The Archive Undying, Emma Mieko Candon
The Archive Undying, Emma Mieko Candon
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The Archive Undying

Author: Emma Mieko Candon

Narrator: Yung-I Chang

Unabridged: 16 hr 29 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/27/2023

Synopsis

War machines and AI gods run amok in The Archive Undying, national bestseller Emma Mieko Candon's bold entry into the world of mecha fiction.

WHEN AN AI DIES, ITS CITY DIES WITH IT
WHEN A CITY FALLS, IT LEAVES A CORPSE BEHIND
WHEN THAT CORPSE RUNS OFF, ONLY DEVOTION CAN BRING IT BACK

When the robotic god of Khuon Mo went mad, it destroyed everything it touched. It killed its priests, its city, and all its wondrous works. But in its final death throes, the god brought one thing back to life: its favorite child, Sunai. For the seventeen years since, Sunai has walked the land like a ghost, unable to die, unable to age, and unable to forget the horrors he's seen. He's run as far as he can from the wreckage of his faith, drowning himself in drink, drugs, and men. But when Sunai wakes up in the bed of the one man he never should have slept with, he finds himself on a path straight back into the world of gods and machines.

The Archive Undying is the first volume of Emma Mieko Candon's Downworld Sequence, a sci-fi series where AI deities and brutal police states clash, wielding giant robots steered by pilot-priests with corrupted bodies.

Come get in the robot.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor.com.

About Emma Mieko Candon

Emma Mieko Candon is a bestselling queer author who writes about devouring ghosts, cursed linguistics, and mediocre robots. Her previous novel, Star Wars Visions: Ronin, reimagined the Star Wars mythos through a Japanese lens. Editor by day, escaped academic by night, she is at all hours beholden to the whims of two lopsided cats and grateful for the support of an enviably handsome wife.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Samantha on March 07, 2023

The Archive Undying is a fascinating story that is not told well. No one is more disappointed than I am. This was one of my most anticipated releases and I was prepared to add it to my favorites list right next to Gideon the Ninth and The Stars Undying. For a long time, I held on to the hope that it......more

Goodreads review by Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) on July 04, 2023

4.0 Stars Video Review: [URL not allowed] This was such an immersive science fantasy novel. I was immediately pulled in from the first chapter and enjoyed the ride. I love the writing style of this book. The prose were both simple but also beautiful in places. The dialogue was more casual th......more

Goodreads review by Kit (Metaphors and Moonlight) on December 31, 2023

*I received an audio copy of this book via NetGalley. This has not influenced my review.* I didn’t understand everything, but I found the characters and the world fascinating! I think this is the first time I’ve ever been able to describe my thoughts on a book with a single sentence. But that’s not en......more

Goodreads review by Mai on May 04, 2025

API Heritage Month 2025 #1 Am I too stupid for this? Maybe. Did I enjoy it at all? Not particularly. While the AI plotline is relevant to the times, I found I couldn't follow it. And I love a slut, but I couldn't connect with Sunai's storyline, either. 🎧 Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio......more

Goodreads review by Rowen on May 10, 2024

4.5 stars edited: rounded up to five because I think about this book literally all the time First and foremost, this is a book interested in big questions about personhood, autonomy, and devotion, while also being about Some Guy Who's A Mess and Big Fuck Off Robots. That said, I can understand reviewer......more

Quotes

“Giant robots stomp around a lush and tactile world of ruined cities and unknowable AI gods, which is all one could ever need.” —Tamsyn Muir, New York Times bestselling author of the Locked Tomb series

“The Archive Undying is everything you could want in a mecha novel. Emma Mieko Candon is brilliant.” —Ann Leckie, Hugo and Nebula award-winning author of Ancillary Justice

“Candon pours her/their elaborate setting of weird artifacts, monstrous fragtech, and corrupted AI through an intense and intimate emotional focus to create a vivid journey of recovery and reclamation.” —New York Times bestselling author, Kate Elliott

“A riotous and romantic ride of identity, divinity and technology” —Freya Marske, author of Marvellous Light

“With the salvage-punk appeal of 70's pulp, and the cozy, rust-hazed apocalyptica of 90's anime, this book is gold, crystal, and crimson splendor with a beating pirate heart.” —Jennifer Giesbrecht, author of The Monster of Elendhaven

“An intelligent, fiercely queer story of identity, autonomy and giant robots. An imaginative rollercoaster!” —Foz Meadows, author of A Strange and Stubborn Endurance

“Spiky, tender, sexy, and strange, The Archive Undying is a narrative labyrinth that surprised me on every page; an unfolding fractal of a science fiction novel.” —Lara Elena Donnelly, author of Amberlough and Grace Notes

“Candon’s fresh, vivid worldbuilding skillfully blends anime staples like giant robots and cigarette-smoking aunties with edgy SFF tropes like dying gods and legendary hybrid beasts….Fans of diverse, queer genre fiction seeking a challenge should take note.” —Publishers Weekly

“Will appeal to readers who like their giant robots paired with explorations of emotional intimacy and moving forward after trauma.” —Library Journal

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