Architects of Memory - Tor/Forge Blog

Ready to Go on a Grand Adventure in Space…?

June 30, 2021January 23, 2024Rachel Taylor

Love is love, even (and especially) in space. We’re bringing back our ‘Gays in Space’ list, updated with some new SFF titles that feature LGBTQ+ characters on intergalactic adventures. Check it out here!

opens in a new windowYou Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo

TwiceFar station is at the edge of the known universe, and that’s just how Niko Larson, former Admiral in the Grand Military of the Hive Mind, likes it. Retired and finally free of the continual war of conquest, Niko and the remnants of her former unit are content to spend the rest of their days working at the restaurant they built together, The Last Chance. But, some wars can’t ever be escaped, and unlike the Hive Mind, some enemies aren’t content to let old soldiers go. Niko and her crew are forced onto a sentient ship convinced that it is being stolen and must survive the machinations of a sadistic pirate king if they even hope to keep the dream of The Last Chance alive. On sale 09/07/2021!

opens in a new windowLight From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

Good Omens meets The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet in Ryka Aoki’s Light From Uncommon Stars, a defiantly joyful adventure set in California’s San Gabriel Valley, with cursed violins, Faustian bargains, and queer alien courtship over fresh-made donuts. On sale 09/28/2021!

opens in a new windowEven Greater Mistakes by Charlie Jane Anderson

The woman who can see all possible futures is dating the man who can see the one and only foreordained future. A wildly popular slapstick filmmaker is drawn, against his better judgment, into working with a fascist militia, against a background of social collapse. Two friends must embark on an Epic Quest To Capture The Weapon That Threatens The Galaxy, or else they’ll never achieve their dream of opening a restaurant. The stories in this collection, by their very outrageousness, achieve a heightened realism unlike any other. On sale 11/16/2021!

opens in a new windowA Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives in the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire only to discover that her predecessor, the previous ambassador from their small but fiercely independent mining Station, has died. But no one will admit that his death wasn’t an accident—or that Mahit might be next to die, during a time of political instability in the highest echelons of the imperial court. Check out the sequel, opens in a new windowA Desolation Called Peace, on sale now!

opens in a new windowGideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won’t set her free without a service….

opens in a new windowHarrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, last necromancer of the Ninth House, has been drafted by her Emperor to fight an unwinnable war. Side-by-side with a detested rival, Harrow must perfect her skills and become an angel of undeath—but her health is failing, her sword makes her nauseous, and even her mind is threatening to betray her. Sealed in the gothic gloom of the Emperor’s Mithraeum with three unfriendly teachers and hunted by the mad ghost of a murdered planet, Harrow must confront two unwelcome questions: is somebody trying to kill her? And if they succeeded, would the universe be better off?

opens in a new windowUnconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott

Princess Sun has finally come of age. Growing up in the shadow of her mother, Eirene, has been no easy task. The legendary queen-marshal did what everyone thought impossible: expel the invaders and build Chaonia into a magnificent republic, one to be respected—and feared. But the cutthroat ambassador corps and conniving noble houses have never ceased to scheme—and they have plans that need Sun to be removed as heir, or better yet, dead.

opens in a new windowEmpress of Forever by Max Gladstone

A wildly successful innovator, Vivian Liao is prone to radical thinking, quick decision-making, and reckless action. On the eve of her greatest achievement, she tries to outrun people who are trying to steal her success. In the chilly darkness of a Boston server farm, Viv sets her ultimate plan into motion. A terrifying instant later, Vivian Liao is catapulted through space and time to a far future where she confronts a destiny stranger and more deadly than she could ever imagine.

opens in a new windowSisters of the Vast Black by Lina Rather

Years ago, Old Earth sent forth sisters and brothers into the vast dark of the prodigal colonies armed only with crucifixes and iron faith. Now, the sisters of the Order of Saint Rita are on an interstellar mission of mercy aboard Our Lady of Impossible Constellations, a living, breathing ship which seems determined to develop a will of its own. When the order receives a distress call from a newly-formed colony, the sisters discover that the bodies and souls in their care—and that of the galactic diaspora—are in danger. And not from the void beyond, but from the nascent Central Governance and the Church itself.

opens in a new windowArchitects of Memory by Karen Osborne

Terminally ill salvage pilot Ash Jackson lost everything in the war with the alien Vai, but she’ll be damned if she loses her future. Her plan: to buy, beg, or lie her way out of corporate indenture and find a cure. When her crew salvages a genocidal weapon from a ravaged starship above a dead colony, Ash uncovers a conspiracy of corporate intrigue and betrayal that threatens to turn her into a living weapon.

opens in a new windowThe Sol Majestic by Ferrett Steinmetz

Kenna, an aspirational teen guru, wanders destitute across the stars as he tries to achieve his parents’ ambition to advise the celestial elite. Everything changes when Kenna wins a free dinner at The Sol Majestic, the galaxy’s most renowned restaurant, giving him access to the cosmos’s one-percent. His dream is jeopardized, however, when he learns his highly-publicized “free meal” risks putting The Sol Majestic into financial ruin. Kenna and a motley gang of newfound friends—including a teleporting celebrity chef, a trust-fund adrenaline junkie, an inept apprentice, and a brilliant mistress of disguise—must concoct an extravagant scheme to save everything they cherish.

opens in a new windowWinter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell

Summoned before the Emperor, Prince Kiem—the Emperor’s least favorite grandchild—is commanded to renew the empire’s bonds with its newest vassal planet. The prince must marry Count Jainan, the recent widower of another royal prince of the empire. But Jainan suspects his late husband’s death was no accident. And Prince Kiem discovers Jainan is a suspect himself. But broken bonds between the empire and its vassal planets leaves the entire empire vulnerable, so together they must prove that their union is strong while uncovering a possible murder.

