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THE DEEP SKY

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Published by Flatiron Books (Macmillan) in 2023 and Harper Voyager UK (HarperCollins) in 2024.

"Required reading."              - The Boston Globe

"...a remarkable story of endurance and hope."

- Publisher's Weekly

⭐"Cerebral SF, tackling both humanitywide problems and the smaller but ever present conflicts closer to home."

- Kirkus (starred review)

"...smart and exhilarating sci-fi mystery..."

- Book Page

"Climate fiction space whodunit ‘The Deep Sky’ soars in a fast-paced debut novel."

- Associated Press

"...sci-fi tinged with noir and suspense...evocative, engaging, and hard to forget..."

- Alex Segura, LA Times Book Prize-winning author of Secret Identity 

"Kitasei’s debut moves quickly and builds rich characters, with a sense of humor that will appeal to fans of John Scalzi."

- Booklist

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

- Library Journal

"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, Author of The Calculating Stars

About the Book

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.

Asuka already felt like an impostor before the explosion. She was the last picked for the mission, she struggled during training back on Earth, and 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.

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Content warnings: miscarriage, fertility issues, terrorism, death of a child, racism, violence and gore, strong language

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Read an excerpt of the first two chapters here.

"...vast, action-packed, and introspective; it’s a story that will stick with you through the stars." 

- Bookish Brews

"There are so many things to love about Yume Kitasei's debut... she puts us under the microscope not in judgement but with a fair and caring eye; she looks for the best in us."

- C. L. Clark, Author of The Unbroken

"The Deep Sky is a rare treat: a totally satisfying whodunnit featuring great clues, twists, reveals and red herrings, along with clever science-fictional concepts."

- Washington Post (Charlie Jane Anders, Victories Greater Than Death)

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