The Deep Sky, Yume Kitasei
The Deep Sky, Yume Kitasei
List: $26.99 | Sale: $18.89
Club: $13.49

The Deep Sky
A Novel

Author: Yume Kitasei

Narrator: Sarah Skaer

Unabridged: 12 hr 15 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/18/2023

Categories: Fiction, Science Fiction


Synopsis

“Sarah Skaer uses her considerable vocal skill to make each crewmember instantly recognizable. Asuka is strongly characterized by her insecurity and self-doubt, though listeners will likely have more faith in her.”- Library Journal

Yume Kitasei's The Deep Sky is an enthralling sci fi thriller debut about a mission into deep space that begins with a lethal explosion that leaves the survivors questioning the loyalty of the crew.

They left Earth to save humanity. They’ll have to save themselves first.

It is the eve of Earth’s environmental collapse. A single ship carries humanity’s last hope: eighty elite graduates of a competitive program, who will give birth to a generation of children in deep space. But halfway to a distant but livable planet, a lethal bomb kills three of the crew and knocks The Phoenix off course. Asuka, the only surviving witness, is an immediate suspect.

As the mystery unfolds on the ship, poignant flashbacks reveal how Asuka came to be picked for the mission. Despite struggling through training back on Earth, she was chosen to represent Japan, a country she only partly knows as a half-Japanese girl raised in America. But estranged from her mother back home, The Phoenix is all she has left.

With the crew turning on each other, Asuka is determined to find the culprit before they all lose faith in the mission—or worse, the bomber strikes again.

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books.

About Yume Kitasei

Yume Kitasei is the author of The Deep Sky and The Stardust Grail. She is Japanese and American and grew up in a space between two cultures—the same space where her stories reside. She lives in Brooklyn with two cats, Boondoggle and Filibuster. Her stories have appeared in publications including New England Review, Catapult, SmokeLong Quarterly, and Baltimore Review.


Reviews

Goodreads review by C.L. on August 02, 2022

That was amazingly beautiful and honest and I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time to come. There are so many things to love about this debut, but I especially adored how real every moment felt: the politics of boarding school and our future world; the lapsed friendships and estranged paren......more

Goodreads review by Mara on May 21, 2023

A very strong debut! This is a page turning space thriller of espionage and intrigue, chock full of commentary on climate change, existential dread, and mommy issues. While I think some of the progress through the story could have been a little smoother, overall, I thought this was a great combo of......more

Goodreads review by Southern Lady Reads on September 07, 2023

One of the best sci-fi novels I've read in a long time!! The premise of artificial intelligence forming emotional attachments is interesting. How do you teach or program empathy? THOUGHTS: - Loved the alternating timeline snippets exploring what collapsed world powers would look like!! - I also real......more

Goodreads review by John on May 20, 2023

An epic space odyssey that seamlessly blends the genres of science fiction, mystery, and thriller, leaving you on the edge of your seat and craving for more…… Book Information "The Deep Sky" authored by Yume Kitasei, spans 416 pages and is set to be launched on July 18, 2023. Sarah Skaer lends her vo......more

Goodreads review by Christina on July 11, 2023

After a lethal bomb kills three members of a elite group of eighty young people chosen to journey to a distant planet, Asuka, one of those chosen elite, becomes the most likely suspect. Asuka, one of the last members chosen for the mission- a mission where each member is expected to give birth to at......more


Quotes

ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Goodreads, BookRiot, SheReads, Fantasy Book Cafe, Debutiful, Novel Suspects, Portalist, International Business Times UK, FanFi Addict, Overdrive

"Cerebral SF, tackling both humanity wide problems and the smaller but ever-present conflicts closer to home." Kirkus Reviews (starred)

"The Deep Sky is a beautiful tightly-wound mystery. It is both an intimate character portrait and a thriller. The space geek in me loves the way the voyage feels like a completely plausible extension of our current billionaire-fueled space race." —Mary Robinette Kowal, winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards

"There are so many things to love about Yume Kitasei's debut, but I especially adored how real every moment felt: the politics of boarding school and our future world; the lapsed friendships and estranged parents; the guilt of surviving, of being chosen. In The Deep Sky, Kitasei puts us under the microscope not in judgment but with a fair and caring eye; she looks for the best in us." —C. L. Clark, author of The Unbroken

"Readers will be engaged by the mystery and suspense and find the familiarity and connection in the humanity of Asuka and the journey of The Phoenix." Library Journal

"A remarkable story of endurance and hope." Publishers Weekly


Awards

  • Washington Post Best Books of the Year
  • Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year