Author Features / Video

Ready to Get Welcomed into the World of Architects of Memory?

March 18, 2021May 17, 2024Rachel Taylor3 Comments

In Karen Osborne’s duology, opens in a new windowThe Memory War, going to the stars means entering an indenture contract with one of the companies that run the spacelanes. While writing the book, Osborne gave a lot of thought into what indenture orientation might look like…then brought her vision to life. Check out her video now to bring yourself behind the eyes of those waiting to sign their contracts, and don’t forget to add opens in a new windowArchitects of Memory and opens in a new windowEngines of Oblivion to your TBR!

Order Architects of Memory:

opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window

Order Engines of Oblivion:

opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window

Architects of Memory, Engines of Oblivion, Karen Osborne, SFF, Tor Books, tor sidebar, Video

Author Features / Lists / What's New

The Most Interesting Humans Turned Weapons In SFF, According to Karen Osborne

March 10, 2021May 3, 2024Rachel Taylor

What is the best weapon you can have in a science fiction novel? Sometimes, the answer is ‘who’ and not ‘what.’ Karen Osborne, debut author of opens in a new windowArchitects of Memory and the newly released opens in a new windowEngines of Oblivion, joined us to share her favorite humans turned weapons of science fiction—do you agree with her choices?

By Karen Osborne

Guns. Bombs. Bioweapons. Sometimes all of it is just not enough to get what you want. Whether you’re talking about reincarnated traitor generals or small children that know every magical spell ever written, a living, breathing human weapon is an absolute must for any decent aspiring space despot’s growing arsenal—because sometimes, you just need a weapon that can think on its own.

The recipe is simple: take one soldier with tactical talent, give them wildly destructive powers, remove the ability to make decisions for themselves, and stop treating them like a human being. Perhaps you’ll get lucky and they’ll stop thinking of themselves that way, too. They’ll pull their own pin and hug their own trigger.

Just be careful—sometimes your newly-forged weapons remember who they were before you came along…

Essun and the Orogenes — opens in a new windowThe Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

At the beginning of The Fifth Season, all Essun wants is to be left alone to raise her children, but that’s not going to happen, as her husband is about to find out they’re all orogenes.

To be an orogene is to have immense power: to command the energy of the earth, to cause earthquakes and volcanos, to channel water and even kill others. To manifest as an orogene is to be feared. You risk being killed or given to the Fulcrum, an organization that will train you to channel your abilities and use them in service of the society that hates you.

But you don’t get a say about that. You become a weapon in the Fulcrum’s hands, to be used as seen fit. And after being taken from your parents, dehumanized, mistreated and enslaved, how long until you pull your own trigger?

At the beginning of this book, everyone finds out. An orogene rips open the center of the world’s great supercontinent, causing the apocalyptic, climate-changing Fifth Season, and, as the Fulcrum discovers, even a human weapon cannot look away from the power of love.

General Shuos Jedao — opens in a new windowNinefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee

What immortal dictator doesn’t want a tractable pocket tactician? The leaders of the spacebound hexarchate have one in the form of Shuos Jedao, one of the most gifted military minds of his generation. There’s just one problem: he’s insane.

During his life, Jedao never lost a battle—until he turned heretical traitor and burned an entire fleet under his command. Jedao’s disembodied mind was stored away until the hexarchate needed a win, then forced to win battles for the hexarchate as punishment.

In his revenant form, he isn’t allowed to sleep, nor does he have control of the body into which he’s installed. This time, that body belongs to Kel Cheris, a math genius and dedicated soldier skating on the edge of heresy herself. He’s nothing more than an intelligent weapon meant to help Cheris win the next big fight.

But there’s a problem with hosting a pocket tactician who’s smarter than you. If the hexarchate can’t see what that is, not even immortality will be able to help them.

Caliban — opens in a new windowCaliban’s War by James S.A. Corey

Any self-respecting space corporation out to create market-rattling bioweapons can be expected to dabble around with alien technology. Protogen is no exception, using forgotten street children from Ganymede as matrices for their walking bioweapon Hybrids.

At first, the program appears to succeed, with the supersoldiers able to move fast, survive in hard vacuum, and tear apart hull plating like tissue paper, and Protogen makes an army of Calibans. But whether it was the alien protomolecule or some last, aching humanity inside their monstrous blue carapaces, the Hybrids refuse to submit to anyone, even after the company installed bombs in their bodies as a control measure.

This isn’t the only time Protogen attempts to turn alien technology into corporate profit. On Eros, they infect enough people with the protomolecule that it makes an entire asteroid sentient. As the characters would eventually find out, big space rocks make pretty good weapons by themselves.

The Archive — opens in a new windowDeath Masks by Jim Butcher

Even though the neutral Archive hasn’t yet been used as a weapon, she’s on this list because of how easily she could be—after all, in Harry Dresden’s world, knowledge is often power.

When we first meet the Archive, she doesn’t even have a name. The Archive is a child—and at the same time, a repository of all the human wisdom that has ever been written. Born to a mother that committed suicide rather than host the Archive, she’s been that way for as long as she can remember.

And that’s the problem. The Archive appears from book to book to mediate and fight for the side of good, but as a child, she doesn’t understand many of the things that she knows. She’s powerful, but she doesn’t understand just how powerful she could become. The sheer amount of power stuck in her changing teenage mind—well, anyone who spent three hours in a high school would understand why that might be concerning.

Luckily, the Archive is better off than some of our other walking weapons. She has Dresden’s assistance, as well as the help of her half-demon bodyguard, and she’s passed all the tests she’s been given. But who is to say that will always be the case?

