opera, action
Vibes: dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, moral-ambiguity
Setting: Star System, Core World
Period: Future
385 pages · ebook · Serial Box
Content warnings: violence