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Table of Contents
About The Book
An Ignyte Award–winning speculative novel about a young woman tasked with defending the man convicted of the political assassination that sparked a bloody revolution.
A century ago, an impoverished young man named Jagat was found guilty of assassinating the director of the great city of Peruma. His alleged crime sparked a bloody revolution, partitioning the city into High Town, a hi-tech metropolis for the wealthy run by the Council, and the Commune, an anarchist collective of workers. Jagat himself was sentenced to the highest form of punishment—a hundred years of cryostasis with the promise of revival should his innocence ever be proven, or else culminating in death if it is not. And as he slept through the decades, tensions between the Council and the Commune grew.
Just a week before Jagat is officially due to be executed, Nila, an ambitious law student, is asked to reopen his case. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime, one with the potential to not only save a man’s life but also influence the escalating conflict between the Council and the Commune. With Jagat’s time running out, Nila must reach back into the past to understand what truly happened a hundred years ago. But as she investigates the case, she clashes with shadowy forces who would do anything to let the truth die with Jagat. As her peers compete for accolades and class rankings, Nila’s case could determine the very future of Peruma.
A century ago, an impoverished young man named Jagat was found guilty of assassinating the director of the great city of Peruma. His alleged crime sparked a bloody revolution, partitioning the city into High Town, a hi-tech metropolis for the wealthy run by the Council, and the Commune, an anarchist collective of workers. Jagat himself was sentenced to the highest form of punishment—a hundred years of cryostasis with the promise of revival should his innocence ever be proven, or else culminating in death if it is not. And as he slept through the decades, tensions between the Council and the Commune grew.
Just a week before Jagat is officially due to be executed, Nila, an ambitious law student, is asked to reopen his case. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime, one with the potential to not only save a man’s life but also influence the escalating conflict between the Council and the Commune. With Jagat’s time running out, Nila must reach back into the past to understand what truly happened a hundred years ago. But as she investigates the case, she clashes with shadowy forces who would do anything to let the truth die with Jagat. As her peers compete for accolades and class rankings, Nila’s case could determine the very future of Peruma.
Product Details
- Publisher: S&S/Saga Press (February 16, 2027)
- Length: 304 pages
- ISBN13: 9781668225325
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Raves and Reviews
Winner of 2025 Ignyte Award for Best Novel
"A legal-ethical SF thriller/mystery, absolutely cracking. It's tense and twisty and engaging, with a mystery wrapped inside an enigma, and we're compulsively drawn along the path of breadcrumbs."
—KJ Charles `
"Successfully marries old school science fictional aproaches with pressing political issues."
—Abigail Nussbaum, Locus Magazine
"It’s a legal thriller, certainly, but even more it is a sociological and societal thriller that poses some not-easily-answered questions about justice, society, government, and the role of personal responsibility to all three...the type of science fiction that demands a much wider audience."
—Paul Weimer, Nerds of a Feather
"Deeply interesting...Like Ursula K. LeGuin's The Dispossed, the novel examines [a] clash of ideologies but sets it within a powerful story of a search not only for justice but also for the emotional truth that may guide the future."
—John Folk-Williams, Sci-Fi Mind
Winner of 2025 Ignyte Award for Best Novel
"A legal-ethical SF thriller/mystery, absolutely cracking. It's tense and twisty and engaging, with a mystery wrapped inside an enigma, and we're compulsively drawn along the path of breadcrumbs."
—KJ Charles
"Successfully marries old school science fictional aproaches with pressing political issues."
—Abigail Nussbaum, Locus Magazine
"It’s a legal thriller, certainly, but even more it is a sociological and societal thriller that poses some not-easily-answered questions about justice, society, government, and the role of personal responsibility to all three...the type of science fiction that demands a much wider audience."
—Paul Weimer, Nerds of a Feather
"Deeply interesting...Like Ursula K. LeGuin's The Dispossed, the novel examines [a] clash of ideologies but sets it within a powerful story of a search not only for justice but also for the emotional truth that may guide the future."
—John Folk-Williams, Sci-Fi Mind
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Book Cover Image (jpg): The Fifth Inflection
eBook 9781668225325
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