Takeshi Kovacs and the Envoys — opens in a new windowAltered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan

In Morgan’s cyberpunk world, people are virtually immortal. Human minds are separated from bodies to be “re-sleeved” at will. Takeshi Kovacs was a criminal before he was a member of the United Nations Envoy Corps, a group of supersoldiers who aren’t trained as much as conditioned, able to achieve superhuman feats partially because their conditioning strips them of all inhibitions when it comes to violence. (There’s a reason Envoys are prohibited from holding public office.)

When Kovacs leaves the service, he becomes a criminal again, and his recidivism is understandable. It’s impossible for a post-conditioning Envoy to live a normal life. There’s no bumpy transition back to a civilian world because the changes to his mind make it impossible for him to become a civilian. Kovacs is arrested and imprisoned in digital storage for years before being resurrected to work hazardous private-eye gigs, because if there’s something a human weapon knows how to do, it’s dueling spy operatives, blowing out airships, and taking out mob bosses—while getting reincarnated to do it over and over again.

Kovacs, of course, finds his place in it. After all, he’s a weapon now.

Karen Osborne is the debut author of opens in a new windowArchitects of Memory, on sale from Tor Books now, and opens in a new windowEngines of Oblivion, on sale 2/9/21.

Order Architects of Memory Here:

opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window

Order Engines of Oblivion Here:

opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window

Altered Carbon, Architects of Memory, Caliban's War, Death Masks, guest post, James S. A. Corey, Jim Butcher, Karen Osborne, N.K. Jemisin, Ninefox Gambit, Richard K. Morgan, The Fifth Season, tor author, Tor Books, Yoon Ha Lee

Lists / What's New

Hello, Beautiful: New Series from Tor that Began in 2020!

September 5, 2020May 2, 2024Rachel Taylor

The end of 2020 is approaching (YAY) and we’re looking back on this incredibly chaotic year for some of the bright spots. So, how about we celebrate all of our amazing new series that kicked off in 2020 (At least, these are the books we know have sequels planned, but if we’ve learned anything in 2020 it’s to expect the unexpected)? Check out the full list below!

opens in a new windowBurn the Dark (The Malus Domestica series) by S. A. Hunt

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina meets Stranger Things in award-winning author S. A. Hunt’s Burn the Dark, first in the Malus Domestica horror action-adventure series about a punk YouTuber on a mission to bring down witches, one vid at a time.

opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window

opens in a new windowA Queen in Hiding (The Nine Realms series) by Sarah Kozloff

Orphaned, exiled and hunted, Cerulia, Princess of Weirandale, must master the magic that is her birthright, become a ruthless guerilla fighter, and transform into the queen she is destined to be. But to do it she must win the favor of the spirits who play in mortal affairs, assemble an unlikely group of rebels, and wrest the throne from a corrupt aristocracy whose rot has spread throughout her kingdom.

opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window

opens in a new windowThe Bard’s Blade (The Sorcerer’s Song series) by Brian D. Anderson

Mariyah enjoys a simple life in Vylari, a land magically sealed off from the outside world, where fear and hatred are all but unknown. There she’s a renowned wine maker and her betrothed, Lem, is a musician of rare talent. Then a stranger crosses the wards into Vylari for the first time in centuries, bringing a dark prophecy that forces Lem and Mariyah down separate paths. How far will they have to go to stop a rising darkness and save their home? And how much of themselves will they have to give up along the way?

opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window

opens in a new windowThe Unspoken Name (The Serpent’s Gate series) by A. K. Larkwood

Csorwe knows when and how she’ll die. She’ll enter the Shrine of the Unspoken and gain the most honored title: sacrifice. But on the day of her foretold death, a powerful mage offers her a new fate. Leave with him, and live. Turn away from her destiny and her god to become a thief, a spy, an assassin—the wizard’s loyal sword. Topple an empire, and help him reclaim his seat of power. But Csorwe will soon learn—gods remember, and if you live long enough, all debts come due.

opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window

opens in a new windowUnconquerable Sun (The Sun Chronicles) by Kate Elliott

Princess Sun has finally come of age. Growing up in the shadow of her mother, Eirene, has been no easy task. The legendary queen-marshal did what everyone thought impossible: expel the invaders and build Chaonia into a magnificent republic, one to be respected—and feared. But the cutthroat ambassador corps and conniving noble houses have never ceased to scheme—and they have plans that need Sun to be removed as heir, or better yet, dead.

opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window

opens in a new windowThe Sin in the Steel (The Fall of the Gods series) by Ryan Van Loan

Buc and Eld are the first private detectives in a world where pirates roam the seas, mages speak to each other across oceans, mechanical devices change the tide of battle, and earthly wealth is concentrated in the hands of a powerful few. It’s been weeks since ships last returned to the magnificent city of Servenza with bounty from the Shattered Coast. When Buc and Eld are hired to investigate, Buc swiftly discovers that the trade routes have become the domain of a sharp-eyed pirate queen who sinks all who defy her.

opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window

opens in a new windowDeal with the Devil (The Mercenary Librarians series) by Kit Rocha

Nina is an information broker with a mission—she and her team of mercenary librarians use their knowledge to save the hopeless in a crumbling America. Knox is the bitter, battle-weary captain of the Silver Devils. They’re on a deadly collision course, and the passion that flares between them only makes it more dangerous. They could burn down the world, destroying each other in the process, or they could do the impossible: team up.

opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window

opens in a new windowArchitects of Memory (The Memory War series) by Karen Osborne

Terminally ill salvage pilot Ash Jackson lost everything in the war with the alien Vai, but she’ll be damned if she loses her future. Her plan: to buy, beg, or lie her way out of corporate indenture and find a cure. When her crew salvages a genocidal weapon from a ravaged starship above a dead colony, Ash uncovers a conspiracy of corporate intrigue and betrayal that threatens to turn her into a living weapon.

opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window

A. K. Larkwood, Architects of Memory, Brian D. Anderson, Burn the Dark, Deal With the Devil, Karen Osborne, Kate Elliott, Kit Rocha, list, new books, Ryan Van Loan, S.A. Hunt, The Bard's Blade, The Sin in the Steel, The Unspoken Name, Tor Books, tor sidebar, Unconquerable Sun

What's New

On the (Digital) Road: Tor Author Events in September

September 1, 2020May 8, 2024Rachel Taylor

We are in a time of social distancing, but your favorite Tor authors are still coming to screens near you in the month of September! Check out where you can find them here:

Gregory Benford and Larry Niven, Glorious

Wednesday, September 2
Second Life
opens in a new windowMore Information Here
12:00 PM PT

Jenn Lyons, opens in a new windowThe Memory of Souls, Ryan Van Loan, opens in a new windowThe Sin in the Steel

Wednesday, September 2
Gibson’s Bookstore, in conversation with Andrea Hairston
opens in a new windowZoom
7:00 PM ET

David Mack, opens in a new windowThe Shadow Commission

Thursday, September 3
Tubby & Coo’s Mid-City Book Shop
opens in a new windowStreamyard
6:00 PM CT

Christopher Paolini, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

Tuesday, September 15
Barnes & Noble, in conversation with Tad Williams
opens in a new windowRegister Here
7:00 PM CT

Wednesday, September 16
Doylestown Bookshop, in conversation with Chuck Wendig
opens in a new windowCrowdcast
7:00 PM ET

Friday, September 18
Anderson’s Bookshop, in conversation with Jennifer Hale
opens in a new windowRegister Here
7:00 PM CT

Sunday, September 20
Cuyahoga Public Library, in conversation with John Scalzi
opens in a new windowRegister Here
7:00 PM CT

Monday, September 21
Quail Ridge Books, in conversation with Pierce Brown
opens in a new windowRegister Here
7:00 PM ET

Tuesday, September 22
Left Bank Books, in conversation with Ann Leckie
opens in a new windowRegister Here
7:00 PM CT

Thursday, September 24
Hicklebee’s Books, SFF Writing Class
opens in a new windowRegister Here
10:00 PM ET

Friday, September 25
King’s English, in conversation with Brandon Sanderson
opens in a new windowRegister Here
9:00 PM ET

Saturday, September 26
Tattered Cover, Nerd Trivia Night hosted by Paolini
opens in a new windowRegister Here
9:00 PM ET

Sunday, September 27
Third Place Books, in conversation with James Rollins
opens in a new windowRegister Here
10:00 PM ET

John Scalzi, The Last Emperox

Wednesday, September 16
Cuyahoga County Library in conversation with Terry Virts
opens in a new windowZoom
7:00 PM ET

Jenn Lyons, opens in a new windowThe Memory of Souls, Brian Naslund, opens in a new windowSorcery of a Queen

Thursday, September 24
Towne Book Center
Zoom
7:00 PM ET

Architects of Memory, author events, Brian Naslund, Christopher Paolini, Daniel Kraus, David Mack, George A. Romero and Daniel Kraus, Jenn Lyons, John Scalzi, Karen Osborne, Sorcery of a Queen, The Last Emperox, The Living Dead, The Memory of Souls, The Shadow Commission, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, Tor Books, virtual event

Excerpts / What's New

Excerpt: Architects of Memory by Karen Osborne

July 19, 2020April 29, 2024Rachel Taylor1 Comment

opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window

Millions died after the first contact. An alien weapon holds the key to redemption—or annihilation. Experience Karen Osborne’s unforgettable science fiction debut, Architects of Memory.

Terminally ill salvage pilot Ash Jackson lost everything in the war with the alien Vai, but she’ll be damned if she loses her future. Her plan: to buy, beg, or lie her way out of corporate indenture and find a cure. When her crew salvages a genocidal weapon from a ravaged starship above a dead colony, Ash uncovers a conspiracy of corporate intrigue and betrayal that threatens to turn her into a living weapon.

Please enjoy this free excerpt of opens in a new windowArchitect of Memory, on sale 08/25/2020.

1

Natalie towed Ash back to Twenty-Five in relative silence. The solar backup charger kicked in halfway through the debris field, and Ash was able to slot the pod back into its housing on the outer hull under her own power. She felt the pod shudder into somnolence and sighed as the airlock cycled and the door opened: she was safe.

At least one thing had gone well today.

Len waited just beyond, the corners of his mouth creased in relief and worry. He gave Ash a sturdy hug with one brown, muscled arm. “This is not Alien Attack Squad,” he said, his voice clogged with rare emotion. “Cliff-hangers are for vids, Ash.”

“I’m sorry.” She leaned into the warmth of the hug. “Don’t worry. I made it out.”

He didn’t laugh. “You look like hell.”

“I’m fine.”

“Well, you won’t be in ten minutes. Doc’s on her way down, and the captain’s blazing mad.”

Ash gave him a playful push away. “I can handle Kate Keller.”

He rolled his eyes. “I’m sure you can. But, Ash, about the doctor—”

“Sharma’s not going to even touch me this time.”

His eyes darted, half nervous, over to Natalie’s pod; the younger woman was still inside, running postflight tests. His voice dropped, went half husky. “The last twenty minutes were a shitshow for all of us. I just . . . want you to take this seriously, okay?”

Ash snorted in response. “Leonard Downey, chief executive of snark, is asking me to take something seriously?” She laughed. “You remember when I got that concussion from hitting debris near the Mumbai? I took that seriously. The Company bill set my citizenship date back three whole months. Len, I’m walking, I’m talking, I’m fine. There’s no reason to be worried.”

“And what’ll that savings do for you if you’re dead?”

