Destroyer of Light, Jennifer Marie Brissett
Destroyer of Light, Jennifer Marie Brissett
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Destroyer of Light

Author: Jennifer Marie Brissett

Narrator: Cherise Boothe, Landon Woodson

Unabridged: 9 hr 57 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/12/2021

Categories: Fiction, Science Fiction


Synopsis

The Matrix meets an Afro-futuristic retelling of Persephone set in a science fiction underworld of aliens, refugees, and genetic engineering in Jennifer Marie Brissett's Destroyer of Light

Kirkus—Best Fiction Books of the Year 2021
Tor.com—Best of the Year 2021
New York Public Library—Nine New Sci-Fi & Fantasy Reads
Bookriot—20 Must Read Space Fantasy Books for 2021
Book Bub—The 24 Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of Fall 2021
BiblioLifestyle—Most Anticipated Fall 2021 Sci-fi, Fantasy & Horror

Having destroyed Earth, the alien conquerors resettle the remains of humanity on the planet of Eleusis. In the four habitable areas of the planet—Day, Dusk, Dawn, and Night—the haves and have nots, criminals and dissidents, and former alien conquerors irrevocably bind three stories:

*A violent warlord abducts a young girl from the agrarian outskirts of Dusk leaving her mother searching and grieving.
*Genetically modified twin brothers desperately search for the lost son of a human/alien couple in a criminal underground trafficking children for unknown purposes.
*A young woman with inhuman powers rises through the insurgent ranks of soldiers in the borderlands of Night.

Their stories, often containing disturbing physical and sexual violence, skate across years, building to a single confrontation when the fate of all—human and alien—balances upon a knife’s-edge.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books

About Jennifer Marie Brissett

JENNIFER MARIE BRISSETT has been a software engineer, web developer, and the proprietor of Indigo Café & Books in Brooklyn. She has a Masters in Creative Writing from the Stonecoast MFA Program. Her stories can be found in Lightspeed Magazine, Motherboard/VICE, Uncanny Magazine, and FIYAH Magazine amongst other publications. Her debut novel, Elysium (Aqueduct 2014) received the Philip K. Dick Award Special Citation and has been a finalist for the Locus Award for Best First Novel and the Tiptree Award.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Charlie

No spoilers here. I loved everything about this book: the world, the characters, the twisty story, the wild action. I was so grateful to get an opportunity to read an early copy. I was a huge fan of Brissett's previous book, Elysium, so I'm not surprised that this one rocked my world. Destroyer of L......more

Goodreads review by Justine

I love standalone books. Why aren't there more? Anyway, this is an example of challenging and intelligent storytelling. Not always easy to read and absolutely lacking in feel-good sentimentality, yet never gratuitous or giving off that whiff of tourist trauma. Brissett is a writer in full command of......more


Quotes

"[A] dark, poetic tale of struggling human colonists and ambiguously motivated aliens on a distant planet. Brissett uses the alien setting to explore contemporary issues, including racism, the complexities of allyship, and the trauma experienced by child soldiers. The author’s updated take on a classic myth is both clever and entertaining...Richly developed and profound" - Kirkus, Starred Review

Destroyer of Light is proof positive that we're living in a new golden age of science fiction.” —Charlie Jane Anders, Hugo Award-winning author

Destroyer of Light grapples with themes of both the human and post-human experience in a way that is wholly original and seductively engaging. Brissett builds a richly layered and imaginative world that reflects much of our own—the good, the brutal, and the truly monstrous—while daring us to dream of something more. This is a tale not only of becoming and transformation, but about the choices we make that bring us to our destinations. In a time of new, meaningful, and thrilling science fiction, Destroyer of Light is a must read.”—P. Djèlí Clark, Hugo Finalist and author of The Haunting of Tram Car 015

“A saga that combines many of sf’s most beloved tropes—a remnant of humanity struggling to survive on a far away world, aliens whose goals are dangerously unknowable, alien/human hybrids with unpredictable abilities, suspense, plot twists, and that good old sense of wonder. Hugely ambitious, impressively accomplished.” —Karen Joy Fowler

“Destroyer of Light confirms Brissett as one of our finest and most ambitious novelists. A world-spanning epic that explores and explodes what it's like to be both human and post-human. Gorgeously written and heartfelt, it's quite simply one of the best books I've read in a very long time.” —Elizabeth Hand, author of The Book of Lamps and Banners and Curious Toys


Awards

  • Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year