Donald Maass Literary Agency

Kirkus: Young roboticist Efi dreams of creating a better life for her community, where omnics and humans live peacefully, in this novel inspired by the video game “Overwatch.” Efi spends so many hours in her workshop ironing out bugs in her robots that her mother worries she isn’t connecting enough with best friends Naade and Hassana. But her work pays off when Efi wins the Genius Grant given out by her idol, Gabrielle Adawe, who founded both the organization Overwatch and the African city of Numbani. On the way to Rio de Janeiro to celebrate, Doomfist, who should be in prison, attacks the airport. The destruction left in Doomfist’s wake spurs Efi to put her grant money toward developing Orisa, a compassionate robot that can protect the city she loves. The immense pressure of this project strains the three friends’ relationship, forcing Efi to go it alone. While Efi teaches Orisa to integrate into Numbani, Orisa teaches her about responsibility and friendship—and as Dooomfist provokes discord between omnics and humans, Efi, Naade, and Hassana must come together to save Numbani. Drayden (Escaping Exodus, 2019, etc.) gives Efi a clear voice in this engrossing read with smooth pacing and action-packed scenes. The main storyline is tied up enough to keep readers satisfied but interested in the sequel; readers don’t need to be familiar with the video game to understand the book. All characters are black. Readers will root for this STEM-focused girl hero.

Booklist: Longtime genre fiction readers will know exactly what they’re getting in this omnibus. Bear covers a lot of ground, from strange, magical westerns to near-future science fiction to the fantastic world of the Steles of the Sky trilogy—all with her characteristic style and attention to detail. The collection begins with the fascinating and haunting tale of a serial killer in “Covenant” and ends with the recent “Erase, Erase, Erase,” a haunting look at responsibility, identity, and memory. Notable in between are a tale of a literal rock god (“Hobnoblin Blues”), a visit with Doc Holliday (“Faster Gun”), even a murder mystery with unexpected and far-reaching consequences (“Dolly”). Even the shortest and lightest of these stories are ambitious in their scope, and the volume is sizable enough to offer something for fans of every aspect of Bear’s storytelling. The breadth makes it an excellent starting point for readers new to Bear, as well, and in this book will keep all readers occupied for quite some time.

Booklist: Drayden’s latest (after Temper, 2018) is a sweeping, smart, stunning story that dazzles brighter than a star system. Seske Kaleigh is the young heir to the command of a starship that is comprised of the insides of a whale-like space beast. Adalla is her best friend and lover of a lower caste. The young girls are among the descendants of Africa, who resettled among the stars and rely on whale-like space beasts to keep them alive. They carve out cities within the interior body cavern of the beasts and make a home there until the beast begins to die. Then, they move on, catching and carving up the next beast in order to ensure their continued survival. When their clan’s newest excavated beast is assailed with violent tremors, the girls embark on a journey to unearth the cause and save their people’s new home. The premise of Escaping Exodus is a biology lover’s dream, with an animal’s bones being used for building material and its circulatory system for mass transit. Yet, Drayden excels in writing the tech in a way that will reach out and ensnares every reader—not just biology geeks. She has created a whimsical, complex, rich setting whose world is the literal anatomy of a beast. Interwoven with the body horror, environmentalism, and classism that Drayden artfully explores is a love story between two Black girls from different castes, making Escaping Exodus a true gem to be treasured.