She tensed. Thought of the light in the pod, of the dizziness, of the darkness. Of the things she couldn’t tell him. “It’s not that easy. You know it’s not that easy.”

Len sighed, rubbing the back of his head. “No,” he agreed. “It’s not.” He paused. “I’m going to take a look at your pod, and hopefully, we’ll get some answers.”

“Thanks, Len,” she said. “Don’t worry, I won’t let anyone know you care.”

“You’re the best.” He laughed, tossed some diagnostic tools into the pod, gave Ash another quick hug, and climbed in. The door to Natalie’s airlock slid open, and the younger woman jumped out, her short hair spiked and lawless from where it had been crushed in her helmet. Dr. Sharma ducked out of the ship’s spine, wearing a blue sweater and an unusually fascinated look on her face, a lancet and vial cupped in her manicured left hand.

“Indenture, we’ll need—”

Ash’s breath froze and she backed up. I can’t let her do a blood test. She’ll find out. “You know I can’t afford the needles, Dr. Sharma.”

Sharma shook her head. “You’re going to have to get over it. I’ll bill it as mission-critical, so it won’t go against your indenture. We’re all lucky this isn’t an autopsy.”

Ash ran her hand through her hair. “Look. I feel fine. I just need a glass of water. I need to wash my face. Give me five minutes.”

Sharma cracked a sour little smile, stepping forward. She grabbed a penlight from her pocket and turned it on, shining it straight in Ash’s eyes without warning. Ash winced and turned her chin to one side, the bright light exacerbating her stabbing headache.

“Ow, doctor, for the love of God—”

The doctor pursed her lips in thought. “You said you were breathing the entire time?”

“I suppose I had to be.”

The doctor turned off the penlight. “Because you have petechiae on your face, on your neck, broken capillaries in your eyes— you’ve been punched, or spaced, or strangled. That’s strange. And not expected.”

“I feel fine. Why do you care so much anyway? I’m just an indenture.”

“You’re not just an indenture, Ashlan. Not to me, at least.” Sharma sighed. “But right now, I suppose I’m simply concerned that you don’t fall on your face on the way up to the bridge. Luckily for you, we have a captain who believes your health is secondary to listening to the whims of our chief executive.” She gave Ash a once-over and pointed toward the bridge, the tools still dangling in her hand. “I’ll be waiting in the medbay when you’re done.”

Ash released a pent-up breath of relief and turned toward the entrance to Twenty-Five’s central spine. “I’ll be down as soon as I can. Promise.”

“Please do. You’ve been through a trauma you don’t even remember,” Sharma said. “That’s not a good sign.”

“I don’t mind not remembering trauma,” Ash said, grabbing the ladder with one hand and swinging up onto the bottom rung.

Ash heard the soft, put-upon sigh of the doctor as she pulled herself up to the bridge, and the relief felt feather light once out of direct sight. She’d led Sharma to think her fear of medicine was understandable, that it stemmed from the brusque, prodding mannerisms of the Wellspring doctors back at the Bittersweet mines, men and women who viewed the Company’s human workforce less as people to be healed and more like machines to be patched up. It was a convenient mask for Ash’s very real fear: that Sharma would discover her illness, an illness that would disqualify her from citizenship anywhere but in a gutter back on Earth. Lately, she’d thought the doctor had become a little suspicious, less likely to humor her, less likely to bill a procedure as mission-critical, to force her into it, to make her pay for her own downfall.

That was bad enough. A new blood test would ruin everything.

Auroran citizenship was a better deal by far than Wellspring’s version, which came after decades, if at all—but Ash knew she still trod dangerous ground. Aurora Company prided itself on cross-vertical investments, pairing agricultural colonies with hubworld industry for a stable revenue stream. Wellspring Celestial’s main strategy relied on mining celestium and water ice, and for a while, it had been sound; they had a near monopoly on the celestium-rich hubworlds and moons, and a steady stream of poverty-stricken uncitizens like Ash’s family, willing to sell themselves into indenture for the opportunity to get cit tags. Refined celestium ore was 65 percent of the fuel mix that powered the grav-drive, and 25 percent of the tough plasteel hulls that made escaping gravity wells possible. It had made Wellspring’s executive class rich as hell—at least until the Vai arrived to smash their business model and their desperate underclass.

Ash hadn’t even known things could be different until Keller and the others yanked her screaming from the Bittersweet wreckage.

She pulled herself up to the bridge, feeling tired. Like everywhere else on Twenty-Five, the command space was tiny, every single open space used for floor-to-ceiling interfaces, storage, toggles, and consoles. It was full of noise, lights, beeping things, and constant activity. After the quiet of the pod, the thousand small distractions of a smooth and stable Twenty-Five sounded positively beatific.

Ash was surprised to see vehicular control occupied by Keller’s XO, the red-haired and taciturn Alison Ramsay, who normally spent her time on the night shift. Ash started to apologize, but Ramsay grinned and brought her index finger to her lips, indicating the ansible monitor. Keller’s back was to Ash, talking with a somewhat familiar brown-haired man wearing an executive’s torc around his neck. It took a few seconds for his face to register.

Shit. Ash colored, shoved down a mouthful of panic and dropped into the salvage control chair.

Ramsay kept her eyes on the ship’s power levels, tapping with little purpose, her real attention clearly on hearing the conversation Keller was having with the Company CEO. Joseph Solano was known for his hands-on management style and propensity to show up at important work sites, but even he rarely enjoyed this long of a chat with any of his captains. Ash ducked, staying out of the visual range of anyone involved.

“My head of R&D is desperate to begin. Is the quarantine box onboard yet?”

Keller straightened her shoulders. “I don’t think that’s a prudent decision—not after what it did to my indenture. I’d need your express authorization.”

