Overview

Life can exist anywhere. And anywhere there is life, there is home. George-Étienne and his children have found a mysterious artefact on the surface of Venus herself, one with vast implications for the future of the struggling colony. But with the discovery comes great risk: not only from a planet that kills with its very touch, but also from the banks and powers of old Earth, who will not readily relinquish their hold on Venus’s people and resources. Gathering allies to them, George-Étienne and his family have founded The House of Styx, the first of a new wave of trading clans, to hide from the prying eyes of their enemies and work in secret to exploit the miracle they have found. From humble origins, The House of Styx is destined to become one of the most powerful families in the galaxy... if they survive.

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9781786188687

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Reviews

"""An audacious con job, scintillating future technology, and meditations on the nature of fractured humanity."" -- Yoon Ha Lee--Yoon Ha Lee ""I have no problems raving about this book. A truly wild backdrop of space-opera with wormholes, big space-fleet conflict and empires.... What could go wrong?"" -- Brad K. Horner--Br?ad K. Horner ""Technology changes us--even our bodies--in fundamental ways, and Kunsken handles this wonderfully."" -- Cixin Liu--Cixin Liu The House of Styx is a stunning new sci-fi family drama that admirably shoulders the burden of two heavy genres and distills them into an exhilarating and heart-breaking journey of discovery."" -- SciFiNow, 5 star review-- ""SciFiNow"" ""The Quantum Magician feels like what would happen if Locke Lamora landed in Bank's Culture, and if Locke had a lot to say about depraved humans. And I do love me a con artist story! Also? The writing is brilliant, the pacing is damn near perfect, the dialog is fun and snarky, the characters are great, I couldn't put this book down!"" -- The Little Red Reviewer-- ""The Little Red Reviewer"" ""The Quantum Magician is a fabulous debut, it would make the most fantastic movie. It has everything and more, it seriously needs to be read by way more people. Highly, highly recommended."" -- The Curious SFF Reader-- ""The Curious SFF Reader"" ""The Quantum Magician is a space adventure built on the scaffolding of a classic con job movie (think The Italian Job or Ocean's Eleven). It hits all the right beats at the right time, and part of the fun in reading it is wondering: what will go wrong? Who will betray who? What will be the reversals? When done well, as in the case of The Quantum Magician, it's a delight to read."" -- The Ottawa Review of Books-- ""The Ottawa Review of Books"" ""The Quantum Magician is the type of book you go back to the beginning and read again once you know how everything pans out and have those 'why didn't I see that the first time?' moments."" -- Strange Alliances-- ""Strange Alliances"" ""A boldly ambitious debut."" -- SFX Magazine-- ""SFX Magazine"" ""A delightfully engaging heist story."" -- Caroline Mersey, Science Fiction Book Club--Caroline Mersey ""Science Fiction Book Club"" ""Awesomely intersectional and packed full of French swear words, The House of Styx is a great scientific adventure!"" -- Apple Books Review-- ""Apple Books"" ""Con games and heists are always hard to write - one like this, which comes out pitch perfect, wrapped in a nuanced and striking sci-fi narrative is, to say the least, a rarity."" -- SF and F Reviews-- ""SF and F Reviews"" ""Künsken has a wonderfully ingenious imagination."" -- Adam Roberts, Locus--Adam Roberts ""Locus"" ""Künsken has, to my mind, already established a place as one of the best pure 'hard science' writers of the current generation, and this book is further evidence of that."" -- Rich Horton, Locus Magazine--Rich Horton ""Locus Magazine"" ""Künsken's vivid worldbuilding is a knockout... This is a must-read."" -- Publishers Weekly, starred review-- ""Publishers Weekly"" ""Sometimes nail-biting and always well-paced, The House of Styx is high concept sci-fi that puts characters first--and succeeds by doing so."" -- Aurealis -- ""Aurealis"" ""Such a wonderful read."" -- Locus Magazine --Adrienne Martini ""Locus Magazine"" ""This brainy sci-fi heist novel uses mathematics like magic to pull you through a caper worthy of Jean-Pierre Melville."" -- The B&N SciFi and Fantasy Blog-- ""The B&N SciFi and Fantasy Blog"" ""This electrifying planetary adventure features a hardscrabble family that earnestly addresses issues of addiction, gender, sexuality, and disability while surviving storms of all sorts in the hostile clouds of Venus. Highly recommended."" -- The Library Journal, starred review -- ""The Library Journal"""

