On February 22, Claire Winn revealed the cover to her upcoming Queer Sci-Fi debut titled City Of Shattered Light through Twitter.
The author has pitched her novel as “a neon-drenched cyberpunk YA” featuring two bisexual female leads. 17-year-old heiress Asa Almeida who saves her sister from an experiment that will leave her brain reprogrammed. Then she crash-lands onto the outlaw city of Requiem with a rogue A.I hunting her. In addition, gunslinger Riven Hawthorne decides pursuing the bounty on Asa’s head is exactly what she needs to claw her way up the ranks of the city’s underworld. As things get tense, the girls must decide whether they continue working on their own or team up.
Cover artist is Sanjay Charlton and designer is Jake Slavik. City Of Shattered Light is being released by Flux Books in October of 2021.
As darkness closes in on the city of shattered light, an heiress and an outlaw must decide whether to fend for themselves or fight for each other.
As heiress to a powerful tech empire, seventeen-year-old Asa Almeida strives to prove she’s more than her manipulative father’s shadow. But when he uploads her rebellious sister’s mind to an experimental brain, Asa will do anything to save her sister from reprogramming—including fleeing her predetermined future with her sister’s digitized mind in tow. With a bounty on her head and a rogue A.I. hunting her, Asa’s getaway ship crash-lands in the worst possible place: the neon-drenched outlaw paradise, Requiem.
Gun-slinging smuggler Riven Hawthorne is determined to claw her way up Requiem’s underworld hierarchy. A runaway rich girl is exactly the bounty Riven needs—until a nasty computer virus spreads in Asa’s wake, causing a citywide blackout and tech quarantine. To get the payout for Asa and save Requiem from the monster in its circuits, Riven must team up with her captive.
Riven breaks skulls the way Asa breaks circuits, but their opponent is unlike anything they’ve ever seen. The A.I. exploits the girls’ darkest memories and deepest secrets, threatening to shatter the fragile alliance they’re both depending on. As one of Requiem’s 154-hour nights grows darker, the girls must decide whether to fend for themselves or fight for each other before Riven’s city and Asa’s sister are snuffed out forever.
City Of Shattered Light by Claire Winn is set to be released October 19, 2021!