Solano loomed. The man was the skinny side of plump and wore his hair in curls, with light coffee skin, a well-kept black beard and the white, stretched tattoo of a birthright citizen curling around his ear. He sat at a desk in front of an illuminated Company logo like a newscast plutocrat and wrung his hands while speaking. “You have it. I obviously don’t want you to do anything that would put an investment like Twenty-Five at risk. But we’ve been trying to put together the events of the Battle of Tribulation for over a year, and this is the closest we’ve ever been to a real answer.”

“We know what happened at Tribulation, sir,” said Keller. “London led the battle. The Manx-Koltar cruiser took the right flank, and Mumbai the rear. They won, sir.”

“But how did they win? The Vai slaughtered London in fifteen minutes, Captain Keller. They could have pushed on past Tribulation, into Aurora’s shipping lanes and straight on to Europa with just a few gunboats to stop them. But they didn’t. They stopped fighting. They retreated behind the White Line. We shouldn’t have won, Captain, and the secret to that victory is right under our noses. I don’t need to tell you we need to obtain this device before the competition does. Once they find out that Rio is moving toward Tribulation, we’ll have a lot of unwanted company. It would be prudent to get started before our arrival.”

Keller took a quiet breath. “What about the intercorporate treaties?”

“Those haven’t been enforceable for months. Other companies should be classified as hostile for the duration of your deployment here. This mission is our future, Captain Keller, and we need to secure it right now. Aurora is prepared to offer whatever support you need to properly secure the device before our arrival,” Solano said.

Ash’s hand curled, her breath catching. Solano had basically just dared Keller to ask for overtime. Hope kindled in her chest. Come on, Kate, she thought. Push.

Keller looked over her shoulder, acknowledging Ash’s arrival with a quick tilt of her chin. “Actually, we could do more than get started. We have Dr. Sharma on staff, and she worked in R&D for over ten years.”

“Hm,” Solano said. He paused and looked off-screen. “All right. If you can give us a basic dossier on the item by the time Rio arrives to take over, you get a bonus.”

Keller paused, then licked her lips. “I was actually thinking hazard scale pay, sir. For everyone.”

The CEO laughed. “I knew you’d ask. Fine, I’ll authorize hazard scale. You’re the best, Keller. Don’t make me regret it.”

“Of course, sir,” Keller said.

Solano’s voice softened. Out of the corner of her eyes, Ash could see Ramsay stab at her keyboard, biting the bottom of her lip. “This is not just salvaging equipment and bringing our soldiers home, Kate. This is history. Ensuring the future of humanity. We have to be ready if—when—the Vai attack again.”

“We’ll do it, sir,” Keller said.

“Fantastic. Do us proud. Rio de Janeiro out.”

Copyright © Karen Osborne 2020

Pre-Order Your Copy

opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window

Architects of Memory, excerpt, Karen Osborne, tor authors, Tor Books, tor sidebar

Lists / New Releases / What's New

Every Tor Book Coming This Summer

June 3, 2020May 6, 2024Rachel Taylor

It’s almost time for summer weather and that means…SUMMER BOOKS! Due to COVID-19, we shuffled some of our on sale dates around, so check here for the most up to date list of when you can get your hands on some of the most highly anticipated books of the season:

June 16

opens in a new windowThe Unconquered City opens in a new window by K. A. Doore

Seven years have passed since the Siege—a time when the hungry dead had risen—but the memories still haunt Illi Basbowen. Though she was trained to be an elite assassin, now the Basbowen clan act as Ghadid’s militia force protecting the resurrected city against a growing tide of monstrous guul that travel across the dunes. Illi’s worst fears are confirmed when General Barca arrives, bearing news that her fledgling nation, Hathage, also faces this mounting danger. How much can she sacrifice to protect everything she knows from devastation?

opens in a new windowGlorious opens in a new window by Gregory Benford and Larry Niven

Audacious astronauts encounter bizarre, sometimes deadly life forms, and strange, exotic, cosmic phenomena, including miniature black holes, dense fields of interstellar plasma, powerful gravity-emitters, and spectacularly massive space-based, alien-built labyrinths. Tasked with exploring this brave, new, highly dangerous world, they must also deal with their own personal triumphs and conflicts.

June 23

opens in a new windowThe Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison

In an alternate 1880s London, angels inhabit every public building, and vampires and werewolves walk the streets with human beings in a well-regulated truce. A fantastic utopia, except for a few things: Angels can Fall, and that Fall is like a nuclear bomb in both the physical and metaphysical worlds. And human beings remain human, with all their kindness and greed and passions and murderous intent. Jack the Ripper stalks the streets of this London too. But this London has an Angel. The Angel of the Crows.

June 30

opens in a new windowInterlibrary Loan by Gene Wolfe

E. A. Smithe is a borrowed person, his personality an uploaded recording of a deceased mystery writer. Smithe is a piece of property, not a legal human. As such, Smithe can be loaned to other branches. Which he is. Along with two fellow reclones, a cookbook and romance writer, they are shipped to Polly’s Cove, where Smithe meets a little girl who wants to save her mother, a father who is dead but perhaps not. And another E.A. Smithe… who definitely is.