" ""Such a wonderful read."" -- Locus Magazine -- Adrienne Martini * Locus Magazine * ""This electrifying planetary adventure features a hardscrabble family that earnestly addresses issues of addiction, gender, sexuality, and disability while surviving storms of all sorts in the hostile clouds of Venus. Highly recommended."" -- The Library Journal, starred review   * The Library Journal * The House of Styx is a stunning new sci-fi family drama that admirably shoulders the burden of two heavy genres and distills them into an exhilarating and heart-breaking journey of discovery."" -- SciFiNow, 5 star review * SciFiNow * ""Künsken’s vivid worldbuilding is a knockout... This is a must-read."" -- Publishers Weekly, starred review * Publishers Weekly * ""Awesomely intersectional and packed full of French swear words, The House of Styx is a great scientific adventure!"" -- Apple Books Review * Apple Books * ""Sometimes nail-biting and always well-paced, The House of Styx is high concept sci-fi that puts characters first—and succeeds by doing so."" -- Aurealis  * Aurealis * ""Künsken has, to my mind, already established a place as one of the best pure ‘hard science’ writers of the current generation, and this book is further evidence of that.” -- Rich Horton, Locus Magazine -- Rich Horton * Locus Magazine * “Con games and heists are always hard to write – one like this, which comes out pitch perfect, wrapped in a nuanced and striking sci-fi narrative is, to say the least, a rarity.” -- SF and F Reviews * SF and F Reviews * “A boldly ambitious debut.” -- SFX Magazine * SFX Magazine * “I have no problems raving about this book. A truly wild backdrop of space-opera with wormholes, big space-fleet conflict and empires.... What could go wrong?” -- Brad K. Horner -- Br?ad K. Horner “Technology changes us—even our bodies—in fundamental ways, and Kunsken handles this wonderfully.” -- Cixin Liu -- Cixin Liu “The Quantum Magician is a space adventure built on the scaffolding of a classic con job movie (think The Italian Job or Ocean’s Eleven). It hits all the right beats at the right time, and part of the fun in reading it is wondering: what will go wrong? Who will betray who? What will be the reversals? When done well, as in the case of The Quantum Magician, it’s a delight to read.” -- The Ottawa Review of Books * The Ottawa Review of Books * “This brainy sci-fi heist novel uses mathematics like magic to pull you through a caper worthy of Jean-Pierre Melville.” -- The B&N SciFi and Fantasy Blog * The B&N SciFi and Fantasy Blog * “The Quantum Magician is the type of book you go back to the beginning and read again once you know how everything pans out and have those ‘why didn’t I see that the first time?’ moments.” -- Strange Alliances * Strange Alliances * “The Quantum Magician feels like what would happen if Locke Lamora landed in Bank’s Culture, and if Locke had a lot to say about depraved humans. And I do love me a con artist story! Also? The writing is brilliant, the pacing is damn near perfect, the dialog is fun and snarky, the characters are great, I couldn’t put this book down!” -- The Little Red Reviewer * The Little Red Reviewer * “The Quantum Magician is a fabulous debut, it would make the most fantastic movie. It has everything and more, it seriously needs to be read by way more people. Highly, highly recommended.” -- The Curious SFF Reader * The Curious SFF Reader * “Künsken has a wonderfully ingenious imagination.” -- Adam Roberts, Locus -- Adam Roberts * Locus * “An audacious con job, scintillating future technology, and meditations on the nature of fractured humanity.” -- Yoon Ha Lee -- Yoon Ha Lee “A delightfully engaging heist story.” -- Caroline Mersey, Science Fiction Book Club -- Caroline Mersey * Science Fiction Book Club *"

Author Information

Derek Kunsken has built genetically engineered viruses, worked with street children and refugees in Latin America, served as a Canadian diplomat, and, most importantly, taught his son about super-heroes and science. His short fiction has appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Beneath Ceaseless Skies and multiple times in Asimov's Science Fiction. His stories have been adapted into audio podcasts, reprinted in various Year's Best anthologies, and translated into multiple languages. They have also been short-listed for various awards, and won the Asimov's Readers' Award in 2013. He tweets from @derekkunsken, blogs at BlackGate.com, and makes his internet home at DerekKunsken.com

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