May 092017
 

Cover for Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer. A flying car in the foreground heads towards a glittering city on a massive cliffside, the orange and pink sunset glowing in the background.Congratulations to Ada Palmer on winning the 2017 Compton Crook Award for Too Like The Lightning!

Mycroft Canner is a convict. For his crimes he is required, as is the custom of the 25th century, to wander the world being as useful as he can to all he meets. Carlyle Foster is a sensayer–a spiritual counselor in a world that has outlawed the public practice of religion, but which also knows that the inner lives of humans cannot be wished away.

And in this world, Mycroft and Carlyle have stumbled on the wild card that may destabilize the system: the boy Bridger, who can effortlessly make his wishes come true. Who can, it would seem, bring inanimate objects to life…