Long ago, so the stories say, the old-fathers came to Nanagada through a worm’s hole in the sky. Looking for a new world to call their own, they brought with them a rich mélange of cultures, religions, and dialects from a far-off planet called Earth. Mighty were the old-fathers, with the power to shape the world to their liking---but that was many generations ago, and what was once known has long been lost. Steamboats and gas-filled blimps now traverse the planet, where people once looked up to see great silver cities in the sky.

 

Like his world, John deBrun has forgotten more than he remembers. Twenty-seven years ago, he washed up onto the shore of Nanagada with no memory of his past. Although he has made a new life for himself among the peaceful islanders, his soul remains haunted by unanswered questions about his own identity.

 

These mysteries take on new urgency when the fearsome Azteca storm over the Wicked High Mountains in search of fresh blood and hearts to feed their cruel, inhuman gods. Nanagada’s only hope lies in a mythical artifact, the Ma Wi Jung, said to be hidden somewhere in the frozen north. And only John deBrun knows the device’s secrets, even if he can’t remember why or how!

 

Crystal Rain is the much-anticipated debut novel by one of science fiction’s newest and most promising talents.

Praise

“There’s a nova in the skies: Tobias S. Buckell is a dazzling new voice, and Crystal Rain is an explosive debut. Read it!”--Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Hominids

 

“Crystal Rain is refreshing and imaginative, an exotic stew of cultures, myths, and technology.”--Kevin J. Anderson, New York Times bestselling author

 

“Crystal Rain conjures a vividly imagined world, spiced with intrigue and adventure that unfolds at a breakneck pace.”--Booklist

 

“Caribbean-born Buckell’s debut captures the flavor of Afro-Caribbean culture in the lilting dialog of his characters and in their customs.”—Library Journal (starred review) on Crystal Rain

About the Author(s)

Tobias S. Buckell

Tobias S. Buckell is a Caribbean-born speculative fiction writer who grew up in Grenada, the United States, and the British Virgin Islands. He now lives (through many strange twists of fate) in a small college town in Ohio with his wife, Emily.

Buckell was a first-place winner for the Writers of the Future and has been nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. He is also a graduate of the Clarion Science Fiction Writing Workshop.

photo: Jan Hilty

Tobias S. Buckell's Website

Tobias S. Buckell's Blog

Tobias S. Buckell on Twitter

Excerpt

Chapter One
The Wicked High Mountains loomed around Dennis and his men as they skirted house-sized, reddish slabs of rock jutting from the soil, avoided deep, echoing chasms, and paused at a tiny stream to fill their canteens.
 
Above the tree line the air cooled enough that Dennis could see his own breath. Yesterday he would have been amused. Today his huffing betrayed how fast he moved over the crumbling ground.

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