July 7

opens in a new windowUnconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott

Princess Sun has finally come of age. Growing up in the shadow of her mother, Eirene, has been no easy task. The legendary queen-marshal did what everyone thought impossible: expel the invaders and build Chaonia into a magnificent republic, one to be respected—and feared. But the cutthroat ambassador corps and conniving noble houses have never ceased to scheme—and they have plans that need Sun to be removed as heir, or better yet, dead.

opens in a new windowOr What You Will by Jo Walton

He has been too many things to count. He has been a dragon with a boy on his back. He has been a scholar, a warrior, a lover, and a thief. He has been dream and dreamer. He has been a god. But “he” is in fact nothing more than a spark of idea, a character in the mind of Sylvia Harrison, 73, award-winning author of thirty novels over forty years. But Sylvia won’t live forever, any more than any human does. And he’s trapped inside her cave of bone, her hollow of skull. When she dies, so will he.

opens in a new windowLittle Brother & Homeland by Cory Doctorow

Cory Doctorow’s two New York Times-bestselling novels of youthful rebellion against the torture-and-surveillance state – now available in a softcover omnibus

July 14

opens in a new windowIn the Kingdom of All Tomorrows by Stephen R. Lawhead

Conor mac Ardan is now clan chief of the Darini. Tara’s Hill has become a haven and refuge for all those who were made homeless by the barbarian Scálda. A large fleet of the Scálda’s Black Ships has now arrived and Conor joins Eirlandia’s lords to defeat the monsters. He finds treachery in their midst…and a betrayal that is blood deep. And so begins a final battle to win the soul of a nation.

opens in a new windowThe Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowl

Elma York is on her way to Mars, but the Moon colony is still being established. Her friend and fellow Lady Astronaut Nicole Wargin is thrilled to be one of those pioneer settlers, using her considerable flight and political skills to keep the program on track. But she is less happy that her husband, the Governor of Kansas, is considering a run for President.

July 21

opens in a new windowTrouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson

Phyllis LeBlanc has given up everything—not just her own past, and Dev, the man she loved, but even her own dreams. Still, the ghosts from her past are always by her side—and history has appeared on her doorstep to threaten the people she keeps in her heart. And so Phyllis will have to make a harrowing choice, before it’s too late—is there ever enough blood in the world to wash clean generations of injustice?

opens in a new window The Sin in the Steel opens in a new window by Ryan Van Loan

Buc and Eld are the first private detectives in a world where pirates roam the seas, mages speak to each other across oceans, mechanical devices change the tide of battle, and earthly wealth is concentrated in the hands of a powerful few. It’s been weeks since ships last returned to the magnificent city of Servenza with bounty from the Shattered Coast. Disaster threatens not just the city’s trading companies but the empire itself. When Buc and Eld are hired to investigate, Buc swiftly discovers that the trade routes have become the domain of a sharp-eyed pirate queen who sinks all who defy her.

opens in a new windowQuantum Shadows by L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

On a world called Heaven, the ten major religions of mankind each have its own land governed by a capital city and ruled by a Hegemon. That Hegemon may be a god, or a prophet of a god. Smaller religions have their own towns or villages of belief. Corvyn, known as the Shadow of the Raven, contains the collective memory of humanity’s Falls from Grace. With this knowledge comes enormous power. When unknown power burns a mysterious black image into the holy place of each House of the Decalivre, Corvyn must discover what entity could possibly have that much power. The stakes are nothing less than another Fall, and if he doesn’t stop it, mankind will not rise from the ashes.

opens in a new windowUranus by Ben Bova

Humans can’t live on the gas giants, making instead a life in orbit. Kyle Umber, a religious idealist, has built Haven, a sanctuary above the distant planet Uranus. He invites ”the tired, the sick, the poor“ of Earth to his orbital retreat where men and women can find spiritual peace and refuge from the world. The billionaire who financed Haven, however, has his own designs: beyond the reach of the laws of the inner planets Haven could become the center for an interplanetary web of narcotics, prostitution, even hunting human prey.

opens in a new windowI Come With Knives by S. A. Hunt

Robin – now armed with new knowledge about mysterious demon terrorizing her around town, the support of her friends, and the assistance of her old witch-hunter mentor – plots to confront the Lazenbury coven and destroy them once and for all. Robin must handle new threats on top of the menace from the Lazenbury coven, but a secret about Robin’s past may throw all of her plans into jeopardy.

July 28

opens in a new windowDeal with the Devil by Kit Rocha

Nina is an information broker with a mission—she and her team of mercenary librarians use their knowledge to save the hopeless in a crumbling America. Knox is the bitter, battle-weary captain of the Silver Devils. His squad of supersoldiers went AWOL to avoid slaughtering innocents, and now he’s fighting to survive. They’re on a deadly collision course, and the passion that flares between them only makes it more dangerous. They could burn down the world, destroying each other in the process…Or they could do the impossible: team up.

opens in a new windowThe Baron of Magister Valley by Steven Brust

The salacious claims that The Baron of Magister Valley bears any resemblance to a certain nearly fictional narrative about an infamous count are unfounded (we do not dabble in tall tales. The occasional moderately stretched? Yes. But never tall). Our tale is that of a nobleman who is betrayed by those he trusted, and subsequently imprisoned. After centuries of confinement, he contrives to escape and prepares to avenge himself against his betrayers. A mirror image of The Count of Monte Cristo, vitrolic naysayers still grouse? Well, that is nearly and utterly false.

opens in a new windowAutomatic Reload by Ferrett Steinmetz

Meet Mat, a tortured mercenary who has become the perfect shot, and Silvia, and idealistic woman genetically engineered to murder you to death. Together they run for the shadiest corporation in the world… and realize their messed-up brain chemistry cannot overpower their very real chemistry.

