We are thrilled to be revealing the cover for Claire Winn’s City of Shattered Light, which publishes on October 19th 2021 from Flux Books, and it’s a high-stakes adventure pitched as a queer, female-led Guardians of the Galaxy meets Escape from New York.
City of Shattered Light is available to pre-order on Amazon, Book Depository, Bookshop, and Indiebound. Flux Books and North Star Editions currently have 30% off fall release preorders using code FALL21 and free shipping when you spend over $30.
Read on to discover the synopsis, cover, and what Claire thinks about her gorgeous cover!
SYNOPSIS
As darkness closes in on the city of shattered light, an heiress and an outlaw must decide whether to fend for themselves or fight for each other.
As heiress to a powerful tech empire, seventeen-year-old Asa Almeida strives to prove she’s more than her manipulative father’s shadow. But when he uploads her rebellious sister’s mind to an experimental brain, Asa will do anything to save her sister from reprogramming—including fleeing her predetermined future with her sister’s digitized mind in tow. With a bounty on her head and a rogue A.I. hunting her, Asa’s getaway ship crash-lands in the worst possible place: the neon-drenched outlaw paradise, Requiem.
Gunslinging smuggler Riven Hawthorne is determined to claw her way up Requiem’s underworld hierarchy. A runaway rich girl is exactly the bounty Riven needs—until a nasty computer virus spreads in Asa’s wake, causing a citywide blackout and tech quarantine. To get the payout for Asa and save Requiem from the monster in its circuits, Riven must team up with her captive.
Riven breaks skulls the way Asa breaks circuits, but their opponent is unlike anything they’ve ever seen. The A.I. exploits the girls’ darkest memories and deepest secrets, threatening to shatter the fragile alliance they’re both depending on. As one of Requiem’s 154-hour nights grows darker, the girls must decide whether to fend for themselves or fight for each other before Riven’s city and Asa’s sister are snuffed out forever.
Claire Winn talks about her fabulous cover: “I adore everything about this cover—the eyeball-busting neon colors, the glow lettering, the gorgeous character art! It captures Requiem (the titular City of Shattered Light) in all its vibrant, vicious glory, along with the book’s two lead characters: Riven with her deadly sharpshooter’s confidence, and runaway heiress Asa with her shaky resolve. Artist Sanjay Charlton brought both girls to life in amazing detail, from Riven’s freckles and second-day eyeliner to the rivets on Asa’s jacket. The Flux team (and designer Jake Slavik) gave me so much input throughout the cover creation process, and it came out even better than I imagined! I also can’t get over Riven’s biceps. Of the guns on the cover…they’re the most dangerous. ;)”
Claire Winn spends her time immersed in other worlds—through LARP, video games, books, nerd conventions, and her own stories. Since graduating from Northwestern University, she’s worked as a legal writer and freelance editor. Aside from writing, she builds cosplay props and armor, tears up dance floors, and battles with boffer swords. City of Shattered Light is her first novel.
You can find Claire on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Goodreads, and at her website.