August 4

opens in a new windowThe Living Dead by George A. Romero and Daniel Kraus

In a Midwestern trailer park, a Black teenage girl and a Muslim immigrant battle newly-risen friends and family. On a US aircraft carrier, living sailors hide from dead ones while a fanatic makes a new religion out of death. At a cable news station, a surviving anchor keeps broadcasting while his undead colleagues try to devour him. In DC, an autistic federal employee charts the outbreak, preserving data for a future that may never come. Everywhere, people are targeted by both the living and the dead. We think we know how this story ends. We. Are. Wrong.

opens in a new windowSpace Station Down by Ben Bova and Doug Beason

When an ultra-rich space tourist visits the orbiting International Space Station, NASA expects a $100 million win-win: his visit will bring in much needed funding and publicity. But the tourist venture turns into a scheme of terror. Together with an extremist cosmonaut, the tourist slaughters all the astronauts on board the million-pound ISS—and prepares to crash it into New York City at 17,500 miles an hour, causing more devastation than a hundred atomic bombs. In doing so, they hope to annihilate the world’s financial system.

opens in a new windowSorcery of a Queen by Brian Naslund

Driven from her kingdom, the would-be queen now seeks haven in the land of her mother, but Ashlyn will not stop until justice has been done. Determined to unlock the secret of powers long thought impossible, Ashlyn bends her will and intelligence to mastering the one thing people always accused her of, sorcery. Meanwhile, having learned the truth of his mutation, Bershad is a man on borrowed time. Never knowing when his healing powers will drive him to a self-destruction, he is determined to see Ashlyn restored to her throne and the creatures they both love safe.

opens in a new windowA Chorus of Fire by Brian D. Anderson

A shadow has moved across Lamoria. Whispers of the coming conflict are growing louder; the enemy becoming bolder. Belkar’s reach has extended far into the heart of Ralmarstad and war now seems inevitable. Mariyah, clinging to the hope of one day being reunited with Lem, struggles to attain the power she will need to make the world safe again.Lem continues his descent into darkness, serving a man he does not trust in the name of a faith which is not his own. Only Shemi keeps his heart from succumbing to despair, along with the knowledge that he has finally found Mariyah. But Lem is convinced she is being held against her will, and is determined to free her, regardless the cost.

August 11

opens in a new windowThe Tyrant Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

Baru’s enemies close in from all sides. Baru’s own mind teeters on the edge of madness or shattering revelation. Now she must choose between genocidal revenge and a far more difficult path—a conspiracy of judges, kings, spies and immortals, puppeteering the world’s riches and two great wars in a gambit for the ultimate prize. If Baru had absolute power over the Imperial Republic, she could force Falcrest to abandon its colonies and make right its crimes.

opens in a new windowThe Last Uncharted Sky by Curtis Craddock

Isabelle and Jean-Claude undertake an airship expedition to recover a fabled treasure and claim a hitherto undiscovered craton for l’Empire Celeste. But Isabelle, as a result from a previous attack that tried to subsume her body and soul, suffers from increasingly disturbing and disruptive hallucinations. Disasters are compounded when the ship is sabotaged by an enemy agent, and Jean-Claude is separated from the expedition.

opens in a new windowBy Force Alone by Lavie Tidhar

Everyone thinks they know the story of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table. The fact is they don’t know sh*t.

Arthur? An over-promoted gangster. Merlin? An eldritch parasite. Excalibur? A shady deal with a watery arms dealer. Britain? A clogged sewer that Rome abandoned just as soon as it could.

opens in a new windowThe Shadow Commission by David Mack

November 1963. Cade and Anja have lived in hiding for a decade, training new mages. Then the assassination of President Kennedy trigger a series of murders whose victims are all magicians—with Cade, Anja, and their allies as its prime targets. Their only hope of survival: learning how to fight back against the sinister cabal known as the Shadow Commission.

opens in a new windowThe Wizard Knight by Gene Wolfe

A young man in his teens is transported from our world to a magical realm consisting of seven levels of reality. Transformed by magic into a grown man of heroic proportions, he takes the name Sir Able of the High Heart and sets out on a quest to find the sword that has been promised to him, the blade that will help him fulfill his ambition to become a true hero—a true knight. Inside, however, Sir Able remains a boy, and he must grow in every sense to survive what lies ahead…

August 25

opens in a new windowThe Memory of Souls by Jenn Lyons

Now that Relos Var’s plans have been revealed and demons are free to rampage across the empire, the fulfillment of the ancient prophecies—and the end of the world—is closer than ever. To buy time for humanity, Kihrin needs to convince the king of the Manol vané to perform an ancient ritual which will strip the entire race of their immortality, but it’s a ritual which certain vané will do anything to prevent. Including assassinating the messengers.

opens in a new windowArchitects of Memory by Karen Osborne

Terminally ill salvage pilot Ash Jackson lost everything in the war with the alien Vai, but she’ll be damned if she loses her future. Her plan: to buy, beg, or lie her way out of corporate indenture and find a cure. When her crew salvages a genocidal weapon from a ravaged starship above a dead colony, Ash uncovers a conspiracy of corporate intrigue and betrayal that threatens to turn her into a living weapon.

A Chorus of Fire, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Architects of Memory, Automatic Reload, Ben Bova, Ben Bova and Doug Beason, Brian D. Anderson, Brian Naslund, By Force Alone, Cory Doctorow, Curtis Craddock, David Mack, Deal With the Devil, Ferrett Steinmetz, Gene Wolfe, George A. Romero and Daniel Kraus, Glorious, Gregory Benford and Larry Niven, I Come With Knives, In the Kingdom of All Tomorrows, Interlibrary Loan, Jenn Lyons, Jo Walton, Jr., K. A. Doore, Karen Osborne, Kate Elliott, Katherine Addison, Kit Rocha, L.E. Modesitt, Lavie Tidhar, Little Brother & Homeland, Mary Robinette Kowal, Or What You Will, Quantum Shadows, Ryan Van Loan, S.A. Hunt, Seth Dickinson, Sorcery of a Queen, Space Station Down, Stephen R. Lawhead, Steven Brust, The Angel of the Crows, The Baron of Magister Valley, The Last Uncharted Sky, The Living Dead, The Memory of Souls, The Relentless Moon, The Shadow Commission, The Sin in the Steel, The Tyrant Baru Cormorant, The Unconquered City, The Wizard Knight, Trouble the Saints, Unconquerable Sun, Uranus